Nine years ago, my dad bought my mom the best Christmas gift she had ever received – and has ever received since. No, it wasn’t an expensive piece of jewelry or a new car. It was a backpack leaf blower.
It’s become a running joke in our family about how much our mom loves blowing the leaves since she got this best-ever Christmas gift. She can’t wait for fall and the opportunity to break out her Husqvarna 350BT backpack blower. On a crisp autumn afternoon, there’s nothing she wants to do more than clear leaves off the driveway and front yard.
If you’re looking for the perfect gift for your wife, mother, husband, or whomever, then consider getting them a high-quality landscaping tool this holiday season. It may just end up being their favorite present ever.
My mom's best-ever Christmas gift is a bit non-traditional. She loves her Husqvarna 350BT backpack blower for its ease of use and power.
Why My Mom Loves This Leaf Blower
Almost a decade after receiving her Husqvarna 350BT backpack leaf blower, my mom still says it is the best Christmas present she’s ever gotten. And the fact that it’s still going strong after nine years is a powerful testament to this product's quality and durability.
My mom says, “The power and the ease of use are the main things I like about it.” She used to have a corded handheld leaf blower that fell short in both areas. “With the handheld type of leaf blower, I get tired holding it with one arm and then the other. It used to make my back hurt from having to lean over and then my back would cramp up.
“The backpack blower seems more efficient and it’s definitely a lot more powerful. My old leaf blower also used to have a cord. This one is gas-powered so I can go all over the yard with it without having to wrestle a cord or find somewhere to plug it in.”
What You Need to Know Before Buying
At $429.99 from Amazon, this leaf blower is a higher-priced gift item. So it’s ideal for a close loved one whom you know enjoys working in the garden. My mom had mentioned wanting a backpack style leaf blower before my dad purchased this present for her.
There are also a few things to be aware of before committing to this particular leaf blower. My mom admits, “It is hard to start the leaf blower. I have to have my husband or daughter pull the starter cord for me because you have to pull it pretty fast and hard – often a few times – to get the engine to start.
"It generally restarts easily, though, if I turn it off and take a break and then come back to keep cleaning up leaves.”
She also mentioned that being a gas-powered leaf blower, it does have one quirk when it comes to refueling. “You have to add oil to the gas tank when you fill it up, but most hardware stores carry the oil you need. So, pretty easy.”
My dad chimed in with a maintenance issue as well. He said, “The only problem I’ve had with it is that the spark arrester screen on the exhaust gets clogged with soot. I used to take it off and clean it, but there’s no particularly good way to clean it. I have to clean it about once or twice a year.”
But despite these minor drawbacks, my mom still loves her Husqvarna 350BT backpack blower after almost a decade of use and would never go back to a handheld blower again.
Shop More Gift Ideas
My mom’s second-favorite gift ever is a pair of 3M hearing protector headphones that play AM and FM radio. She always wears them when she uses her Husqvarna leaf blower to save her hearing and jam out while she’s doing fall cleanup.
If you love the idea of a backpack leaf blower but you want something more eco-friendly, this battery-powered blower from Greenworks is the perfect gift for you! This is one of our team member’s favorite landscaping tool brands. Plus, you can get it for under $300 for Black Friday.
Love the Husqvarna brand, but looking for something a little more affordable? The Husqvarna 150BT is their best-selling backpack blower and is on sale for just under $300 for Black Friday. It doesn’t have quite as many special features as my mom’s favorite blower, but it can reach air speeds up to a whopping 270 mph.
