As most of you know, I am a big fan of "buy once cry once" and that best value is more important than lowest price. The cold-linked article below has some info and insight regarding that belief and re-affirms, at least for me, that it is correct.

 

Basically, if you want to know why you pay more for the Eagle PC than you do for the Condor or Voodoo PC that looks the same, Darin Talbot of EGL posted this explaination/comparison on Primary & Secondary:

 

https://primaryandsecondary(dot)com/what-is-quality/

 

Remove the (dot) and replace with .

 

I didn't copy and paste as the article is very photo heavy.

Good read - thanks HE.

I agree with you on the buy once cry once.  Every time I veer from that course I end up with regret.  

That is true, but there are also smaller companies that don't yet have the name that make quality items but don't yet charge for the name. The trick is to find those companies and know people that are very happy with the products.

Thanks, that CLEARLY shows the difference between a quality piece and a knockoff or economical version.

Grandpa used to tell me to buy the best I could get, for the best price I could find. Better than settling for inferior products, tho there are always exceptions.

 

The hammer and combination wrenches and blanket I keep among the items stored in the trunk of my wife's car are not top quality, but decent. They won't fail during the limited use they will get, but there's not really a need to have Snap-on tools in there. Sears wrenches will easily suffice.

 

My heat gun is a Harbor Freight 9.99 special. I use it once or twice a year, maybe 3. No need to drop 40 bucks on something like that in my case, but my 30 years ago I bought a Milwaukee Sawzall. Aside from brushes, an allen screw blade tightener  and a new cord end, it still is all original. 

quality is in the eye of the beholder and the specific use case. everyone is conditioned to hate hi point, yet i know a few guys that love theirs. a ford fiesta isn't exactly what one would consider a quality car, yet i have a coworker who absolutely loves hers. in the plate carrier example, its funny. everybody runs around wanting a plate carrier for their shtf scenario and will go out and spend top dollar on the eagle or some other brand, yet the stark reality is that there's a 99.999% probability that unless you're on a tour in iraq, there's zero chance you'll ever, ever use it. so why not get "good enough" and spend the savings on other stuff, like ammo? yeah the condor is cheaper, and yeah they cut corners and maybe the stitching isn't as good, but i can assure you it would do its intended job just as well as the more expensive brands. maybe the stitching won't hold up to 10 mile daily hikes with full packs of gear over the course of a year, but is anyone realistically doing that? it's a bullet proof plate carrier. for a person living in new jersey (or vt or ct or wherever there isn't a currently active war). i appreciate the info, but let's just remember we need a little perspective here. i'll be the first to argue that sometimes we need/want to spend top dollar on top quality things, but as the previous heat gun example demonstrated, that's not always the case, and for the majority of ppl, "good enough" is plenty quality

 

one more thing. if a real shtf scenario were to play out, i'd think something like the condor would perform perfectly fine, and if videogames have taught me anything, it's that in such a situation there'll be plenty of plate carriers worth $$$ to scavenge off of dead ppl if i ever need to replace it

If quality means reliability then you can't look at or study an item to know if it is going to go bang every time you press the trigger. Just like with automobiles and other items one of the best ways is through testing on large enough samples. Ask a gun range (that has high number of rentals) which guns are the most reliable. Price sometimes can have nothing to do with reliability.

quality is in the eye of the beholder and the specific use case. everyone is conditioned to hate hi point, yet i know a few guys that love theirs. a ford fiesta isn't exactly what one would consider a quality car, yet i have a coworker who absolutely loves hers. in the plate carrier example, its funny. everybody runs around wanting a plate carrier for their shtf scenario and will go out and spend top dollar on the eagle or some other brand, yet the stark reality is that there's a 99.999% probability that unless you're on a tour in iraq, there's zero chance you'll ever, ever use it. so why not get "good enough" and spend the savings on other stuff, like ammo? yeah the condor is cheaper, and yeah they cut corners and maybe the stitching isn't as good, but i can assure you it would do its intended job just as well as the more expensive brands. maybe the stitching won't hold up to 10 mile daily hikes with full packs of gear over the course of a year, but is anyone realistically doing that? it's a bullet proof plate carrier. for a person living in new jersey (or vt or ct or wherever there isn't a currently active war). i appreciate the info, but let's just remember we need a little perspective here. i'll be the first to argue that sometimes we need/want to spend top dollar on top quality things, but as the previous heat gun example demonstrated, that's not always the case, and for the majority of ppl, "good enough" is plenty quality

 

one more thing. if a real shtf scenario were to play out, i'd think something like the condor would perform perfectly fine, and if videogames have taught me anything, it's that in such a situation there'll be plenty of plate carriers worth $$$ to scavenge off of dead ppl if i ever need to replace it

" maybe the stitching won't hold up to 10 mile daily hikes with full packs of gear over the course of a year, but is anyone realistically doing that?"

 

C'mon, everyone knows we all have sewing kits in our bug out bags, right? 

 

and if videogames have taught me anything,it's that in such a situation there'll be plenty of

 

Hey, beats lugging around all that .223 ammo I wuz plannin ta pack up!  

Low price and quality are not mutually exclusive. I've heard nothing good things about hipoint carbines (not so much about their pistols but...) however I've never heard anything good about Condor products. For some carbine classes you're required to run a PC with plates. I don't want one that's uncomfortable and makes me miserable and worst case falls apart half way through a $500 class that I now cant complete because I 'saved' $100 on my junk PC. You can buy anything you want, but I'll buy whatever is the best value and will meet needs. If it's a one and done I don't mind buying a $40 tool at Harbor freight for $10 for a 1 use job, but if I'm looking for a good tool that I plan to use a lot, I'll spring for the $40. YMMV

Oh, and with my luck I'd find only guys with 'good enough' equipment, Condor plate carriers and $400 AR's.

I have a Tactical Tailor rig that I got (new) a few years ago in a discontinued color for around 1/3 of normal pricing.  If you don't care about color, that's one thing to look for.  Can also look for used gear for cheap - lots of airsofters out there who are gear whores and quit and sell their legit gear that may have only seen a few hours or days in the woods.  I dunno how long ACU will be used by the Army, but I thought I read it was being phased out - might be able to snag some new or used ACU gear as manufacturers clear out their old stock.

 

There are tools I get at Harbor Freight,* there are my Craftsman tools, and there are my DeWalt or Snap On tools...what you get depends on how often you need to use it and what you plan to actually do with it.  Sometimes, it's worth getting disposable tools; sometimes you want something that will be with you for decades [where the price does make you wince (if not cry).]

 

 

 

*Some of which are surprisingly decent, actually.