Did you hint at finding a wife here?

As for fishing reels, I have seen that the point of diminishing returns appears to be around 250$ for a spinning reel. Baitcasting reels seem to start being good at around the same price, but remember to always loosen the drag between outings, or it will not last 5 years. Fly fishing reels for trout made out of metal should last a lifetime, no real stress on them Expect to pay around 100$ for a REAL NICE one. For bass and Salmon or similar, I’d expect to pay a lot more, 300-500$, to get true high end.

There is no reason not to buy an older firearm. The stuff made from around 1930 to 1965, when in good condition (ALWAYS HAVE A GUNSMITH INSPECT) should last for another century or so without much trouble, and the stock is always replaceable. Modern lesser actions are flimsier and contain lesser parts, along with easily lost spare magazines. Notable exception : Stevens 200. When buying new, be sure to get a classic, easliy obtainable caliber and not a new and hard to find one. 30-06 should do the trick for everything in North America bigger than a coyote and smaller than a Buffalo. 12 ga for birds (of course, caliber questions are worse than Canadiens – Bruins, or mutual fund – stock picking debates)

For the rest of the camping and outdoors stuff, expect breakage and loss to claim a lot of things and budget accordingly. Tents, even the best, have a lifetime of 300 days of use, more or less depending on sun exposure. I would not pay more than about 200-300 for one of those, aluminum poles are a must. Down sleeping bags are nice and durable, except when you might expect humidity (as in everywhere except the desert / plains). Synthetics will last you around 15 years of regular use in most any weather. Wash by hand and tumble dry on low temp with an old pair of sneakers to fluff it up

Hiking bags can last long, but buckles will break on even the best. Get friendly with your local cobbler, he might have spares. Try to get plain stainless cooking pots, good for very long. Quality cooking stove made by MSR and Primus can last very long indeed, with regular maintenance and a spare part kit to replace O-rings, plastic tubes and leather pump valves.
Those were canadian prices a 3 years ago.

Asolo makes great boots, which I regrettably tend to destroy by using on asphalt. Good point that : Outdoorsy soles last a very short time on pavement and concrete.

That’s off the top of my head. Hope it helps someone

For example, someone suggested a Sigg water bottle. They’re decent enough aluminium water bottles, but having owned one that was eventually replaced with a slightly smaller pressed aluminium water bottle from a £1 store ($1.50), it’s standing up just as well.

People often cite £200 weather proof jackets as an example of quality purchases (Berghaus, North Face etc.), but I don’t see why they’re any better than their £30 no-brand equivalent picked up in the sale. They’re all made from the same man made fibres, they’re all made in the same Chinese workshops… I think there’s a lot of snob value attached to some of our purchases.

Of course, it’s different with anything mechanical or built (like good furniture), as there’s a lot more that can go wrong with moving parts etc. and it’s important to buy quality.

My father in law is currently getting into furniture restoration and we’ve got some lovely pieces – a restored hardwood bureau for about £50, a beautiful brass inlaid table for £10. Luckily for us he’s a generous craftsman

http://misplacedcoupon.blogspot.com/2011/03/best-single-serving-drink-appliances.html

I do make a stand against the Vitamix. I really like my single-serving Cusinart blender. It also fits the bill in terms of being smaller and less bulky that other blenders. Another alternative is the hand-crank blender. I have known people who live off the grid and like these things very much–may be more in line with ERE and using as little electricity as possible.

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My grandmother always used to say “we can’t afford to buy cheap, we’re not rich enough to waste…”. Guess what? She was (and is) right.
As I mentioned earlier in some comment, I find it increasingly difficult to find “quality”, especially when it comes to clothes and shoes.
I tend to fall for the Kevin-M-syndrome: if everything is junk anyway, why pay more than necessary…
Now where (and how) do you find quality nowadays? Advice on where to buy affordable, durable shoes at a resonable price (three digit euro is ok, as long as the first digit is kept low…) is greatly appreciated.

Almost everyone else I knew at the time was effectively losing $5-10K/year off their car’s value in depreciation, and replacing them with new ones every 2-3 years.

This guy was having a ball, selling his old cars for at least what he paid for them (often much more!), and getting to drive a different classic every few years. He got way more pleasure out of his cars than anyone else I knew, and paid a lot less for the privilege!

I buy an older, well maintained car, drive it for a couple of years and sell it for more than I have in it… not necessarily counting operational costs of license, insurance and fuel… just the cost of the cars and repairs…

I’ve been doing it since High School and it’s always worked…

I’m not familiar with the makes listed above, but I made a knife from an engineering hacksaw blade when I was 13, mostly with a hand-turned grinder! It’s been used in the kitchen every day by my family for the last 20 years, including a year-long stint in a field when my father lost it temporarily. Doesn’t look so pretty now, but hey

I think people (me included!) can get a bit carried away with the idea of quality. You can definitely get to a point of diminishing returns, once you stop buying junk. I’m still breaking myself of the junk habit, though.

This discussion fits in with your definition of “sacrifice” the other day. Buying something nice that will hold value is a sacrifice I can live with!

That, and everyone is too busy to actually take care of the things they own, so routine maintenance is ignored.

Fishing gear is very dependent on where you live and how you intend to fish. For those who aren’t fly fishing, fish less than 4-6 days per year, and catch fish that are almost always under 10lbs, a zebco 33 set is a classic– cost around $20-30, require virtually no maintenance, are very simple to use, and can easily last 20-30 years. It may not be an expensive bit of gear, but it’s definitely a classic, particularly for the beginner or occasional angler.

A suggestion: Why not make a page for this series or at least have the previous posts as links at the bottom of this page?