Forgive my repetition for those who have heard me mention this a few times, but:
"If you can't afford the best, you can't afford to replace broken second hand gear."

I'm a big fan of getting the best tool/gear/gadget right off the bat, and getting the most use out of it for a long time. I've been a dirtbag kayaker for a while and prefer to save money for beer and gas. And not spending it on several broken tools in a year, even when (which is always) I have to scrape funds to pull it together.

That said, I'm also a fan of getting good USED stuff. Or closeouts from manufacturers that I may not know well, but they exist enough to do some research on them and find out more about their gear.

If I can't find out some info on a company, I'll pass even if it's super cheap.

Jason