I HATE sending money on clothes

[rondo]

Alan, I just found the remedy to your clothes-destroying:

Alan,
You make it sound as if you can't leave the house without a helmet. Surely it can't be as bad as that? Honestly I didn't know weather to laugh or cry. At one point in my life I was a mechanic...ruined nearly every shirt or pair of paints I bought. Got on a first name basis with the people at the 'Goodwill' store and the 'Salvation Army' store. Ruining a $1 shirt or pants was so much better than wrecking good Levi's. Of course I wasn't setting any fashion trends either. ....or making a lot of money either if memory serves.
Rondo

[Howard Clark]

Wow, where to go with this one. It sounds like "confessions of the fashion impaired" around here. Well count me in the same group.

I shop for shirts at Goodwill and Salvation Army and DAV. I went crazy with kilts for a little while, but have since sold all but three that id not make myself. I still have fabric to make more from, but like you Alan, I can't bring myself to buy the jackets for the cost.

I will spend almost any amount of money on a tool, if it will make more money. But clothing is perishable, and I destroy clothes. Working in a bladesmith shop will do that. I have worn out three cotton kilts, and am presnetly earing out three wool kilts as shop wear. 18 oz. Robert Noble tartan is hard to beat for durability, I must say.

My friends think it is funny. I can be seen in a Tewksbury kilt that I spent $500 on, wearing $300 Red Wing boots, and a $3.49 shirt and $6 jacket (that I modified) from Goodwill. And sometimes carrying a knife that I made myself that would sell for more than the whole lot.

Life is great! Kilts are great. We all make our own choices, and thank God we can and do. 'T'would be terribly boring otherwise.

[Alan H]

Wow, where to go with this one. It sounds like "confessions of the fashion impaired" around here. Well count me in the same group.

I shop for shirts at Goodwill and Salvation Army and DAV. I went crazy with kilts for a little while, but have since sold all but three that id not make myself. I still have fabric to make more from, but like you Alan, I can't bring myself to buy the jackets for the cost.

I will spend almost any amount of money on a tool, if it will make more money. But clothing is perishable, and I destroy clothes. Working in a bladesmith shop will do that. I have worn out three cotton kilts, and am presnetly earing out three wool kilts as shop wear. 18 oz. Robert Noble tartan is hard to beat for durability, I must say.

My friends think it is funny. I can be seen in a Tewksbury kilt that I spent $500 on, wearing $300 Red Wing boots, and a $3.49 shirt and $6 jacket (that I modified) from Goodwill. And sometimes carrying a knife that I made myself that would sell for more than the whole lot.

Life is great! Kilts are great. We all make our own choices, and thank God we can and do. 'T'would be terribly boring otherwise.

This. WORD.

Tools? I NEVER think twice about buying a tool, and I ALWAYS buy at least reasonable quality. Why? Because a tool truly does last a lifetime....well, electric power tools don't, but manual tools do, and even electric power tools can last decades. I am using my grandfathers plane and a bucket of his clamps, including his bar clamps. Besides, to me, buying a tool is, again, buying an experience. I bought a truly archaic tool a couple of years ago. I got it used on ebay for cheap, but turned out that I got a first-quality piece of kit because who the heck uses a DRAWKNIFE any more? I love that thing. Why did I get it?

---So that I could strip bark off of tree trunks to make cabers. So by buying the drawknife, I now have had the experience of making several cabers. How many guys do you know who have gone out, cut down a tree, sawn the branches off of it, stripped the bark, soaked the ends in linseed oil, covered it with clear-coat and made a toy out of the whole damn tree?

I absolutely will NEVER get rid of my mothers straight-stitch-only old black Singer sewing machine. That thing is practically miraculous. It's built like a tank, will sew perfect straight stitch through bloody sheet metal, I swear... and it's brain-dead easy to maintain. It snickers at 4 layers of marine canvas. If I didn't own one, I'd buy one.

[Alan H]

Alan, I just found the remedy to your clothes-destroying:

Got one. OK, not a welding apron, but an apron. I wear it when I cook in nice clothes. This is rare, nowadays, but wasn't so rare, ten years ago.

Me = the ratatouille king.

[creagdhubh]

I'm a runner, but I get the "runners high" shopping...

I am a runner too, but I achieve "runner's high" both from running long distances (as I am a distance runner), as well as from shopping for Highland attire items - such a fantastic feeling!

Cheers,

[ForresterModern]

There's a theme in this thread, though that occurs on a regular basis on this board....that is.... "I buy quality clothing, because I know it will last me my entire lifetime".

Interestingly, if you reread my original post I never said anything like this statement. What I said is that I am basically a savvy shopper who buys quality clothes and kit at as inexpensive a price as I can find, when I need or as I find and want them/it. I never expect anything to last forever although am pleased when it does. I never expect anything to fit forever, but am pleased as long as it does. But since I bought it originally for a relatively low price, I am less concerned about it if I outgrow something or wear something out or accidentally ruin it or have something unexpected happen to destroy it (e.g., chrome cantle full mask fox sporran by Toby McGregor completely eaten to shreds last year by moths as the source of my moths in my kilt closet problem), or even just get bored with it and either sell it, give it away, or donate it to charity.

I buy stuff to use it, to put it through its paces-----punching that flyrod and line 40-50 feet across a raging stream til my right arm aches, cranking through all 30 gears on one of my bikes between long fast descents and the following hard and long climb, putting my snowboard to the maximum test under my heavy arse down some steep and deep, carrying my full pack of camera gear (some of it strapped exposed to my chest straps) to the top of Yosemite Falls in the mist and muck just to make sure I can get that perfect shot with the right equipment, knowing that wear and tear are inevitable, but less likely to occur or be significantly debilitating with good equipment. I do believe that quality "hard" gear can last one or more lifetimes, and some items are indeed heirloom quality, but "soft" gear like most clothes, and even kilts to some degree, have a finite lifetime of varying degrees depending on frequency and type of use. As such I rarely buy them as an "investment" in quality with expectations of handing things down to another generation, but rather desire to enjoy the quality myself, to enhance my degree of enjoyment in whatever I am doing, and, if it so happens that certain items do maintain their condition and/or value and my offspring/heirs inherit them in good shape, they may still have some value left in them, and they can do with them as they please after I am gone.

[Alan H]

Interestingly, if you reread my original post I never said anything like this statement. What I said is that I am basically a savvy shopper who buys quality clothes and kit at as inexpensive a price as I can find, when I need or as I find and want them/it. I never expect anything to last forever although am pleased when it does. I never expect anything to fit forever, but am pleased as long as it does. But since I bought it originally for a relatively low price, I am less concerned about it if I outgrow something or wear something out or accidentally ruin it or have something unexpected happen to destroy it (e.g., chrome cantle full mask fox sporran by Toby McGregor completely eaten to shreds last year by moths as the source of my moths in my kilt closet problem), or even just get bored with it and either sell it, give it away, or donate it to charity.

I buy stuff to use it, to put it through its paces-----punching that flyrod and line 40-50 feet across a raging stream til my right arm aches, cranking through all 30 gears on one of my bikes between long fast descents and the following hard and long climb, putting my snowboard to the maximum test under my heavy arse down some steep and deep, carrying my full pack of camera gear (some of it strapped exposed to my chest straps) to the top of Yosemite Falls in the mist and muck just to make sure I can get that perfect shot with the right equipment, knowing that wear and tear are inevitable, but less likely to occur or be significantly debilitating with good equipment. I do believe that quality "hard" gear can last one or more lifetimes, and some items are indeed heirloom quality, but "soft" gear like most clothes, and even kilts to some degree, have a finite lifetime of varying degrees depending on frequency and type of use. As such I rarely buy them as an "investment" in quality with expectations of handing things down to another generation, but rather desire to enjoy the quality myself and, if it so happens that certain items do maintain their condition and/or value and my offspring/heirs inherit them in good shape, they may still have some value left in them, and they can do with them as they please after I am gone.

No worries, mate...I wasn't suggesting that you, specifically said that.

And I completely understand the notion of trying to find "good stuff" at the best price.

I, personally have a funny caveat about that. If I can illustrate.....

A couple of years ago I got acquainted with one of the men who dance in the Smuin Ballet Company. His speciality is tap, as a kid he grew up doing Irish tapping, and Smuin actually designed a dance specifically for him, to do as part of the Company's Christmas Ballet. Anyway, Mrs. Alan loves Tap, and for her birthday I arranged for this guy to teach a special 2-hour class for her and her lady dancing buddies. As you might imagine, this was NOT inexpensive.

As a result of that, he offered to arrange for us to get free tickets for the season to the Smuin Ballet. I expect he was hoping that we were filthy rich and would become patrons and donate thousands of dollars to the company. Well....we're not rich. So I told him that while I really enjoyed both his dancing and the Company generally, I wanted to pay full price for the tickets because it was my small part in providing income for the Company. We didn't have the resources to be big patrons, but we sure had the resources to pay full price and do that little bit to support the company.

Simple point...flippin' long story. Sorry 'bout that.


There is a case where I chose NOT to take a lower price for an item, because I wanted to support the "cause". Another example... I've been looking at Wyvern Leather sporrans recently. I REALLY like the Waterhorse sporran. I'm probably not going to buy one, because I can't choke down the idea of dropping $145 for a sporran. However, if I WAS going to buy one, I would pay full price because I bet dollars to doughnuts that Donnie is not getting rich, here, and I'm all for supporting an artisan.

However, were I to purchase a Brooks Brothers suit for some reason, you can bet your booty that I'd find the best, lowest price available and put some effort into doing exactly that. We think alike, on that front.

Oh, and gear is meant to be used. Like that flyrod. Or my 28 pound weight. That's the POINT, right? I mean.....seems so, to me, and apparently to you, too. If you're going to USE something, and for heavens sake, if in the process of using it, you are risking personal safety (you: snowboard....me: backpacking tent in the Sierra Nevada in Octobere) then it's kinda dumb to buy junk stuff.

[creagdhubh]

Interestingly, if you reread my original post I never said anything like this statement. What I said is that I am basically a savvy shopper who buys quality clothes and kit at as inexpensive a price as I can find, when I need or as I find and want them/it. I never expect anything to last forever although am pleased when it does. I never expect anything to fit forever, but am pleased as long as it does. But since I bought it originally for a relatively low price, I am less concerned about it if I outgrow something or wear something out or accidentally ruin it or have something unexpected happen to destroy it (e.g., chrome cantle full mask fox sporran by Toby McGregor completely eaten to shreds last year by moths as the source of my moths in my kilt closet problem), or even just get bored with it and either sell it, give it away, or donate it to charity.

I buy stuff to use it, to put it through its paces-----punching that flyrod and line 40-50 feet across a raging stream til my right arm aches, cranking through all 30 gears on one of my bikes between long fast descents and the following hard and long climb, putting my snowboard to the maximum test under my heavy arse down some steep and deep, carrying my full pack of camera gear (some of it strapped exposed to my chest straps) to the top of Yosemite Falls in the mist and muck just to make sure I can get that perfect shot with the right equipment, knowing that wear and tear are inevitable, but less likely to occur or be significantly debilitating with good equipment. I do believe that quality "hard" gear can last one or more lifetimes, and some items are indeed heirloom quality, but "soft" gear like most clothes, and even kilts to some degree, have a finite lifetime of varying degrees depending on frequency and type of use. As such I rarely buy them as an "investment" in quality with expectations of handing things down to another generation, but rather desire to enjoy the quality myself, to enhance my degree of enjoyment in whatever I am doing, and, if it so happens that certain items do maintain their condition and/or value and my offspring/heirs inherit them in good shape, they may still have some value left in them, and they can do with them as they please after I am gone.

Well said again, Jeff! I especially enjoyed your last paragraph when you speak of snowboarding, Yosemite, etc. I too am an avid outdoorsman and mountaineer, and basically inheritated that mindset from my father who took me to the Rocky Mountains to backpack, camp, fish, climb, kayak, ski, etc, at a very young age. Since then, I have had a love affair with 'wild places' and long to be there whilst I am doing my duty as a good husband and man by going through the daily grind at work, though I do enjoy what I do - a man has gotta work!

My father is the fly-fisherman, and now that he has since retired (at age 55) from a long career of teaching high school Biology, he has the time to do it! Along with climbing the Grand Tetons and other peaks, man have I been jealous! My father and I plan to climb Mount of the Holy Cross in Colorado in June - all technical, i.e. - ropes, chocks, wedges, cams, carabiners, on belay, etc, etc (all of which is the best gear money can buy - it's your life on the line after all!). Should be fun!!!

Anyways, I've gone off-topic far too long.

Cheers mate,

[Alan H]

My father and I plan to climb Mount of the Holy Cross in Colorado in June - all technical, i.e. - ropes, chocks, wedges, cams, carabiners, on belay, etc, etc (all of which is the best gear money can buy - it's your life on the line after all!). Should be fun!!!

Anyways, I've gone off-topic far too long.

Cheers mate,

I dunno, I fully support thread drift in threads like this one!

I always watch rock climbers with a great deal of respect. I remember standing at the edge of the face of Mount Whitney, looking down, and having to take a couple of quick steps back, as I got that "sinking feeling"... ditto for one or two very narrow places on the trail to the summit along the ridge. 100 foot drops don't bother. Heck, 300 foot drops...no problem. Make it a couple thousand feet and my innards don't much like it.

For those that can handle it...respect for that. Besides, the degree of athleticism for serious rock climbing is phenomenal. Lean and wiry guys are WAY stronger, pound for pound, than rhinoceros'es like me. Also, the investment in gear to seriously climb is pretty substantial.. When cams cost $50 a pop, and you carry 20 of them on a wall, that adds up *fast*.

It's funny how different situations work for different people. I've had a rock climbing friend out on my boat, 15 miles off the coast in "challenging" but not terribly dangerous conditions, and he was immobilized by dread. On the other hand, I would be useless and annoying weight on the end of a rope, 500 feet up a wall.

[creagdhubh]

I dunno, I fully support thread drift in threads like this one!

I always watch rock climbers with a great deal of respect. I remember standing at the edge of the face of Mount Whitney, looking down, and having to take a couple of quick steps back, as I got that "sinking feeling"... ditto for one or two very narrow places on the trail to the summit along the ridge. 100 foot drops don't bother. Heck, 300 foot drops...no problem. Make it a couple thousand feet and my innards don't much like it.

For those that can handle it...respect for that. Besides, the degree of athleticism for serious rock climbing is phenomenal. Lean and wiry guys are WAY stronger, pound for pound, than rhinoceros'es like me. Also, the investment in gear to seriously climb is pretty substantial.. When cams cost $50 a pop, and you carry 20 of them on a wall, that adds up *fast*.

It's funny how different situations work for different people. I've had a rock climbing friend out on my boat, 15 miles off the coast in "challenging" but not terribly dangerous conditions, and he was immobilized by dread. On the other hand, I would be useless and annoying weight on the end of a rope, 500 feet up a wall.

Haha! Well said, Alan. Mount Whitney (the highest peak in the lower 48) is a gorgeous mountain and the surrounding area, in the high Sierra Nevada, is absolutely breathtaking. No matter what one does when it comes to outdoor pursuits, the fact that you are out there, doing something, definitely counts for something in my opinion!

From my standpoint, it's instinctive for us human beings to be drawn to the 'wild places,' after all, it's where we all whence came. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being in a big city as well, but there must be a balance, otherwise, you would simply go insane! Think Thoreau, and Walden.

Cheers mate,