Ive been on both sides, like sockpuppet illustrated during deer season, I went out with the kmart youth rife dad bought me years before and took home my deer in about 15 minutes while others with their thousands of $ in gear were empty handed for days.

but on the other hand, I built a whole kicthen using a sears router. Then bought a $$$ porter cable and noticed how much easier and smoother it was to use so I could churn out the same quality in less time with less frustration.

I don't buy a particular item just because it's the most expensive. None of my gear is the most expensive. Had I bought the most expensive of everything, my BOB would have cost me $10,000 instead of $4,000.

I search the web for reviews, and I come to websites like this one and ask other people what they think about a product before I go out and buy it. For example, before I bought my water filter I searched google to get a variety of opinions. Then I posted questions on several different forums, including this one, asking for input. The general consensus was that I should get either a Katadyn Pocket or a Katadyn Combi. The Combi is the cheaper of the two, and that's the one I bought, but it still cost me $100.

"...I built a whole kicthen using a sears router..."

Wow, I am impressed!!!

yea, took about a year to make all the cabinets, but I'd make one at a time and swap them out. Problem was our house was in the city and the city started trying to clean up downtown and the crime moved into our neighborhood so we had to leave it all behind.