My clippers died halfway through a fade on Saturday and I finished it with a $12 backup pair
I was 20 minutes into a skin fade on a regular when my main clippers just stopped, no warning, right at the guideline. I grabbed the cheap backup pair I keep in the drawer and somehow got the blend smooth enough that he tipped me $10 and never noticed. Now I'm wondering if I even need to spend $180 on a new set, or if anyone here has a budget clipper that actually holds up over a full day.
Cheap clippers can work fine if you keep them oiled and don't push through thick hair too fast. The blades are usually the weak point, not the motor, so a $40 pair with decent blades beats a $180 pair with dull ones. That said, a full day of fades will wear out the cheap motor eventually, so keep that backup handy either way.