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I've had a pair of RM Williams boots for a decade, unfortunately a minor repair resulted in a local cobbler ruining them.
Festool Countersink Bit
Christ, I bought the 5mm version around 10 years ago, it was around £15 then, no way would I pay £67 for one now.
Nice pens.
Definitely. My indulgence last year when I sold my house was a £300 pen. Yes, a £1 Bic does the same job, but this is a thing of beauty that is lovely to use. I went to the ‘factory’ to see their pens/pencils. There are 3 people working there in a tiny unit in Birmingham. All engraving done by hand, it takes over a hour to engrave each pen.
https://www.yard-o-led.com/collections/the-viceroy-standard/products/the-standard-barley-ballpen
I now want a king size in the spare room for my sister,
Christ, how big is she?
Context is key in 'kingsize' mattress sizing. Charles I was 4'10"
Festool Countersink Bit
Christ, I bought the 5mm version around 10 years ago, it was around £15 then, no way would I pay £67 for one now.
You must have picked up a bargain - they were over £40 back in 2008.
I'll go with exposure lights. My old race must be pushing 20years of use. It fell off the van and was run over. It's no longer a cylinder but it still works. Although I do had the fear it's stored and charged in a metal ammo case.
Good training or coaching to be able to do something / do something better.
A proper Peugeot pepper grinder.
Mine was about £40 and every mealtime I am reminded that it was, in fact, a bargain
the mattress one is interesting. I really do not like sprung mattresses. They make me feel seasick. I slept on a futon for decades and now on a very firm foam mattress. No back issues ( unless I am in a hotel with a sprung mattress) and I sleep well mostly
The cheapo foams do not last long for sure but I find them much more comfortable than a sprung one
I really do not like sprung mattresses. They make me feel seasick.
Pocket sprung mattresses behave very differently
+1 to ViSpring, and maybe go softer than you think
Down duvets
Tailored clothes
Cat-skiing at Island Lake Lodge in BC
Interesting trips
+1 to the Commandante coffee grinder
+1 to sourdough bread
+1 to the Rega turntable, and good turntables in general.
Roksan Xerxes 20 Plus turntable Mine was expensive, sounds fantastic and is still going strong after many years.
Along the same lines, any of Vertere's turntables, arms or cartridges. They're all brilliant engineering, like the Xerxes, formula 1 of turntables. Expensive but definitely worth the money.
Pocket sprung mattresses behave very differently
Still makes me seasick. I have slept on these in a really posh hotel
I am a very active sleeper and its the undamped springs as I move around. I can sleep happily on a carpeted floor tho
I am a very active sleeper and its the undamped springs as I move around. I can sleep happily on a carpeted floor tho
My back really thanks me for this, duvet underneath and I can have a really good sleep.
I don't think we do really expensive stuff. I prefer utility - Berlingo, Uniqlo etc - or maybe a notch up when it's justified to get something solid (dualit, ercol etc). But that's talking middle range John Lewis type brands justified by functionality, wine rarely more than twice the cost of the cheapest bottles that sort of thing. Nothing 'really expensive' as per thread title.
I very strongly doubt that a very pricey mattress would add anything to the quality of my life. The beds I spend most time in have mid range but I don't really see how my sleep quality, state of my back or whatever could be improved, once you're past some minimum level of comfort. Most hotels I stay at seem to be able to manage this.
@tjagain. For super mattress comfort, a Tempur cloud mattress is reassuringly expensive. Seriously though, amazing mattress. They last forever too. Got two Tempur mattresses. One original one, 16 years old. One Cloud, 12 years old. Both still as new with daily use.
Oh, that reminds me.
I bought a couple of Tempur pillows when buying the bed (thanks to a crafty bit of upselling). £100 apiece. For a pillow. One of the best spends of a hundred quid I've ever had, life-changing.
I bought a couple of Tempur pillows when buying the bed (thanks to a crafty bit of upselling). £100 apiece. For a pillow. One of the best spends of a hundred quid I’ve ever had, life-changing.
In what way? Just curious. I don't really have issues with neck pain and have never really believed that a new pillow could help with back pain, despite what the adverts say...
In what way? Just curious.
In that, well, they work. They don't poke you in the face like feather pillows, you don't end up waking up on two layers of pillowcase with all the stuffing out to the sides, you don't need three of them, you don't find yourself turning them over or plumping them up halfway through the night, they don't end up 5mm thick after three years of nightly use.
Yep, tempur mattress we have is ace. Don’t get on as well with pillows though.
In that, well, they work. They don’t poke you in the face like feather pillows, you don’t end up waking up on two layers of pillowcase with all the stuffing out to the sides, you don’t need three of them, you don’t find yourself turning them over or plumping them up halfway through the night, they don’t end up 5mm thick after three years of nightly use.
I think I must have a really heavy head - I seem to murder pillows, no matter how much the cost.
Tempur? Thats memory foam is it not? Not for me.
For me track days, and particularly at the Nurburgring. Also in 10 years there they've never been as expensive as they could have been, touch wood 😂. Usually at the end of my last lap there I think I got away with it again, perhaps time to stop...
Canoagnolo corkscrew. Ours is almost 30yrs old. Still looks like new and has always been a pleasure to use
Yep, bought my dad one for his 60th, makes normal corkscrews feel like cheap tin openers. Now eyeing it covetously as my inheritance.
Egyptian cotton bed clothes, Sateen with 400 thread count or more (Don't go less than 400 I have some 200 pillow cases, and whist good, they just feel like regular cotton really)... game changer.. its like sleeping in/on a cloud, and dont wear/fade/go rough over time, they actualy get softer and need to be 'broken in' over the first few washes before they feel properly soft.
OK not really expensive, but it is compared to a £30 bed set from B&M or whatever, but they'll last a lot longer and are so much nicer.
+1 for high quality white cotton bed linen. Not only does it feel fabulous especially just after washing but they also last a long time and stay just as nice, so possibly
cheaper than buying cheap ones more often.
Physiotherapy. Got me back on the bike which is the shortest route to happiness.
so possibly
cheaper than buying cheap ones more often.
Absolutley, I have 3 bed sets on rotation, but the oldest set is still like new, actually better and softer than new.... egyptian cotton gets better with age! probably 7 years old now,bought it as a bit of a treat...
The newest 2 sets are 2 years old I think, as I couldn't face buying lesser league bed clothes when some of my older ratty stuff was past its best.
I avoid pure white, one set is a very light creamy colour, the other two are very light gray.
https://www.abacaorganic.co.uk ...............we got one of their cheaper mattresses about a decade ago. Would buy another in a flash!
Another vote for Tempur pillows.
If you're into camping, proper down sleeping bags and a thermarest mattress. Will cost >£500, but means you will actually camp.
Festool Countersink Bit
Wow. That's a lot of money for what it is.
I use the Snappy ones. About £32 for 5 different sizes. Only difference is no depth stop.
I do like well made tools but have always had a bit of a bee in my bonnet for Festool and their Festool tax.
I do have their 1/2" router though with the sticky out grip.
That's brilliant. Bought it used though.
Considering I've already got a Dewalt cross cutter, and its only really ever for rough cutting, this was a bit of an extravagant indulgence.
I have to add my Ebike. Health isn't what it used to be, and while im allowed a free bus pass, I haven't renewed it for 2 years(4 inc covid) basically because the Ebike gets me to the places I would otherwise use a bus for. Worth every penny, and it was a hell of a lot of those.
Very useful thread this.
mr fez - only 3 sets in rotation?
Tsk, tsk.
Amsterdam.
Philips clothes lint remover. blimey!
Craghoppers Nosilife shirts, hanging next to the regular clothes. Haven’t seen a clothes moth in yonks.
Apple Watch. The biometrics are heads and shoulders above the competition.
Ortlieb high visibility range.
Paramo (for the dryness).
IKEA vindstryka.
One in use, one in the wash cycle and one ready to go, what's wrong with that? 😀
I do have two-ish other sets but they are old cheap crappy ones, so they more fall into the catagory of emergency painting and decorating sheets!
So few?
Co-ordination by weight, season and colour should result in many more sets.
A little late to the party, but can we have a few more links for the lesser known obscure stuff.
The thread is why I love browsing this place:
https://www.objectsofuse.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnrOtBhDIARIsAFsSe53wFIZkrPewebG_XQ3dTAhxLYqg2bfj0WVJQWCEMy3pxDfiEVZoQusaAkaKEALw_wcB
They have an actua shop in Oxford, the only shop I’ll travel for, everything in there has been curated to be the best. Not stupid expensive, but still worth a mention.
Lovely knives, pans, pens, tools and so on. The chisels they have I recognise from my Grandads tool box from 50 years ago, handmade in uk was standard back then I guess.
Why would anyone need more than 2 sets of bed linen? One in use, one in the wash / drying.
Tools 100%. Bought the Knipex plier wrench and a good set of Wera hex keys recently and don't know how I got on without them.
A little late to the party, but can we have a few more links for the lesser known obscure stuff.
The thread is why I love browsing this place:
https://www.objectsofuse.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnrOtBhDIARIsAFsSe53wFIZkrPewebG_XQ3dTAhxLYqg2bfj0WVJQWCEMy3pxDfiEVZoQusaAkaKEALw_wcB
They have an actua shop in Oxford, the only shop I’ll travel for, everything in there has been curated to be the best. Not stupid expensive, but still worth a mention.
Lovely knives, pans, pens, tools and so on. The chisels they have I recognise from my Grandads tool box from 50 years ago, handmade in uk was standard back then I guess.
Nice that they mention Botton Village on there - there was a great documentary about that place a few years ago
https://www.objectsofuse.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnrOtBhDIARIsAFsSe53wFIZkrPewebG_XQ3dTAhxLYqg2bfj0WVJQWCEMy3pxDfiEVZoQusaAkaKEALw_wcB
They have an actua shop in Oxford, the only shop I’ll travel for, everything in there has been curated to be the best. Not stupid expensive, but still worth a mention. Lovely knives, pans, pens, tools and so on. The chisels they have I recognise from my Grandads tool box from 50 years ago, handmade in uk was standard back then I guess.">Botton Village
Somewhere in my family tree theres a bit of quakerism and that seems to have trickled down the generations in terms of philosophy regarding spending money. My mum would tell me that as the youngest of 7 kids growing up in the East End of London there was never really any need for my gran to buy her clothes as there were loads of hand-me-downs. But gran would pay a neighbour to make her dresses anyway - not because she needed to buy a dress but because the neighbour needed to sell them. Similarly my dad was a pretty avid buyer of contemporary craft and he'd say the object he got as a token, a fancy receipt - what he was buying was the time and resources the maker needed to keep on making.
And I think I have a similar sense that spending money isnt really about gaining 'stuff' but about making things happen. Botton is perhaps a really great example of stuff having worth.
Rapha clobber (but in the sale obvs)?
Another +1 for a Knipex plier
Philips clothes lint remover. blimey!
I'm pretty sure that £15.99 does not count as 'really expensive 😆
However, these things are great and I absolutely swear by mine. Any knitwear fan should have one
camping - dry robes
DIY -knipex cable cutters & wago connectors, good quality work gloves, makita LXT stuff (not the crappy vaccum though), festool tracksaw & sanders with midi extractor.
+1 for Wago stuff when doing any electrical stuff DIY.
I've not read the entire thread, so apologies for repeating earlier suggestions.
Bike stuff: Exposure lights, also Lumicycle stuff going back two decades. Just works and lasts with effective aftermarket back-up if there is an issue. I have no idea how many cheapo Chinese light sets I'd have gone through over the same time span. Also an honourable mention for my venerable Osprey Raptor 14, which is still going strong and recently had a new waist strap and reservoir supplied under warranty. I actually asked for repair advice on the latter as it was so old and the tube connection moulding had split leading to a pin-hole leak, so slightly ambivalent. I'd rather have fixed it - which maybe I did... - than binned it for recycling which is what Osprey asked, and replaced it.
Otherwise, Arc'teryx clothing/equipment, the older stuff, which is both functionally brilliant and durable with it. Expensive to buy initially, but just keeps on keeping on. And my old Patagonia Stretch Speed Ascent deep-winter jacket - think a posh Buffalo - dating from 2001, which is still trucking on, but is currently having a new main-zip fitted by Patagonia for free down in London. Original NZ-made Macpac tents, bombproof and durable.
Ultimately the most sustainable kit is the stuff you keep on using rather than replacing. You can use as many recycled fabrics as you like. Make sure your processes are PFC free. Reduce water consumption by dope dying. Wrap things in paper rather than plastic. And manufacture from organic flax or whatever and it's still more sutainable not to have made that item in the first place.
People often conflate cheapness with value, but they are quite different things.
For me the big one is hestra gloves, really not cheap but so much better than cheaper ones.
Dogs. My spaniel was £400 8 years ago. She is awesome and makes (nearly*) every aspect of life better
*I could do without the rolling in fox poo or decomposed salmon.
Dubarry boots. Mine are over 10 years old. Hubby kindly polishes them with his Barker and Loake shoes.
I'm a curtain maker, good quality fabric and lining properly made up will last many years. They will keep light out, aiding good sleep, keep warmth in, cold and draughts out, saving money on fuel bills. Also they look good, soft furnishings enhance a room.
spend money on things you touch and keep you safe.
rubber (cars, bikes women)
shoes, trainers whatever.
nice clothes etc.
Handmade leather shoes, Loake/Barkers/Grensons etc. Fit well, wear well, can be resoled at the factory.
Meindl boots
Aigle Parcours wellies
Paramo. My Halkon jacket is now in it's tenth year of service. Worn pretty much daily for dog-walking, and in some of the foulest weather for shooting and stalking. Never had water through it. Factory re-zip four years ago and they patched it in a couple of places and replaced the entire back panel for 90 quid.
IPad pro 12.9. OK I bought it refurbed but it's chiefly used for four full repertoires of music scores and just works perfectly for the purpose. It works pretty well as a tablet too!!
Decent musical instruments.. USA made Fenders are a real pleasure to own and play. I have a hand-built British bass that was getting on for eye-wateringly expensive, but I can't put it down.
My iPad Pro 12.9 gets a lot of use.
I like the John Lewis Crisp & Fresh 440 thread count bed linen but I might try that M&S set linked too next.
Baavet wool duvets - excellent.
Quad power amplifiers - I had a 306 to start and upgraded to some 707s, and now got some 909 monos, a QSP and a pair of QMPs. The QMPs are the best of the bunch, but they are all pretty similar and offer great performance and value for money. Quad preamps, at least the early ones, not so much.
Music First Audio pre-amplifiers - expensive but good value for the performance - would need to spend a lot more for better solid state preamplification.
Got 3 Sleepeezee pocket sprung mattress and they have all been good - different models though and some with better edge support. Had a Sleepeezee before that got dumped after many years.
Decent walking boots
An entry for 'Relatively' expensive stuff that is definitely worth the money: Sugarsnap Peas
Co-Op £1.30 vs. Aldi 95p
The Co-Op ones, well, taste like Peas.
The Aldi ones are tasteless watery mush. That's me learned then.
I like the John Lewis Crisp & Fresh 440 thread count bed linen but I might try that M&S set linked too next.
My older set is john lewis, but a different one I think to yours, 'soft and silky' Egyptian cotton rather than 'crisp & fresh' the other two are M&S Egyptian cotton sateen... (so the M&S equv to the John Lewis one) I think the John lewis one is slightly better, but maybe as it's more broken in, but the M&S ones were cheaper IIRC.
Why would anyone need more than 2 sets of bed linen? One in use, one in the wash / drying.
To be fair I was going to just have two 'nice' sets but when buying the newer set I somehow managed to click x2 when ordering the duvet cover, so rather than return it I just bought the rest of the set to make it up to another full set...
I figure 3 full sets on rotation should see me a lifetime.
Has anyone said the NHS yet? While not that expensive on an individual basis it is as a whole. Having just had to deal with the US "Healthcare" system, and how much a simple chest infection cost, I think the NHS is worth every penny we spend as taxpayers on it.
ON sheets - I got mine from Asda - 400 count egyptian cotton and they were not expensive
Proper wool jumpers - get them from a UK manufacturer for all the right reasons and it becomes more expensive - but they really work and a good one will last and last. Same for hebtroco jeans
musical instruments is an interesting one, there are expensive (like US fender standard, c.£1800) that are worth it but other ones - like custom shop that I think aren't (easily 4k or more) because you are paying for complex paint and finishing. saxophones are the same, the different cosmetic finishes bump the price up but don't make them better horns. law of diminishing returns applies and even professional musicians don't buy the most expensive stuff, not unless they are utterly loaded
Good shout on the NHS - because when you compare what the UK govt pays per head compared to the US govt it's a bargain. The US govt spends a lot of money on the charging pricing admin just to go out to all the healthcare companies, what a bl00dy sham.
law of diminishing returns applies and even professional musicians don’t buy the most expensive stuff
Yeah that's true... my acoustic guitar was £800 which is 'cheap' for a 'real wood' as opposed to HPL Martin.. it's brilliant but very frugally appointed.
Although I bought it in 2011, the model is discontinued now, I think, they still sell second hand for the same price as brand new, assuming excellent condition.
Love the guitar mattyfez. My Martin is the best guitar I own. The price paid is soon forgotten the enjoyment goes on and on.
even professional musicians don’t buy the most expensive stuff
You mean they don't get them free because they're sponsored?!
Tempur pillow users, do you use one or two? I currently use two "fluffy" Ikea pillows but am considering a change.
The price paid is soon forgotten the enjoyment goes on and on.
Absolutely right. They're only expensive if you don't use them.
The Temur was £100 last year. But defo a bargain. Its been used for somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of my life since I got it. Its pretty cheap on a per-hour basis !
And the fewer neck pains and problems I have now is worth the £100 fifty times over.
I got the firmer version BTW, it just suits me more. (Yes it feels hard compared to a soft unsupportive pillow, but it moulds to my neck/head shape so much better)
Its been used for somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of my life since I got it.
Wow. You're doing well for a 3 and a half year old. 😉
I suppose expensive is all relative, depending on when and how you bought something..
I saved and paid a month and half of earnings for a pair of Technics 1210mk2 turntables (hate to think how much i have spent on vinyl), but the pleasure they have given me for nearly 30 years, plus the fact i could sell them tomorrow for not shy of what i paid for them, and that they are built like a tank makes me happy...
I have a North Face down jacket i brought with first paypacket joining the army at 18, seemed expensive at the time, but again that has had more than 29 years of service, so worth every penny.
I never mind paying for something which is going to last.
M&S fruit, Fruit loaf, food in general<br /><br />Small bakery Chelsea Bun's
My local French Cafe and anything they sell! Pastries to die for
My Time Edge bike from 2005, amazing bike<br /><br />Decent tools I agree<br /><br />I quite like my old t5.1 VW Caravelle
I bought a Norrona Goretex pro jacket a few years ago, so I guess it's kept me dry thro' several hundred days out in the Norwegian winter, and more difficult the Norwegian summer for climbing, walking , mountaineering, camping fieldwork and stuff. It wasn't cheap, even with a big discount, but I've never wanted anything else.
And I know other people have the dead opposite opinion.
Patagonia R1's. And good climbing shoes
Val d'Isere or Tignes
Not 100% sold on this but...Qooker boiling water tap.
Bought as part of a whole new kitchen (so didn't notice the eye-watering cost on its own) but I love it. Use it countless times a day and never lets me down. Don't think I'd be without it now.
but as for "definitely worth the money"...hmmm...I'm willing to convince myself but not sure I'd convince anyone else.
I'm with you on the boiling tap. Its definitely one of those things can can happily live without, until you get one and get used to it. I think its brilliant.
Well organised, guided biking holidays. Nothing better than getting to ride great trails, without having to worry about logistics, or planning a route, and being well fed and looked after throughout.
Bon Maman Jam