I'm loving the "get er done" drift of this thread. High end gear is a luxury, not a necessity. Plenty of durable stuff out there for less. I saw a group of high school kids several miles in up near timberline in the Olympics one time outfitted with mostly mil surplus. They were in misery with their ALICE frames, but having the time of their lives. There's a lesson in that. Lots of guys who are brand snobs are that way to reinforce their own sense of efficacy.
I agree to an extent, but in many cases, buying the best you can afford is the cheapest way to go. Outdoor gear frequently falls into that category. As an example, there was no way I was going to pay the $300 price tag for snowmachine bibs. I probably paid close to $500 going through several sets of bibs from $50-100 each. They always failed, some spectacularly. Eventually I found the bibs I wanted on sale for $250ish, and convinced myself that I had done well. Talk about false economy...$750+ to get a pair of $300 bibs.
I have done that so many times, being the cheap bastard that I am, that my new simplified plan is: Figure out what is best (or what you want), and figure out a way to get it. Buying substitutes only makes it more expensive.
In many cases, being a gear snob is the result of suffering with poorly made gear in the past. Poorly made doesn't always mean cheap either.
All that being said, if you can't afford it, you can't afford it, and you have to find another way. As someone once said: Choices are always easiest when there is no choice.
