It may be that if a person has a long of arm strength, the HF blades might work ok. Usually we are changing out a pretty dull blade when we finally get around to changing the blade and at first the HF might feel so much better the older blade you don't notice that aren't as sharp as a new Olfa blade. That's my idea any way. I bought the titanium blades when JoAnn's had them 50% off plus a 10% off total purchase and didn't notice they are any better. I do have to admit that I'm hard on my blades because I hit the side of the ruler occasionally.