Burglar's Vest: am I missing something?

[Overlard]

I was reading Races Of Eberron and noticed the wondrous item Burglar's Vest. It seemed OK, maybe kind of fun, until I saw that it only held 2 of each item from the short list of mundane items, and that was all. For 5000 gp.

It referenced the Robe Of Useful Items in the DMG as a source, so I checked that out to see if I had missed something. That had a better list of items (including scrolls, and potentially enough gems to more than pay for the robe) and more of them (2 of each of the items, 4d4 random ones). It wouldn't be my first choice for spending 7,000gp, but I could see how it was useful.

The Burglar's Vest, still no. Do the patches regenerate somehow, or is it just a really expensive way of getting a couple of mundane items?

[F.L.]

Well, for the robe of useful items, IIRC, it takes 3500 gp and some XP to make, and the random items (gems, gold coffers, etc) often work out to a little more than 3500 gp (I did the math). So, you could very gradually trade xp for gp with them.

As for the burglar's vest, your guess is as good as mine.

[Zincorium]

I was reading Races Of Eberron and noticed the wondrous item Burglar's Vest. It seemed OK, maybe kind of fun, until I saw that it only held 2 items from the short list of mundane items, and that was all. For 5000 gp.

It referenced the Robe Of Useful Items in the DMG as a source, so I checked that out to see if I had missed something. That had a better list of items (including scrolls, and potentially enough gems to more than pay for the robe) and more of them (2 chosen items, 4d4 random ones). It wouldn't be my first choice for spending 7,000gp, but I could see how it was useful.

The Burglar's Vest, still no. Do the patches regenerate somehow, or is it just a really expensive way of getting a couple of mundane items?

2 of Each. It's a little over 700 gp of items.

I'm not sure paying over 4,000 for retaining items is really worth it.

[Miles Invictus]

I don't know exactly what the Burglar's Vest offers, but if it works like the Robe of Useful Items, the value isn't from the items themselves; the value comes from the fact no one else knows you have the items.

[Overlard]

2 of Each. It's a little over 700 gp of items.

I'm not sure paying over 4,000 for retaining items is really worth it.

Exactly (reread my original post and realised I wrote 2 items rather than 2 of each, will go edit it...).

You can get those items and a Heward's Handy Haversack for around half the price of the Burglar's Vest. I really don't get it...

[Demented]

The robe of useful items also weighs 1 lb.

[Azerian Kelimon]

It's an item representation of the great transvestite Devine. And in fact, this description of said man suits the item perfectly:

"It's a trap!"