# What's a specific brand of consumer product that's worth the money and then some? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 15, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680 "2017-05-15T19:51:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/81 "2017-05-17T13:46:02Z")
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. The original kind, no weird shapes or anything. There isn’t another brand (store or otherwise) that has the taste of good ole fashioned Kraft Mac and Cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/82 "2017-05-17T14:20:46Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > …Mine is busted. Probably accidentally got crushed somewhere, but it’s so warped that I can’t get the bottle opener/flat-head screwdriver, tweezers, or Awl out at all. ☹ That said, my girlfriend got me a knockoff brand a while back, and while I very much appreciate the effort, it was just not a very good knife. Definitely can cosign this. Victorinox is great. Victorinox Swiss Army knives have a true lifetime warranty and they have a repair center in Connecticut. You can send it in and they will repair or replace it for a $5 handling fee (at least that is how much it was the last time I sent one in). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/83 "2017-05-17T14:35:18Z")
Many people are aware of Monoprice for cheap HDMI cables and the like but I’ve had good success with their branded small devices as well. I own a Monoprice gaming mouse, a set of headphones and a Wacom-style drawing tablet from them and all have performed exceptionally well on top of being cheap. I’m sort of sad that the mouse I have was discontinued because mine is starting to show a bit of wear on the rubberized surfaces and I would have liked to straight-up replace it. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/84 "2017-05-17T14:38:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Philadelphia cream cheese - I’ve tried the store brands and they don’t taste as good. Agreed. And Liquid Wrench; best penetrating oil ever created. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/85 "2017-05-17T14:39:01Z")
For firearms, there are two: S&W and Ruger. And A&W diet Cream Soda. I don’t drink them often, but when I get a craving, nothing else will do. And Blue Bell Ice Cream. The food of the ghods. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/86 "2017-05-17T15:12:27Z")
Halo Top ice cream. It’s genuinely good, and it won’t put tons of poundage on your frame. Frixion erasable pens. These things are miracles for note-taking in different colors without having to cross out or white out anything. It’s been years (far too long) since I’ve done any serious work in the great outdoors, but if ever I go back to it–Ex Officio clothing. I especially recommend the lightweight Bugs Away stuff. I was the only member of my group who came out of our field site without a single bite from an insect, despite the swarms of mosquitoes and other biting flies where we were. EO clothing also stands up to lots of abuse. Ages ago, on a different trip, I was doing work in a very humid area. Stupidly, I washed my clothes out at night and hung them up to dry. I woke up to find mushrooms growing on my clothing. Yes, for real. My Columbia and REI stuff disintegrated where the mushrooms had grown. My Ex Officio shirt and pants were bleached by fungal growth, but the fiber itself stayed intact. If it weren’t for the EO clothing, I would have been naked for the rest of that trip. The Hammacher Schlemmer wind-defying packable umbrella. Easily the best umbrella I’ve ever had for use in NYC. I wish they’d bring back the one that had the UV reflective coating, but I guess you can’t have everything. I second (third? fourth?) the recommendations for Victorinox pocket knives. ---
**Author:** ![dude\_robert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8e7dd6/32.png) [@dude\_robert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dude_robert)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/87 "2017-05-17T15:30:35Z")
Uniball fine DELUXE pens are quite nice. I have an old black UB-177 pen that someone gave to me for free a few months ago and although there is hardly any ink left, it’s so smooth and wonderful to write with. I also have a newer blue Uniball UB-150 Eye Micro pen as well, but it’s nowhere near as good IMO, though I think they’re probably different style pens and whatnot. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/88 "2017-05-17T15:40:59Z")
> [@Drummond\_Bays](#): > > Kirkland. There are very few things that they make poorly. Toilet paper bosses, the dainty higher-end brands are unsuitable for my… Rigorous uses. The only thing they shit the bed on is pizza, the old rectangular pizzas were far superior to the (not bad) round versions of today. AFAIK, everything that has sucked has gotten better over time. I tend to agree with this but they make one product so exceptional awful: Their Kirkland Light Beer that comes in a box of 500 (maybe it’s only 48). I drink beer. Good beer, bad beer (PBR or Keystone Light - sure!), mostly any beer. EXCEPT for malt liquors and Kirkland Light. I saw it a couple years ago and thought “What a bargain”! Till I got it home and had my first. UGH!!! It was so awful I decided I couldn’t even use it for beer-butt chicken. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/89 "2017-05-17T16:21:37Z")
Blue Bunny ice cream bars. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/90 "2017-05-17T16:27:58Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Jimmy Dean sage sausage for stuffing or sausage gravy. Yes! ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/91 "2017-05-17T16:31:39Z")
Not specific, but any brand of laundry detergent. I used cheap stuff once and it was horrible and ruined a lot of clothes. I happen to use Tide though if you really want specific. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/92 "2017-05-17T16:41:46Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Victorinox Swiss Army knives have a true lifetime warranty and they have a repair center in Connecticut. You can send it in and they will repair or replace it for a $5 handling fee (at least that is how much it was the last time I sent one in). I was about to post the same thing. I’ve used the service a couple of times. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/93 "2017-05-17T17:05:10Z")
> [@Drummond\_Bays](#): > > Kirkland. There are very few things that they make poorly. Toilet paper bosses, the dainty higher-end brands are unsuitable for my… Rigorous uses. The only thing they shit the bed on is pizza, the old rectangular pizzas were far superior to the (not bad) round versions of today. AFAIK, everything that has sucked has gotten better over time. > > There’s a few more, but Life has come up… > > Cool thread! Just an aside, not to highjack. Kirkland/Costco is a discount retailer that does not produce any of the products it sells. They have no manufacturing facilities. They contract out to other manufacturers. Some products are straight relabels of other name brands, and some are custom Kirkland formulas made by those manufacturers producing to Kirkland specs. It is not exactly a secret. Kirkland/Costco will simply say that their rigorous specifications separate their products from the other name brands, made at the same facility. The toilet paper is Georgia Pacific Angel Soft. The embossing pattern and wrap is changed at the time of packaging. Due to the nature of toilet paper production it isn’t really possible to alter the formula for the huge parent rolls that the toilet paper is created from. I have cases and cases of Kirkland toilet paper in the spare room, right next to the Brawny paper towels. All from Georgia Pacific. The second entry in this link about vodka is amusing. > **[Is Costco's Kirkland Signature brand really just repackaged brand name products?](https://www.quora.com/Is-Costcos-Kirkland-Signature-brand-really-just-repackaged-brand-name-products)** > > Answer (1 of 36): A few years back I shared a warehouse with a company that makes a private label product for Costco with the Kirkland Signature brand. The owner of this business had been the president of a very well known apparel brand for 30+ years... ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/94 "2017-05-17T17:18:22Z")
In n Out. Coca Cola. Hunt’s. Hellman’s (although Costco’s brand is competing for my affections.) Oh, and 6-in-1 for crushed tomatoes for sauces. Perhaps the thing I am most brand conscious about. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/95 "2017-05-17T17:25:20Z")
LG televisions. I’ve got no reason to consider another brand, and there’s no way I’m buying an off-brand. Absolut and Stoli vodka. I’ve had a few of the more expensive vodkas and they’re not worth the extra money. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/96 "2017-05-17T17:38:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Second Best Foods (Hellman’s) mayo. At first I wasn’t parsing this correctly. _Why would anyone name their brand “Second Best Foods”?_ ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/97 "2017-05-17T18:22:55Z")
[Swissgear backpacks](https://www.swissgear.com/backpacks). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/98 "2017-05-17T19:10:01Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Absolut and Stoli vodka. I’ve had a few of the more expensive vodkas and they’re not worth the extra money. I’ve been in bars where Absolut and Stoli were the top shelf brands.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/99 "2017-05-17T19:13:58Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > At first I wasn’t parsing this correctly. _Why would anyone name their brand “Second Best Foods”?_ A casualty of getting older. With not all that much time left on earth, I don’t want to waste it with nuisance words like nouns or even verbs. Punctuation will go next, I suspect. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680/100 "2017-05-17T19:23:23Z")
Not a brand, but **merino wool** is worth every penny. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-specific-brand-of-consumer-product-thats-worth-the-money-and-then-some/786680.md?page=6)