Best cheap thing you ever bought.

[Potter]

About 15yrs ago I was in a hobby shop and bought a cheap set of plastic digital calipers after the shop owner told me how good they are. I regularly test them on a calibrated micrometre and they're still always accurate to less than 0.1mm, they're probably my most used tool.

My favourite things to buy cheaply is expensive calipers, micrometres, etc, from ebay or car boot sales, where people don't want them, don't use them or don't even know what they are. I've got half a dozen Mitutoyo dial gauges, about the same in micrometres and calipers, all bought for a fraction of their worth.

Oh and also a Messograf caliper pen with Vernier scale, it was about £15 some years ago on offer and it's also scarily accurate - as long as you can read it properly. It lives on my desk and gets used a lot, it used to live on my boat and was my primary means of measurement when I needed accuracy.

[Tomcat]

Possibly the best thing I EVER bought.

[v8-powered]

Oh and also a Messograf caliper pen with Vernier scale, it was about £15 some years ago on offer and it's also scarily accurate - as long as you can read it properly. It lives on my desk and gets used a lot, it used to live on my boat and was my primary means of measurement when I needed accuracy.

Just Google'd those - may have to invest! I see that Temu does them for £1.38

[Greenman]

I'm going to have to big up my £40 Salter Air Fryer...Total bargain and has probably paid for itself 5 times over already!

[Greenman]

Black Jack's and fruit salads, less than a penny.

lol...

I always remember my local 'offy' used to sale 10p mixups and every 10 bags had 11 sweets in it. No end of challenges trying to get the 11 sweet bag between friends...

Does anyone else remember the 5p crisps too, tangy toms etc. I used to get given 20p from my parents every day when i attended summer camp at school and i spent it all on 4 packs of 5p crisps!

[Mr. Dazzle]

I'm sure I saw a packet of Space Raiders going/asking for a quid the other day

[Greenman]

I'm sure I saw a packet of Space Raiders going/asking for a quid the other day

Might of been a family pack!

Beef space raiders were awsome.

[mangocrazy]

'Cheap' is relative, of course...

While £4,500 isn't normally considered cheap, I'd say that a brand new, fresh out of the crate Aprilia Falco for that price in 2008 qualifies. And it's been a truly excellent gentleman's conveyance over the intervening 15 years.

[Supermofo]

15 quid German army parker back in the mid 90s. Bought it at a military fare when I was in the air cadets just cos really as never wore it for that. But bugger me it's the warmest coat I've ever owned. I wore it over A levels and Uni cos I was a dirty stoodent init. I then grew up and forgot about it. Years and years later dad cleared his shed out and asked if I wanted my coat. I said yes but expected it to be rotten but nope still looked the same as when I bought it. The Mrs then wore it as winter coat when the kids were little and she was stuck on park patrol with the kids in winter. I've worn it a few times and whilst not my style anymore it's a bloody good coat, with the lining in its super toastie

[Count Steer]

15 quid German army parker back in the mid 90s. Bought it at a military fare when I was in the air cadets just cos really as never wore it for that. But bugger me it's the warmest coat I've ever owned. I wore it over A levels and Uni cos I was a dirty stoodent init. I then grew up and forgot about it. Years and years later dad cleared his shed out and asked if I wanted my coat. I said yes but expected it to be rotten but nope still looked the same as when I bought it. The Mrs then wore it as winter coat when the kids were little and she was stuck on park patrol with the kids in winter. I've worn it a few times and whilst not my style anymore it's a bloody good coat, with the lining in its super toastie

It's a shame but the 'Army Surplus' thing seems to have disappeared apart from on-line. There used to be an actual chain of stores actually called iirc 'Army Surplus' and I bought an RAF greatcoat, a fantastic cape/groundsheet and other outdoor gear from them when I was a yoof. Then there was Laurence Corner just up the road from the Capital Radio tower in that London where you could get everything from 'CHIPS' type jackets, khaki cotton 'flying suits' with pockets in the knees - which were great boiler suits for home decorating and 'proper' parkas. Then in Covent Garden there was 'Flip' which had everything from pre-worn jeans to ex-American military stuff - the missus still has a neat little blouson style jacket with an embroidered back from the USAF air base in Udorn, Thailand (it's actually a Royal Thai Air Force base but the Merkins used it).

[Jody]

Many years ago I bought Combined Insurance Company of America Hospitalisation insurance, about £26 for the year.
2 months later I managed to injure myself at work. 2 nights in Hospital £260 paid out with no fuss.

Around the same time I bought breakdown insurance off my DT125. Again this was sub £30 for the year.
Before the paperwork even arrived, I broke down at 2AM, 20 odd miles from home. Called them up, they sent someone out who transported me and the bike home !!

[Jody]

I'm sure I saw a packet of Space Raiders going/asking for a quid the other day

I literally just saw Skips on sale at a petrol station for £1.15 !!

[Ian]

My H1B only cost me £80
Spent plenty on it over the years but even in 1983(?) that was cheap.

[DefTrap]

Trying to remember if it was truly cheap (it was such a long time ago) but at least 30 years ago I bought a cheap vernier dial gauge (pretty sure it was for measuring some Kwak valve shims where the sizes notoriously wear off). They're "Rabone" brand which I believe is/was an ok brand - but they're plastic, which I also assume is sub-optimal in terms of durability and somewhat accuracy. (but presumably plastic is why they were cheap enough for my pathetic youthful pocket to even begin to afford). I'm not an engineer, I'm a shed hacker.

But anyway, 30 years later they still work ok enough for my use. (FWIW I did pick up some cheap digital gauges on a whim in the supermarche but theyre incredibly bad. Binned it.)

[KungFooBob]

Yo' Mama!

[Count Steer]

Trying to remember if it was truly cheap (it was such a long time ago) but at least 30 years ago I bought a cheap vernier dial gauge (pretty sure it was for measuring some Kwak valve shims where the sizes notoriously wear off). They're "Rabone" brand which I believe is/was an ok brand - but they're plastic, which I also assume is sub-optimal in terms of durability and somewhat accuracy. (but presumably plastic is why they were cheap enough for my pathetic youthful pocket to even begin to afford). I'm not an engineer, I'm a shed hacker.

But anyway, 30 years later they still work ok enough for my use. (FWIW I did pick up some cheap digital gauges on a whim in the supermarche but theyre incredibly bad. Binned it.)

That's a blast from the past, Rabone-Chesterman.

[DefTrap]

That's a blast from the past, Rabone-Chesterman.

I tried to search up a replacement, they don't seem to exist any more to buy again new, unless anyone knows different?

Edit. Digging about a bit, it seems by the time I bought my lowly plasticy Rabone verniers the company had been consumed by Stanley and the Rabone name disappeared from the line not long after. Still, I really doubt I paid more than 15 quid for them, so they've done proud whatever the heritage ...

[Horse]

Trying to remember if it was truly cheap (it was such a long time ago) but at least 30 years ago I bought ...

But anyway, 30 years later they still work ok enough for my use

About 40+ years ago, I bought a socket set, in a tin box, for about £4. For context, wages were about £20 a week.

Bought another ratchet (from Lidl!) a couple of years ago.

I'm by no means a busy home mechanic, let alone an extreme-use mechanic, but I think I've had my money's worth


Edit: the shop owner sold a wide variety of tat, including watches which he proudly claimed were "as seen on 'Police 5*'". He was done for 'receiving' soon after.

* Shaw Taylor, "keep 'em peeled"

[Count Steer]

That's a blast from the past, Rabone-Chesterman.

I tried to search up a replacement, they don't seem to exist any more to buy again new, unless anyone knows different?

Sadly they have followed the general entropy of things and were absorbed into Stanley. Genuine Rabone and Rabone-Chesterman stuff is now only available as 'vintage'.

[DefTrap]

Sadly they have followed the general entropy of things and were absorbed into Stanley. Genuine Rabone and Rabone-Chesterman stuff is now only available as 'vintage'.

thanks, I was just in the process of googling that myself ....