Riboud Bonsai Training Wire, Aluminum Bonsai Wire for Crafts 5-Size Starter Set- 1.0mm, 1.5mm, 2.0mm, 2.5mm, 3.0mm (161 feet Total, Black)...

This bonsai wire is coated and while it is easy to bend, it is definitely heavy duty. You can feel the difference when compared to thinner, cheaper bonsai wire. This is not it! Generous amount is given as well.

I am new to bonsai plants and thought it was time to start training it to grow the way I had hoped. The different wires included in this set gives a nice range of sizes to use. Hoping to do my bonsai justice with the way I wired it.

I love this starter set of different size wires. I have worked with bonsai off and on for many years. This is the first time I have tried aluminum, and it is my new first choice. I ordered the starter kit to see if aluminum was worth switching to. It's worth it! This wire has the right stiffness to hold branches where I want them to, but easy enough to bend into place. Selecting the right size wire for each branch is important, and this kit has the sizes that will fit most bonsai needs, at least most of my needs. I am working smaller, and don't have any older, larger trees, so the sizes of wire (1.0mm, 1.5mm, 2.0mm, 2.5mm, 3.0mm) are perfect for my needs. This Riboud Bonsai Training Wire set has 161 feet of wire, which is a great way to test which sizes work best for your trees, and for anyone like me wanting to switch to aluminum after testing it. I am very pleased with the Riboud wires.

I don't grow bonsai, but I'm an avid gardener. I thought I would use this in the garden to tie up some plants. It wasn't that convenient to use for that purpose. I also experimented with using it to make a flower crown, but it was a bit too thin. I ended up buying a thicker aluminum wire. Take my review with a grain of salt since it's advertised as bonsai wire and I used it for alternative purposes.

This set allows someone to get a feel for different thicknesses, but I'm disappointed at the distribution of wire size. I can't recommend it due to that. It doesn't seem like it was put together by someone who knows bonsai and is instead made to create profit margins by inflating the advertising numbers with thin wire barely used in general wiring. I say that because 85ft of the advertised 161ft is 1.0mm wire. 1.0mm isn't used frequently unless it's for specific small branch detailing, which a beginner won't be doing. It's too thin to do any general wiring. Common beginner sizes are 1.5mm, 2.0mm, 3.0mm, and 4.0mm. 1.5mm is more common, and it includes a fair 36ft of length. There is 20ft of 2.0mm and only 8ft of 3.0mm. This set would be suitable for one or two small to medium-sized trees, but for someone who's looking to buy wire that will last them a while, look for one with a more even distribution of sizes or buy them individually in longer rolls for a similar price. While the wire itself is good and looks nice, I don't think this is good value for the price since 53% of the wire in the set won't be touched because it's too thin.