Really Expensive Stuff that is Definitely Worth the Money

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

Children

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.

Tinned tomatoes. Night and day different.

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.

Thanks Andy for the detailed response.  Shame about the JL sale, they’re my go to shop for household stuff.

I would like to add… Marmalade

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.

Oh just remembered to add to my previous post

Canoagnolo corkscrew. Ours is almost 30yrs old. Still looks like new and has always been a pleasure to use

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.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/egyptian-cotton-400-thread-count-sateen-duvet-cover/p/hbp60105954?color=PETROL&prevPage=srp#intid=pid_pg1pip48g4r4c2

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!