Buying The Best

When I did carry a firearm, it took a beating. Lots of butt-strokes, jumping/rolling/landing on the bastard, and low crawling will take its toll.
 
Nutnfancy says there are "two kinds of cool" in his reviews.

I say there are "two kinds of best" in this case:

1. The "best" that are widely valued, regarded and acknowledged. e.g. - a lot of hi-end quality stuff that you certainly get what you pay for.

2. The "best" value that only YOU yourself can put into that thing. e.g. - your mongrel dog might not be some purebred, vet-&-spa pampered pooch, yet it's a good friend to have and faithfully serving you, making you love it 'til the day it passes on. I think this can also apply to cheaper but functional gear by extension

Go with the "best" then, whatever that means. . .
 
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It's all about perspective and your cash flow I guess :) But seriously most things I'll spend time researching and then pay a little more for it or a lot more whatever the case just not to have to deal with the headaches.

Life is to short to have junk break all the time and always at the wrong time.

And then theirs the things we have for no other reason than we want one like my jeep. I'm in IT and hate tech that has to be fixed outside my job these days so I drive a jeep with roll up windows.

It's not the best out there but it's the "best" for me. I traded my g35 in on it. I'll have it till it rusts to hell or explodes more than likely.

I rip the top and doors off 90% of the time and for me nothing else will take it's place. but on the other hand I pay 1500 for a new set of tires and won't change from the brand or model because there quality tires and reduce my road noise to almost nil.
 
orork said:
Buying The Best
Am I alone here or are others so afflicted?

I detest being disappointed with an acquisition. So I research items to find those that people are most satisfied with.

For instance, I wear a Rolex, drive a Mercedes Benz and carry a CRK Large Sebenza 21 and on drives far from home carry a Walther PPK .380.

It's not that I'm rich by some scope of imagination, I just can't afford to be disappointed time and time again by purchases that don't live up to their description.

Anybody else?
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Nah. For me it's finding what's "good enough" to get the job done while spending as little as possible. Might be the Scottish heritage. Might be a generational thing. My folks were born well before the depression, so they hit it full force in their late teens. They taught me to value being able to get by. I value solid "good" stuff rather than pricey "best" stuff.
 
I've always figured buying the best would ease problems in the future, such as replacing the item or fixing it. The 'best' usually last a long time and are backed with superior warranties. Not to mention the quality and performance of said 'best'. You never know when buying that item costing an extra $200, will actually save you money in the long run.
 
The "best" tends to be the most expensive. As a college student I do lots of research before buying an item, but the "best" that I usually get in the "best value". I'd love to be able to go buy a Sebenza or XM, but my lifestyle won't support that. I'll spend less money and get a knife that is almost as good, an Emerson or higher end Spyderco.
 
One more reason why I wouldn't own "the best" gun... You never know when you might have to get rid of it. I'd hate to take a cutting torch to a tricked out Les Baer. It would be a shame to turn a pistol of that quality into a chunk of slag if the need arises.
 
Great thread. I like the buy quality, buy once philosophy. The best is not always the most expensive, but I do also research the internet. In fact, I get paralysis by analysis. Like the Saddleback leather wallet, the small one. Going back and forth over that and the Col Littleton, as far as whether the leather will loosen up too much and let cards slide out. I get too many opinions and obsess about getting the right one that I can't decide.

Anyway, some things I get, yeah, the are a show-off purchase. I can justify the Rolex Datejust by saying that I can take it swimming, waterskiing, to the beach, play golf in it, or fix things around the yard or on a car and it can get h it pretty good and still work. Yet I bought a Jaeger LeCoultre because, well, maybe 1% of the population knows the horological pedigree. Would love to add a Reverso and a vintage Omega. But the Rolex is a sign that yes, I reached a certain milepost or status in my life. Well, pride of ownership overtook that and heck, I just like it. Can see why guys get attached to their Submariners.

Sometimes, you get the holy grail and it is not what you thought, as another poster above has said. Went from Volvo to BMW 3 series to the c class Mercedes. Overall, for the smaller cars, we would go back to the BMW. For us, it is sportier, rides better and is not as elegant in the interior as the Benz but works for us. In fact, I traded in March a 2002 Toyota Solara Convertible (at the time, the Honda 2000 of its time, lol) with 154,000 and needing repairs and got a 2008 BMW 335i convertible hardtop with 22,000 miles. Love it, Love it. I looked at the new Infiniti hardtop and even the Volvo, and had my wife enrcouraged me, a Boxster. But she told me that I always had my heart set on a BMW and if I was going to spend that kind of money, get what I wanted. SInce it was preowned, I had not planned on the bigger engine as I don't really race cars as much as I am in a hurry to get places. Turns out, that bigger engine really works for getting in to highway traffic from the on ramp.

Knives, I love my Delica. I dont use mine as much but I wanted something better than the $5 knives I got from some tool shop in the Opry Mills mall in Nashville. Glad I did, and if I used it more, could see myself with a Sebenza.

But yes, buying quality does count for a lot in my book. I am tough on cars and tough on shoes. Part of the purchase decision is aesthetics. A Hyundai may be a great car and very well priced, but it lacks that 'oomph' or wow factor for me. They are pricey and I will search for a sale, but my workhorse shoe is an Allen Edmonds. Got some Johnston Murphy captoes for $99 and well, I can tell a difference. They now need new soles and I have decided to resole them and use them for rain and snow, but my next business pair, gonna bite the bullet and get the Allen Edmonds. Since I don't need many pairs of dress shoes, and I wear black a lot, Ill have two pair of the Park Avenues to rotate and then the Johnston Murphy for when I know it will rain all day.
 
Kind of depends on one's definition of "best".... If by that one merely means "most expensive", then I've never remotely been in a position to even consider "the best". One can easily spend more on a watch than my house is worth. Silly.

I like bicycles. One can drop 10,000 dollars for a Merlin or other custom number, or half that on a Litespeed... Too rich for my blood, regardless.
I ride a 30+ year old vintage Euro roadster. It works and satisfies my needs.

I like guitars. having a nice pre-war Martin OM would be really nice.... But sundry thousands for one just isn't in the cards.
So I play a 300 dollar Yamaha, and am saving towards an instrument that will cost about twice that. That's about as rich as I can justify. I'll try to find the "best" instrument in that price range.
That's my definition of best... Best fit for me considering my financial state and my needs. Don't give a rodent's patootie about status or appearance.
 
The "best" is just an idea people build up in their minds, and thinking you have the best of everything(or have to) is just an image or ego problem. You can spend years at any activity learning what works for you better than anything else available, whether it's a tool, a boot, pack, watch, etc. and will usually discover that while the best is sure not to be the cheapest, it's also rarely the most expensive.
The best for me is whatever does what I want, the way I want it done.
The trap is always wanting something better. I've gone full circle on lots of things. Finding something that was great, did just what I wanted, and then trying to improve on it-looking for a fix for something that wasn't broken. That's where most of my spending, and disappointments, have come from.
 
Meh. Diminish returns stack up FAST and there is much confusion between luxury and quality.

As a college student who is generally flat broke, I generally just go without, punctuated with some cheap junk and the occasional purchase of moderately ok.

I'd love to drive a Mercedes, but it's going to be a few decades. I've had to eat ramen noodles a few times in the past couple years.
 
I'm the same way, when I want a certain item I usually go with what is considered to be the best otherwise I'm not satisfied. For example : Busse, Fehrman, Leatherman, Bose, Apple ect. Although I wouldn't go as far as to accept Stider's (to use an example) overblown value, where their shamefull abuse is apperant to everyone.
 
knarfeng said:
Nah. For me it's finding what's "good enough" to get the job done while spending as little as possible. Might be the Scottish heritage. Might be a generational thing. My folks were born well before the depression, so they hit it full force in their late teens. They taught me to value being able to get by. I value solid "good" stuff rather than pricey "best" stuff.
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Hay, I don't think I like what you're getting at there. :grumpy:

:p
 
I find that buying a quality item and then taking care of it is often even more economical than buying a cheaper item that will most likely depreciate fast and fall apart.

Reason is "another man's trash is another man's treasure". When it's time to upgrade, I can sell.
 
quattrokid73 said:
I find that buying a quality item and then taking care of it is often even more economical than buying a cheaper item that will most likely depreciate fast and fall apart.

Reason is "another man's trash is another man's treasure". When it's time to upgrade, I can sell.
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I agree. :thumbup:
 
Even if I had the money, I wouldn't buy a Rolex, unless I was a rapper, old, or had nothing better to waste my money on. :) No offense. :) I do believe in spending on quality blades though, like Hinderer, Emerson, CRK. I drive American, though I thought of buying a BMW a few times. For watches I like Tag Heuer. Same guts as more costly swiss watches, but fits my style better. Over the years I've owned Wilson Combat, Nighthawk and Ed Brown. I've determined they're all a waste of money and went back to Glocks and XDs.
 
Gollnick said:
My sainted father used to say, "The joy of low price is quickly forgotten amidst the disappointment of low quality."

Another friend of mine says, "Buy quality and you'll only cry once."

About Twenty-five years ago, I bought myself a vacuum cleaner, a Sanitaire; it was not cheap. A few weeks ago, the zipper on the bag broke. What a silly thing. Reluctantly, I took it to a local shop expecting to be laughed at with such an old thing. The technician said, "They still make that exact model. We can have that part in in a few days and fix it up for you."

When I picked it up, I asked the guy what he thought of such an old machine. He said, "It's the last vacuum you'll ever own." In that case, it will be the only vacuum cleaner I will ever own. Buy quality and you only cry once... literally.

And that vacuum cleaner is actually money in the bank for me. I've noticed in the stores that you can buy a vacuum cleaner for about $100 and such a piece of plastic will last you for a few years and they something will break on it and you'll throw it away and get a new one. So, every few years I save $100 because of something like $300 I spent 25 years ago. That means that I've already saved $400 and, apparently, I can expect to keep doing that every three years or so for the rest of my life. It's a small thing, a vacuum cleaner, but it's just one example of how quality can pay off.

I've always maintained that I would rather have a few quality things than a lot of junky things. Now, as I look around myself, I find myself in possession of a lot of quality things. Some of them, that vacuum for example, are old but still look and work just fine. Because I don't have to replace junky things all the time, I can afford to buy additional quality things.

Quality products look good, feel good, WORK WELL, can be repaired when necessary, and LAST A LONG TIME (maybe even a lifetime).




Oh, and I wear a Zenith watch, drive a Mercedes automobile, carry a custom-made knife, and prefer H&K firearms.
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Mate, you would make a good farmer! :D most of the stuff on properties where I live is 30+ yrs old and still chugging along ok.

Another quote that some blokes that make sheds here say is

"Quality isn't expensive, its priceless!"

Great thread. :thumbup:
 
Spydiefan04 said:
Great Thread,

I'm currently wearing Seikos, Bulovas, and Citizens due to cost of Rolex, but I've noticed 2 things on the watch front: 1)almost every watch I own looks similar to the Rolex Sub I really want. and 2)if I had just bought a Sub to begin with it would have been cheaper than the watch collection I currently have.

PPKs are fine but I'm a J-frame kinda guy, less to go wrong.

I'll get an MB someday. And I personally though I have some, would not carry a 400 dollar knife when you can get a Delica or mini-grip for their price and the two of them be as good as they are.
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I went through the same thing before I bought my Rolex Sub 7 years ago. I wear my watch every day and it was one of the best purchases I have made. The best part is after 7 years the watch is still worth what I paid for it!
 
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