Gear Replacement Cycle {Rant}

[Captain Smollett]

One thing that has come to really peeve me is the short useful lifetime of gear.  We spend hard earned money on something only to need to replace it in short order.  This creates a replacement cycle that exists (intentionally it seems) to separate us from our money.

It's a general observation, but what sparked it today was thinking about the failure of my Uniden MHS-350 hand held VHS radio.  Well, to be clear, the RADIO IS FINE.  It's the batteries that have failed, and I cannot get new replacements.  That model has been discontinued and so has its batts.

I don't think I've even owned this radio 10 years.  I think I only had it maybe three years before I noted it was discontinued, but the point is really just to show an example of "disposable" gear.

Maybe I'm romanticizing, but this is not what I remember from my childhood.  I have power tools that were handed down from my Dad to me and they still work.  Power tools I've bought in the last decade have already needed replacing.  I've got hand tools that were passed down to me by may father after they were passed to him from HIS father, and maybe, for all I know, go back even further than that.

There is no technical reason Uniden does not still make these batteries, and no overwhelming technical reason they discontinued the radio.  Specification and feature wise it is very similar to Standard Horizon HX-280S I bought to replace it.  Again, to repeat...the radio electronics function fine.

This problem extends beyond hand held radios.  I recently saw a commercial on TV for a cell phone company advertising "You too can have a NEW PHONE EVERY YEAR!"  Their ad campaign was to ingrain in buyers a one year replacement cycle for phones for no other reason than to do it.  I'm still using the phone I got about 5 years ago that replaced the one I had for about 8 years.  There is no practical reason to replace a phone every year.

Keeping up the analogy with "way back when," our home phone hung on the wall for decades before it needed replacing.  And, I don't know that it was replaced because something was wrong or my parents just wanted to "upgrade" to cordless.  That cordless phone is still there, again after decades.  New phone every year?  Wow.

The frustration runs even deeper.  Have you ever pondered just how much of your money you spend of garbage?  I don't mean that as slang, like "this new mp3 player is garbage," but literally.  I mean the packaging.  We spend money on goods that are over-packaged (and "packaging engineers" actually exist), only to throw that packaging away!  Yes, the argument is made that packaging lowers theft, but I question this.  I've never seen actual data to support that; it's just a claim that's made.

(Contrast that to the little containers Staples puts print cartridges into to prevent theft...there, theft was a real issue and they devised a means to mitigate their loss...with a REUSABLE container).

People say boats are "holes in the water into which money is thrown."  To a degree, that pithy metaphor is true enough.  But as the disposable product trend continues and the replacement cycle shortens - maybe in another ten years I'll get to buy a new VHF every year to go with my new phone - more money goes into that hole for no tangible return.

I guess part of the point is, therefore, to say:  Choose Your Gear Wisely.

[CharlieJ]

In agreement here , sadly

I won't buy a piece of battery powered electronic equipment that does not come with a separate pack for replaceable batteries. I turned down a few hand held VHF's, just for that reason.

I had a Garmin 76Cx hand held GPS- paid about 150 for it several years ago. Bought a replacement during the time i had another boat, and the upgrade was a Garmin 78Cx. I sent it back. The 76 came preloaded with a chart chip, at NO EXTRA CHARGE, that showed the channel markers in ALL the channels, here (Texas) to Maine. The 78 (also touted as "Marine")had all the cities, but ZERO for water stuff- NOTHING. Oh- I could BUY  a chip, for 200 bucks, that took me back to what I had before, that cost 150!! Really???  $350 to get back to where i was for $150??-Garmin didn't have much answer when I called. I found a brand new 76Cx, which I bought, again for $150. I then upgraded (  just for extra info) with a $90 chip that added all the markers, with numbers, in red and green, all the way to Maine. So I now have the equivalent of the 78 CX, for less. than the 78 COSTS.


And on packaging??? I've been known to go out to the shop  and BANDSAW a durned blisterpack open!!! Why on earth does something like that have to be bullet proof. And remember- all that plastic is made from OIL!!!

On the power tools. The quality, long lived tools are still out there. Professionals use them. But they cost more. My Porter cable random Orbit sander (7335) is on it's 3rd set of brushes, and I used it daily in the woodshop, for 20 years.. Still running strong.. But it wasn't a cheapy . Same cannot be said for home handyman tools, like Sears sells, and others, like Ryobi make. And the battery operated ones are ok, it's the BATTERIES that poop  out.

[Captain Smollett]

Yeah, I've gotten to exclusively buying contractor grade tools AND doing a ton of research before buying.  It takes a lot work to filter out the "disposable toys" from the real "tools."  Not only are they made better but they often generally have better 'features.'

Those packages that you bandsaw?  Are those the ones that you can actually BUY a 'package opener' for?  It's just insane.  Engineer a package to sell a special opener.....they get us coming and going.  AND....just to end up throwing the stinking package in the trash.

[Godot]

Completely agree. I've ranted to my girlfriend about this more than once in the past week.

Things break. Things have always broken. But nothing is repairable anymore. Throw it away and get new.

Speaking of cell phones, I was just complaining that my ONE YEAR OLD phone is no longer being supported by HTC. Only the latest and greatest phones get software updates and fixes. One year old.  Time to buy a new one? Insane. I might just go back to a plain Jane flip phone (with batteries that last a week between charges and the benefit of not having everything I do tracked) and be done with the smart phone stuff (which costs a small fortune every month). Nah, who am I kidding...I'm a geek.

Tools: most of the stuff sold at the big box stores is junk. I think some of the "contractor grade" stuff is only "contractor grade" because someone had the bright idea to mold it out of a different color plastic and change the labeling on the package. There is some really good stuff out there (at least, I think it is really good stuff...time will tell); but it is definitely the exception, and I'm not sure even the really good {power} tools now-a-days are going to make ten years of hard use. FWIW, my very favorite power tool is a rather pricey Bosch jig saw. I could buy ten of the cheap Walmart quality jig saws for the price of one Bosch; but it is that much better to work with.

[Captain Smollett]

If that Bosch jigsaw is the same one I have, it's an awesome saw.  I have a number of Bosch tools, and they all seem well designed to me.

I can understand wearing something out from using it.  The problem is the old "mean time between failures" thing seems to get shorter and shorter.  Maybe that's just perception.

I hear you on reverting back to standard phone (vice 'smart' phone).  A few months ago, my phone was acting up and I thought I needed to replace it.  Turned out to be a bad file on the sd card was hanging an platform level app and I got it squared away, but I was thinking of ditching the 'data' and just having a phone again.

I can understand electronics not doing well in a marine environment, but what is going on with radios, phones, GPS's, etc, is far, far beyond that in my opinion.

[Travelnik]

<rant on>

The other day, I was looking for a replacement battery pack for my Radio Shack 2 meter handheld that I bought in 1995 for around $250 (the old battery pack had some AA batteries expand in it and broke the housing). While I was online searching for a replacement pack, I came across a dual band handheld ham radio for $35 new! The online reviews even say that it's about as good as, or better than, a Uniden, or any of the other top name brands that cost 10+ times more. They're probably made on the same Chinese assembly line, and I'll probably get one just because I always wanted a dual band, but didn't have the money for it.

I don't have a smart phone. I have an old Motorola flip phone that will hold and play up to 2 GB of my mp3's, and I only pay $25 every 3 months on the ATT pre-paid with roll over minutes. Plus, it has an FM radio and camera, so what else do I need it for?

I get good quality tools from pawn shops or Craigslist, and for mechanics tools, I get the ones from Auto Zone with the lifetime guarantee. They're really good about honoring their guarantee whenever I break a socket or anything else. I can replace it anywhere in the country that there's an Auto Zone store. Sears used to be that way, then they changed their policy about what is considered improper use of their Craftsman tools.

If I need a cheap tool that I'll only get limited use out of, I'll get it at Wal-Mart or Harbor Freight. For quality, I'll usually get something used.

My wife laughs at my tool collection sometimes. Some of them are older than I am, but they still work. I do need to replace my B&D electric drill soon though. I bought it in 1982, and it is starting to make a bit of a grinding noise. Probably bad bushings. I have an "egg beater" hand drill from the early 1900's that's still going strong though!  ;D

Then, there's vehicles. I'll never own anything newer than 1985 again! I had a 96 Grand Marquis, and my wife had a 95 Lumina Van, and they were both pieces of junk that were expensive to keep running! All the plastic pieces on them, and the computerized garbage and sensors failing, and leaving us stranded just got to be too much!  >:(

My wife agrees with me about the quality and reliability of the older vehicles, especially after all we had to spend just trying to keep the newer ones going. I got her an 82 F-100 Stepside pickup, which since last Friday night will be known as the "Bambi Basher" or "Deerslayer" after she hit a deer crossing the highway on her way home. I'll have it all pounded out, and put back together before the end of next week, for only a few hundred bucks (okay, bad pun!). I really hate to think of what would have happened to her in a newer plastic car!

My daily driver is a 67 Cougar, and I do all the mechanical work on both of our vehicles, as well as some work on my daughter's 85 Mustang. The parts for all of them are easy to get and affordable, plus there's no computerized junk to deal with.

We both also get a lot of compliments on our vehicles. Most people still like the classics, even if they wouldn't feel "safe" driving one. I have people ask me all the time if it is "safe" to drive a car that old across the country without any kind of warranty! I usually tell them that for what they pay yearly in monthly car & insurance payments, so they can have their warranty, I could replace my engine, transmission and all 4 tires every year with gas money left over to drive across the country!  ;D

I really don't get the whole "latest, greatest, safest" mentality. The fear factor in this country really bothers me. :o

</rant over>

[CharlieJ]

Speaking of that old Porter Cable ROS sander. I was working out in the shop yesterday afternoon using it. Had to do a quick run into town so laid it on the bench, shut down the shop and headed out.

Just a while ago, I went back out into the shop- 'bout 1500.

Heard a noise as I opened the door, walked over to the bench to find the PC sander merrily running along. Apparently I bumped the on/off switch when I laid it down, and it hummed away for right at 24 hours.

Just BARELY warm ;D ;D

Try That with a "home handy man" quality tool!! On second thought, no don't :D And I really don't want to try it again with this one, but it goes to show quality