Looking at Torch sets you will find sets as cheap as $125 and as high priced as $850 . So you might think why on earth should I buy a set costing say $350 when a set thats $125 looks the same . Hold that idea ,and I will explane . First of all I have been welding now for over 35 years ,used almost every type of equipment and own a wide range of welding stuff.. I have even welded under water .vary few welding & diving people have done it . And I have also seen every type of failure with Torches ,regulators ,hoses fittings , tips ,you name it . Some time ago I was selling a old torch set for $90 no hose and no cutting head . One response I got on the set was your price is way to high ,a set can be had from Harbor Discount importers for $95 bucks . And I should sell the set for maybe $15 a fare price .My response .I ran the fool off fast as I could . He knew nothing other than he could find a set made in who knows were. Asia most likely . I did check the place he was talking of and they had a cheap import for$140 with out tax .Thats 6% more . The regulators I was selling and still have are made by Airco and they are 2 stage , I think they are at least 40 years old ,well used and still work fine . Now is this starting to tell you anything . I had a friend give me a Import mig welder with gas system . Tank and regulator still new in the box . I set it up for a test run and just about the time the gas tank was near out of gas the cheap regulator started leaking . It was a Single stage regulator . real cheap made . Cheap torches also have problems leaking in the mixing chamber and the thing burned up fast , and is not repairable .Cheap outfits are not repairable ,you cant find matching repair parts . and some things are damaged so bad its  hopeless . And in some cases cheap outfits can't take any beating at all .Actually a regulator can fail in more then one way . when you adjust it to its lowest pressure it should shut off . many cheap ones will fail this new . Others will blow out a leak someplace and you will MT your tank fast , and still others will leak at the tank threads .The tank will need refilled fast on this one .Now this will make that cheap set cost a lot more when you go out and get just a regulator ,One good Regulator should cost $150 ,Keep in mind I did say good . If you think ,well I am only doing small jobs .OK maybe you will need a Jewelers Torch .A good one is $150 no regulators ! Ok you are welding on farm stuff , forget light duty .A good outfit has a cutting head that can be changed to a welding head . If you do a lot of cutting you need a good system . Look at the cheap set you will only see two pipes going from the base to the head and the threaded base is vary small . This system will not run a large cutting tip and is not vary rugged either. I like a three pipe system with a large threaded base .Like the one from Harris . and Harris offers a vary good price , But be careful don't buy the cheapest set .The heavy duty set only cost a little more and it should last a long time . I have a Harris HD set from 1967 dealer demo and its still working fine , Also good outfits offer lots of tip sizes , Victor offers 20 different brazing nozzles and 18 cutting tips ,as well as 12 tips for Natural gas and propane maps also . And Harris maybe offers a better selection of odd ball tips than Victor , Other outfits are from Airco ,Smith , Oxweld , Purox and Rego Airco offers lots of tips maybe hard to find and The others offer less ,Rego has the least replacement tips . just think of replacement tips like soft wear for your PC . You can make a outfit do a lot of things if you can get the right part .If you buy that  so called $95 bucker good luck finding a tip change , May you will get one cutting head and three welding tips .Thats it, good luck finding a replacement from say China , Replacement Mixing chamber your done . Harris or Victor yes . I think the cheap Victor sets are now imported and Others maybe to . Avoid the botten end stuff . Thread sizes might be metric and thats not good for replacement . Also some discount stores are selling factory seconds ,and their is no way to tell ,fs the reject part is the regulator , you need to get the best regulators you can .Replace just one now you are at the cost of a cheap set and the rest of your set is still bargain basement . their is no bargain to stuff you must fix or replace every time you use it . I would buy the old Airco set I was selling myself if I did not have sets , They are built like a Tank and should last a lifetime or two . For the $90 I was asking(regs and weld torch) it would be cheap to finish the set with a junk yard cutting torch and some new Hose but some one has part of a  bargain set in their tool box and part in the dump ,rightfully so . Also I use a large tank of Oxy and a tank of propane, like the one for the grill thats the way I save money (and propane cutting tips).I do not save money with import outfits or super cheapies with imported guts (Some USA marked super cheapies have imported internal parts and thats just as bad) Buy indrustral Heavy Duty equipment cost a little more but will last .Vote yes if you liked this or send me a cash donation . Vote no if you did not like it but still send Donation Thanks