Way OT

[dave]

Attended a funeral couple weeks ago, the couple were old hi school friends and we have gotten to-gether allot all these years since. The wife died and while we were at the house after the service, husband got to talking about the cost of funeral. I never asked or said anything, just listened. The one item that really got me was at the funeral home, casket cost was like 2500 (or so) for 20 ga. steel and 3700 for 18 ga. Just what is the difference , in thousands ", between the two? Or is it more then thousands? They ended up buying at a casket supply 'store' and saved about 1000 bucks on the 18 ga. Vault was also allot cheaper thru them. I knew FH's ripped people off but
was really shocked! Total was over 13000. That military cemetary option is looking better all the time. Remined me of the old movie "The Loved One"' where they were showing caskets which had ratings such as 'water' proof, 'damp' proof, 'moisture' proof, etc.

Hope no FH operators are reading this! If so, please save us the justifacation and explanation lecture!

[PhillipM]

Never have figured out why a waterproof casket is needed anyway. Waterproof for how long? One year, a hundred years, a thousand years? Eventually you will turn to soup anyway so I figure a pine box will do for me and my mourning family can go on a cruise on the balance.

[RED]

Where is that soapbox??? It is just like a lot of other BS that goes on. I am not against anyone making a living and I am a firm believer in Capitalism. But in order for Capitalism to work there must be competition. There are industries where every thing is controlled by a few and competition is nonexistent. A lot of medical devices are like that. Take your common CPAP for example. The manufacturers got together and made these things available by prescription only. So now if you get a new machine you can't sell your old one it is against the law! Pray tell me why that is? In addition, the manufacturers keep adding useless bells and whistles... not to make the machines better but to make them more expensive!

Hearing aids are another example. The good ones run close to $6,000 a pair but the VA can buy them for 15% of that number. Yep, I am going into the nearest vets last stop and my wife will no doubt be buried on top of me. Hell, I've been trying to get her to get on top for years!
:eusa_wall:

[dave]

I agree with you both, but no answer to my question. What is difference between 18 and 20 ga.? Over 1000 diference in price! PS; my wife always likeed the top, she is a control freak! hehe!

[Herschel]

Cremations cost much less and a burial plot is not needed. I think they will continue to be used more. I am traditional so want to be planted in the ground. My plot and headstone are bought and paid for already.

[BHillman]

Caskets are a popular topic under 18 vs 20 ga.
Found this:
Ga.---Nominal---Tolerance range---Pounds per sq ft
18---.0478---.0518 to .0438---1.95001
19---.0418---.0458 to .0378---1.70524
20---.0359---.0389 to .0329---1.46455

Here's the linkhttp://www.advantagefabricatedmetals.com/gauge-chart-uncoated-steel.html

The link has many other thicknesses.

Hope this Helps.

Bruce

http://militarysignatures.com/signatures/member6705.png

[RogerFoxDog]

Cremation is the way to go for this " Honky Mo Fo". I just wish that I could get the Army to load my ashes into a mortar round and lob it into a Taliban stronghold. Let them choke on my swine fed dust!:evil6:

[JB White]

I told my wife that if I was to be buried to just wrap me in cheesecloth and rent a posthole digger. Save the money for her own needs. ;)

My best friend died just before Christmas last year. His ashes were placed into a camoflaged urn and buried on the mountain where he liked to hunt.

[Gary and Karen]

I have told Gary and my kids that when I go I wish to be cremated and thrown into the garden where I can hopefully do some good. A cardboard box is good enough for me. And I want them to throw a party and laugh and cry and remember me.
Funeral homes are one of the biggest ripoffs ever. They take advantage of the bereaved and make money hand over fist.

Karen
OFC

[joem]

Wife and I will be at National Cemetery. No overpriced FH for us.

[Johnny P]

The lady whose family owned one of the local funeral homes was a master at the bait and switch. She started off showing the cheaper caskets, and would thump them with her knuckles while telling you that you wouldn't want to put a loved one in such a flimsy casket and how this was the last thing you could do for them. If you didn't watch she would have you feeling so bad that you would go for the top of the line.
A good friend's father died and the funeral home lady went through the same spiel about the caskets, and knowing the family had money soon had my friend's mother talked into a copper casket. The son-in-law saw what was happening and got everyone outside and explained to them what was happening. Everyone took a deep breath and went back inside and made a more sensible (if there is such a thing when buying caskets) decision.

[dave]

Does your state allow caskets & vaults to be sold in "stores" other then FH's? At one time Ill had a law that said only FH could sell them. When the change was proposed the funeral industry tried to prevent it being passed but it did anyway.

[Jim K.]

I don't know if it still the practice, but at one time you paid so much "for the coffin", and that a euphemism for the cost of the funeral services. There were additional items (concrete vault where required by law, for example), but the other services were included in the cost of "the coffin". I guess it was a bit less traumatic to think of just "picking out a coffin" than to talk about embalming, cosmetics, and so on.

Jim

[Brian Davis]

My wife & I both have it in our last request to forego the standard steel coffin & be buried in a, literally, cardboard box......

[holdover]

want to be cremated, and my ashes cast to the wind, that way when my wife dusts, she can say there's that bastard again!

[Sully]

Had arranged prices with several funeral homes at great discounts. For about $800 had my Dad's arrangements set up for when the time came. All I had to do was call and over came "Judah Ben Hur", which seemed apropos.

The cremation just happened to be at a 1905 columbarium where my grand parents ashes and great grand parents ashes were housed. I waited while they cremated my old man and took his warm ones back home with me.

Spread his ashes with my sisters on his birthday at Will Rodgers state park where we used to hike and he ride horses.:eusa_boohoo:

The kicker was that a B17 flew overhead as we completed the ashes. He was stationed with a B-17 squadron in Glasgow Montana during the war...

That society thing is also in San Diego and probably elsewhere and is the method my wife and I plan to use.:1948:

I spent more than 3-4 times the cremation costs to entertain and feed the family that came for the memorial service, though. Dad would've liked that OK.

best,

Sully

[El Paso Mark]

Check where the caskets are made. I've regularly processed shipments of a popular brand of casket through the cargo lot, all Hecho en Mexico.

Cheers,

Mark

[John Sukey]

Then there was the guy who wanted his ashes spread on the ocean. When the door on the light plane was opened to dump the ashes, a back draft blew them back into the cockpit. So instead of riding the ocean waves, he wound up in a vacuum cleaner:eek:

[JB White]

*Note to self*

Never buy a used vacuum cleaner at an airfield

[Andrew W. Priestley]

I'm donating to science, anything that's left gets cremated and disposed of properly, preferably in the woods somewhere. No sense taking up real estate with worm food.

[goo]

the funeral people asked whether she should be buried or burnt.

I replied,

"Don't take chances. Burn the body and bury the ashes."