I find that the difficulty I have is trying to understand all of the synthetic insulation types that firms advertise, for example, Thermoball??? I remember when it came out loads of people were writing that it was going to make Down redundant, it now seems to have slipped in a product backwater??
I have a thin Aklpkit jacket but I wouldn't have the confidence to buy anything else yet, I've read loads of reviews about high and low priced items, and when I've bought them they have often proved to be second-rate anyway!
In my experience, my £250 waterproof vs. my £20 waterproof, my £60 Poncho vs. my £10 poncho, my £150 boots vs. my £65 boots, my £120 bivvy vs. my £50 bivvy. I'd like to think I'm wiser now but am I?
The other problem for me is when I'm hiking and camping I can become supersensitive to the 'quality' or not of an item, or find that I've bought someting that's great for 10 miles but proves to be a letdown after 100 miles!