Personally, I'd rather have a 99 cent baby Bic lighter than Doug's PSP, under the following conditions: The Bic lighter is in my pocket, and the PSP is in the glove compartment of my car back in the airport parking lot. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

You say that you've bought a lot of junk and found that, in the long term, it cost you more money than if you'd bought quality stuff in the first place. Otoh, I once did manage to baton several pieces of kindling off a log using a cheap "lockback" knife that I picked up in a Dollar store, and started a fire with that 99 cent baby Bic; if I knew then what I know now, I'm sure I would have gotten a good campfire going. So I'm a big believer that it's not the tools, it's the carpenter that matters. I would suggest that more lives have been saved by the Bic disposable than by all the Blastmatches, Swedish firesteels and Sparklites ever sold.

Just out of curiosity, what are some examples of "cheap" stuff you've bought, and in what way did it let you down?