A friend of mine sent me a post on there and I started to look through the subreddit because I vaguely remember seeing it years ago, but never checking it out. I really just dont get it though.

Half of the posts are:

"im a rich STEM student and here is my edc: Glock, 10 knives, flashlight, unused multitool, navy seal operator wallet, and a nanotech fuckite steel carbon bulletproof backed phone case. also a tacticool watch that costs my entire semester tuition"

and the other half are:

"here is what I edc at my boring office job: my pistol with 30 different attachments on it (including 10 different lasers and quick reload magazines), knife, bigger knife, smaller knife, tactical notepad with speed release stainless steel pen, flashlight with a hidden knife in the bottom of it, and an unopened tin of Copenhagens that expired 2 years ago"

I genuinely dont understand, at most these people will only ever use their overpriced flashlight. Are they trying to brand themselves or make themselves more masculine or something? What am I not getting?

is it a blue collar vs white collar thing? I genuinely cant imagine dropping hundreds on tools that you will never use

  • a_maoist_quetzal [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    yeah i mean it's their most fetishized commodities: these are the things that I bought that I keep on my body all day. it's some kind of expression of masculinity, the possibility of being able to defend themselves in dumbass movie fantasy daydreams or like... idk what the multitools are supposed to be for, showing off how they're smart or economical or have "good taste"

    i mean, it was useful to carry a pen around in school but I just liked those 0.7 mm pilot precise gels. when my last gift wallet wore out i bought a nice leather one. your phone has a flashlight and a clock on it, these are literally the american psycho people with their business cards

    • 4zi [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I really dont get the multi tool thing either. people on that sub will go and drop money on the most expensive leatherman there is to take into the office for their accounting job. they would've gotten the same use out of the $60 leatherman as they did out of their $300 leatherman, but they still chose the more expensive one

      these are literally the american psycho people with their business cards

      it truly is. these are just fucking tools, but to these people its a possession or something that they have to idolize

      • necrocop [he/him,any]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I have a $60 leatherman that I use frequently. I’m in construction and I do outdoorsy stuff. Ive never broken it, the only time I got a new one was when I lost my old one. I can’t imagine spending $300 on a multi tool. I didn’t even know leatherman made a $300 multi tool

        • 4zi [he/him, comrade/them]
          ·
          3 years ago

          same, I bought mine for $50-$60 like 6 years ago, have used it nearly daily for work since, and the most maintenance I’ve ever had to do with it is clean it.

          I’m pretty sure the high end ones are made for these types of people. It has all the same features as the cheap one, just with more niche tools

          • culpritus [any]
            ·
            3 years ago

            market differentiation for better saturation at all price points with various profit margins, this shit pisses me off so much

            it's done all over the place, like with utility items and other non-utility stuff too

            it's evolved into this crazy inverse where buying the expensive version (even when it is exceedingly obvious or even out-right stated that there is not any functional difference) is seen as a cool flex thing

            I've got a weird spidey-sense for this shit at this point, and when it starts tingling I just start looking for the cheaper option without all the marketing hype surrounding it

            • 4zi [he/him, comrade/them]
              ·
              3 years ago

              if you ever want to get more pissed off look at the audiophile market. My friends usually ask for my advise on their purchases and im always having to tell them to link them with the cheaper option. Theres a price point sweet spot where you know its gonna be shit quality if its sold for say 100$, but if its sold for 300/400/500$, then its gonna be the same quality as the 200$ option

              • culpritus [any]
                ·
                3 years ago

                oh ya, there's so many areas like that, especially areas with some technical aspects that are mostly done as hobbies, but I think the self-built PC market is where I developed my sense of it most effectively

                when you look at the price points for a hardware segment, and then you see the low-to-mid range have like maybe ~$100 difference for like 50% improvements in performance, but the high end is like maybe 15% improvement for like 2x the price, that shit is so nuts

        • ConstipationNation [he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          Yea spending tons of money on fancy tools in general is pretty dumb, because if you actually use them for anything they're bound to either break or get really worn and look like shit after a while. When I was younger I thought it would be a good idea to drop $120 on a nice Buck pocket knife, and then when I started working in construction I ended up using a cheap pocket knife for work and leaving the Buck at home cause I didn't want it to get ruined after I spent so much money on it.

      • gaycomputeruser [she/her]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Okay I'm a student and I still use a multitool regularly. Usually it's opening packaging, tightening a screw, or getting something unstuck. I will be real, I don't know how people get by without a knife.