My experiece with leaf rakes is that the type and brand make a big difference in how they work. Some are great and the leaves easily move into the bag, others are like a trying to open a lock with a tooth pick. I have an Aquajet pool cleaner, but find it's easier to take 5 minutes to use the leaf rake first before running it. Also have used the leaf bagger or leaf vac that you guys mentioned and find my leaf rake a lot easier to use and faster, not to mention having to deal with the garden hose. I got my rake at HD, it has a soft white mesh bag on it and the rim has a plastic edge on it that is curved to cause the leaves to lift off the bottom.