Well said, AROTC. I agree with every point you just made.

Tools that are substandard not only let you down in the field, they tend to cause injuries when they fail. So they are not only useless, they are a liability. And like (dare I say) a substandard condom, they can get you into deeper trouble by giving a false sense of security.

But there's no reason why inexpensive gear cannot be sturdy and functional. It just takes a bit more experience and judgement to winnow the wheat from the chaff. And perhaps a bit more savvy on the part of the 'operator' to have a sense of what it can and cannot do.

The inexpensive BOB being discussed here sounds a lot like the emergency bag that lives in each of my cars. Mostly surplus, scrounged, and inexpensive stuff; but it's all adequately functional, and all extremely valuable if stranded someplace.