1st Rule of Acquisition; Poll

Ok so I'm partial to Star Trek hence the Ferengi 1st Rule of Acquisition title, so sue me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I just noticed something odd about my acquisitions, certain ones left me predisposed to make others. e.g. buying more expensive knives led to buying flashlights I'd never thought I'd even consider.

With this in mind, here's a little poll for you:

/me points at the lights - the lights did it! The lights are now making me spend on watches and multitools! I don't really carry 'knives' as in a fixed or folder, I prefer the multitools and I have no problems putting down $100 for a Leatherman Charge Ti.

Fortunately no pens are involved yet although I did buy half a dozen $1 pens to fill out all the paperwork I need to ship lights.. see, the lights did it again!!

I guess multitools fall under the category of "knife" though I've got more knives than multitools. It's harder for me to justify a nice pen these days; I'm always using a computer. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

-LT

A hundred dollars is the minimum I'd spend on a watch.

I might spend a little bit on a decent pen to carry in a dressy environment, but I'm not a businessman who uses a pen every day. I wouldn't spent that much money on a pen, personally.

I had to go knives over lights in the cost department, though. Mainly because unless you're talking about something crazy, you're not going to pay all that much for a light in reality. Sure, there's the freakish SF Beast and similar lights, but for the most part, I think if I had $750 I could get most of the lights that I'd want. $750, OTOH, wouldn't touch a lot of the knives I like. Maybe you flashlight modders are too nice or something, I dunno. The prices of the custom made lights and stuff like that are extremely reasonable, well in the range of similar production lights. A custom made knife can be more expensive than my car, depending on materials and quality and stuff. Ahh, it's good to be young, working and single, as there's only a few places for my money to go - knives and lights /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Watches, I spend what I have to in order to get what I want. My minimum requirements anymore are dive rating and tritium.

scudinc,

Some of my favorite watches are under $100 of course they didn't start out that low I just waited. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Funny how that's so much harder to do with lights, wait that is.

-LT

You need to bump up your price range by 10x


A good name brand Swiss Watch (Omega for starters) start in the $2000 and go up to the $70,000 (Patek,Lange) range. (no expensive complications like tourbillions which will bump that to $175,000)

Starting range for a custom made knife is around $350, but even nice production knives (Sebenza) will start at $300.

Lights? well we all know about Surefire prices.

Pens? I'm not as knowledgeable about Pens but I picked up a Pen catalog at Heathrow Airport last year...prices in the 1000USD were not uncommon. I have a complete set of Parker 75 series (Sterling silver & gold nib fountains) that cost me about $300 back in the mid 1970's.

Big boy's toys

P.S. Of course you can add to this list tools & expensive guns. So of us here have very expensive airsoft guns and other have $10's of thousands in lathes and other machine shop tools.

the PEN led me to spend more on the others.
its how i wrote the check /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Lunal_Tic ... your numbers are too low /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Good quality and excessively cool items in all categories cost way above 100 ... unfortunately /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Very interesting poll btw! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
bernie

[ QUOTE ]
scudinc said:
A hundred dollars is the minimum I'd spend on a watch.

[/ QUOTE ] I would have enough watches to wear a different one for each month, if I spent that much. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Topper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Great Poll LT,

You've hit on an idea that is near and dear to my heart. Watches are actually what got me into this obsessive hobby. I'm convinced that people who like watches or flashlights, or knives, etc. enough to talk about them on the internet, have a very high propensity to become interested in the other areas.

Thanks,
Robert

Good poll... makes one think.

Pens... usually under $5 (I lose those things)

Watches $30 Casio that is waterproof, lights up, stopwatch, day and date. Been banging it around for 3 years with no malfunctions. My more expensive watches have been destroyed by harsh use.

Knives I guess a multi-tool counts!
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Leatherman Charge Ti with option bit kit is great. The 154CM knife works well for 99% of what I use a knife for.

Ironically, over the last 8 months I have been given three knives!
1. Gerber combat folder (double edged 4.25" blade)
2. Benchmade switchblade
3. Buck Alpha Hunter
The most used knife is the Leatherman followed by the Buck.

Lights I spend the money on. A $10 pen writes the same as a $1,000 one. A $25 knife cuts like a $250 one. A $20 watch tells time as accurately as a $200,000 watch. Lights have the most difference in cost. LEDs add to the cost and usefulness, regulation, HAIII, optics, aluminum, glass, rechargable batteries etc., etc.

Thanks for the compliments guys. I really tried to get this right because it was quite interesting to me but trying to interest you guys isn't that easy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif unless it is small, blinding, and stylish.

I agree that I probably went too low on the ranges but I was really concerned about two things. 1) I didn't really know what the vast majority of CPFers would consider "reasonable"; 2) I didn't want to seem like I was trying to find out what everybody was worth. I know you guys like your privacy.

Perhaps if there is enough interest we could try again with different ranges and maybe a different question or two.

I didn't include guns because they aren't available to all our members and there seems to be more PC problems with them that don't effect the other items. I was more interested in how the "dominoes fell", what led to which, rather than political positions on the items.

When I used to actually write more, I really liked pens but lately they have become like my interesting but not used lights, they require more maintenance to store and dust.

-LT

I pay ~$60.00 for a good watch.
I pay ~$50.00 for a good pen. (I use mainly fountain pens)
I pay from $60-$160 for flashlights. (most of us do)

-tom

I'm simply not an expensive pen guy. Pretty much the same for watches. However, I do appreciate them as they are wonderful works from true craftsmen. I just can't see myself justifying spending that much money on something that's relatively delicate, since I am prone to abuse both in daily use. I might spend up to $30 on a pen and $100 on a watch, but my purchase would be guided solely on function and durability.

Knives got me into the world of large(or larger, anyway) money and higher quality items. I've carried knives since I was a kid and picked up on the quality aspect in my teens. Whether factory or custom, I look for the highest quality in the range of money I can afford to spend on my knives (one of my knife guys' motto is "buy the best you can afford"). I find nothing out of the ordinary about a knife that costs in excess of $100. I still kick myself for not buying one particular knife for $450, and this was twenty years ago. A real work of art and still functional, but also because I last saw it for sale again was about 6 or 7 years ago... for a mere $1650.

This philosophy works very well for lights, too. Like my knives, I have very few lights that I find so precious that I would not carry and use them. Also, I find that my knives and lights are able to stand up to the use and abuse I give 'em. Nothing really delicate here.

It's comforting to find that with respect to this forum , I'm relativley normal .

cdf,

Normal is relative. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

-LT

I have no normal relatives.

So, a little thread hi-jacking... which really is the gateway item to flashlight addiction -- knives, pens, or watches?

And what was your entry level for lights, or pens, or watches?

For me, my addiction to lights started with my first GMC Infinity Ultra and my first G2. For knives, it was a Benchmade folding tanto.

Well, I find that I have opened the door to two addictive hobbies, and I probably should be glad I haven't been bitten by the watch and pen bugs.

So far...

Most expensive:

Watch - Tag
Knife - Custom Benchmade from Santa Fe Stoneworks
Light - A2
Pen - Bic

Buying cheap knives showed me that you really need to spend a decent amount on any of these products if you want them to perform. I just don't put pens in the performance category as I do the others.

i spend silly amounts on lights and knives
i carry a spacepen in my wallet (because it fits nicely)
and cheap two or three dollar pens at work.
my watch is a 600 aussie dollar Traser (all stainless)
so my watch is the most expensive - but i didnt pay for it - it was a 21st present from my parents
total knife and light value is easily 3000 dollars