Excellent quotes! Thanks for those.

In fact it makes me rethink what I said earlier. Perhaps the answer isn't "a cheap tent (or whatever piece of gear we are talking about) is okay if you won't be relying on it for survival" as I was suggesting. The more enlightened answer might be "if you don't really need it then why bother carrying either a cheap or expensive one? Carry just what you need but make it the best."

Hmm, I'll have to think about that some more.