Saw a whole article about cheap gear failing in real conditions.

Man, that's a classic rookie mistake and it stings. You really have to dig into the specs and ignore the flashy ads. For real field work, skip the cheap box store brands. Look at used machines from Minelab or Garrett, like an Equinox or an AT Pro. They're built to find actual deep targets, not just loose change in the park.

Curved glass has to be custom ordered, right? What's the lead time and cost like on something like that?

My buddy did that once, got a perfect pour.

Remember when everyone had those plastic hood dryers? My aunt's caught fire during Easter brunch, just started smoking while she was under it with her curlers in. We had to fan the smoke alarm with a newspaper.