[fnord77]

Some cheapo Harbor Freight tools last a lifetime if you only use them a couple times a year. No sense in buying something very heavy duty when it won't see much duty.

I feel like "buy it for life" is just a different kind of (hipster?) snobbery.

[jonwest]

And the tools they’re listing, Milwaukee Hammer Drill, for example, offers no warranty at all and wouldn’t be what I would consider to be “high end” either. Just seems like a purposely placed product rather than a legitimate BIFL item.

[bombcar]

Milwaukee does offer a warranty and will repair out of warranty but any battery tool is by definition not a buy-it-for-life as the battery will wear out (and better tools will come).

My rule is buy so that when it dies I’m not sad. That varies for different pieces of equipment.

[steverb]

The thing to remember with battery powered tools is that you are not just buying a tool. You are buying into a battery ecosystem. Plan accordingly.

Fortunately, you can buy batteries for most popular tool brands long after the brand stops supporting them, and in a pinch you can buy adapters to make brand a batteries work on brand b tools

[bombcar]

The proliferation of “buy tool get battery free” deals means it’s not as much of a pricing headache anymore - more of a convenience thing.

Milwaukee continues to sell batteries for their far outdated NiCAD.

[fnord77]

one brand (rigid) offers a lifetime warranty on batteries, but in practice from what I've seen on the 'net, they try to do everything possible to deny warranty claims.

[dylan604]

There are tools for weekend warriors, and then there's tools for the "professional" built for daily use.

I often repeat the phrase "buy it nice, or buy it twice if not thrice". I've done the buy it cheap to get 'er done type of thing, and I've also bought the good item because it was going to make a shitty job that much easier.