For example, I can hit an old set of $50 Northwestern golf clubs better than my "good" bag of Bertha's and Ping irons.  I can even it those wonky old beaters better than my Titleist DCI's.

Have you ever noticed this strange phenomenon?  I've also experienced this with firearms.  

Anyone care to share?

I think you are right most of the time except for when u get something cheap and it breaks right out of the box. what do u say then........." you get what u pay for"

I usually say, "I'm glad I didn't pay much for that POS." [:D]

retrodog

ya thats a good one to i usualy save that for when my stuff breaks. the prior is for when my friends breaks.

I agree that you don't have to have a Rolls Royce when a Chevy will do.  I always balance value and price, but as I've gotten older my tolerence for "cheap" has eroded severely, but I philosopically want "good" and no more.

In terms of firearms, I can't rationalize the incremental investment for "Best" the way some folks can.

A Kimber 1911 can be just a reliable as a Baer/Wilson/Insert your guru here 1911.  Still there are a lot of folks willing to pay for 3-4 times above the price of the Kimber to get the custom.  However, the increase in performance is marginal for the extra money.

That said, how many times have you said: (especialy about tools, usually after ruining a part or barking a knuckle)

Sorry a$$, cheap piece of crap, imported from crapland, no good pice o' she-ite.

vs.

Gee, that job went entirely too smoothly, I could have paid less for that tool.

This would be one of those "just-so" stories that reminds me of an old Mark Twain saying:
"We should be careful to only draw as much wisdom from experience as is contained in it. A cat that sits on a hot stove lid will never sit on a hot stove lid again.  But it will also never sit on a cold one."
Your friend is either a bad shot, had not yet zeroed in the rifle or had no experience shooting a 16-inch AR.  I've shot a few SAR2s and they are in no way more inherently accurate than an AR.

       I have heard of using reactive targets but holy sh*t man.....[:D]

       Of course you know this means I am headed down to the convience store to get my own personal 250mm propane rocket (gas grill size) [:D][:D][:D]  

   What kind of distance did you get with your tank?  Just to be on the safe side cause I don't want to take down any small aircraft [:D]

With the "old beaters" comes the freedom of lower expectations which lets your mind and body work more subconciously.  When you use the newest  high tech gadgets whether it is a weapon, optic, titanium driver etc. you already have the mind set that it has to perform better.  As a result you put much more pressure on yourself and it actually becomes even more diffucult to achieve better results.  You can also notice this phenomenom when you play your first few rounds of the year and expect to be really rusty and sometimes play better than you do in mid season form.  There is no doubt that the state of the art equipment will always help you bring your performance up but only if you parctice until there is no concious thought about the equipment itself.  Without getting into Zen here too much you only can play(shoot,fish, bowl etc.) as well as you practice and anyone who believes that high tech equipment alone will inprove their games is not making the commitment towards improvement which is practice.  just my .02     [beer]


BTW I used to be on the "new driver of the month club" till I realized that new equipment was not the problem.  I finally had one of your pro's give me a short lesson and then practiced what he suggested and I have been happy with my 975D ever since.  "You can spend thousands and own all the latest high tech gear avaible but you cant buy a swing"

I can relate. I've been wearing GI cammies since 1978, and have watched my hunting buddies go through all sorts and brands of hunting apparel, and the GI stuff just keeps hanging in there. I've watched in the last two years as my friends that spent $100.00 on a set of Mossy Oak or Realtree cammies have them fade and develop tears. My woodlands stuff is still in very good condition. I also had a Llama .45 that really shot well and ate everything in ammo I put through it with NO problems. Sometimes you just get "lucky" with the inexpensive stuff.

Very often high end golf clubs have a very small, but VERY sweet spot on the club face.  If you screw up your swing a tiny bit and miss that sweet spot you end up hooking or slicing the shot away.  

Clubs built for the duffer are not as precise or as long, but they are also more forgiving.

The guy with the tricked out AR is a lousy shot.



A golfer or a shooter with discipline and excellent technique will wring every last bit of performance out of whatever equipment is given him.  No matter what you give him, an undisciplined athlete will still perform poorly.

Garbage in, garbage out.