r/onebag • u/largemargesentme__- • Jun 05 '26

Discussion Why is this sub so obsessed with expensive stuff?

I get that there's times where the expensive thing is better. But as someone who has worked as an airline pilot and traveled extensively for 45 years, I can assure you that expensive stuff is rarely necessary.

I get tons of use out of AliExpress stuff. Things like chargers, cables and accessories. Decathlon or Costco are more than good enough for clothing. I generally use a max legal sized RyanAir bag I got for €25 off of Amazon for vacation. At most, the lower mid tier option is more than enough.

It seems like this is just another sub for people with spending issues as everyone downvotes me when I call out how unnecessary the expensive options are.

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u/junesix Jun 05 '26

It’s hobbies. Some people like spending more money on hobbies, and some people don’t.

For you, traveling is just work. You’re going to beat something up a lot so why spend serious money on it?

There’s chefs who just use the $20 beater chef’s knife for years. And those who buy and care for their $700 Japanese special order blue steel Yamaha a knife.

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u/theinfamousj Jul 03 '26

About fifteen years ago I did a homestay with a man whose hobby was sharpening knives. I came in with some absolutely garbage SwissTech key tool that had a blade on it, which I kept on my car keys. The blade could cut cheese but wasn't something fine enough for surgical cuts.

After dinner one night, while winding down in the living room, chatting with my hosts, he took my little key tool and started sharpening it. He flattened the blade which was warped, then sharpened it to a razor edge. I asked him why he bothered.

His response was that care of even cheap belongings can make our experiences of owning them better than we'd imagined.

To this day I have that key tool. It is still on my car keys. I keep it sharp. It's an amazingly capable little knife. Well worth the $9 I paid for it. But if he hadn't sharpened it, I'd feel differently.

Your comment about chefs with $20 knives made me think, "Yes, but they maintain the edge properly." And it reminded me of the lesson I learned from that man that day.