I've used this for periods up to three hours on a single tank of gas. It is a bit weighty when full of fuel, but you get used to it pretty quick - and when you do finally take it off it feels as if you are walking on air. It starts easily, is not particularly loud (however, I always recommend wearing hearing protection with power equipment - trust the blind guy...take care of your senses. Losing one sucks). Recommended upgrades: If there is a creative way to make the blower ambidextrous - especially of you could switch hands on the fly it would be awesome. Next, make the tube something that is easy to remove for storage. There is simply no easy method to store this. I do have a 'backpack blower hanger', but it does not work well with this unit. Including a storage hook designed for this particular product would be a huge plus.