I like tools.
The purpose of tools is to help you do a job. Perhaps it enables you do the job, perhaps it helps you do the job better. And many times, better tools enable you to do a better job than if you had worse tools or no tools at all. Consequently, we rely upon tools and always seek to have better tools because yes, in some ways tools can compensate for skill.
But in the end, how much do tools matter? Steve Vai could pick up a crappy guitar and still sound awesome. I could pick up an Ibenez Jem, but it won’t make me play like Steve Vai. Does that mean you should use any old tool? No, because you probably will play and sound better through a Jem than through some flimsy piece of junk guitar. But even that piece of junk will be better than no guitar at all.
The key is that tools can certainly improve your game, but in the end it’s always going to be about the person using/operating the tool that makes the difference.
In shooting sports we certainly get caught up in gear. But I just saw this posted to Smith & Wesson’s Facebook page:
In the Limited Division, Team Captain Julie Golob showed that you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on highly specialized equipment to win. Using an M&P Pro Series 9mm and a production rig, Julie captured the Women’s Limited World Title & placed an impressive 14th Overall in the Limited Division. Julie also placed 4th in the Overall Women’s Category against optic race guns. PHENOMENAL!
The Pro Series is a little better than the normal M&P (better trigger, better sights… shows you what really matters in terms of equipment modifications), but still… production gun and look how Julie did. BJ Norris won the 2009 US Steel Challenge Nationals Limited Division using a Pro Series with only a minor modification to the trigger.
Buy a good, solid, reliable gun. Glocks, XD’s, M&P’s and the like. Tune a few things on it (trigger, sights). Then spend money on ammo and training, and time on practice. That’s really what makes the difference. Sure you could buy a $2000 gun, but you’ll probably go further if you buy a $500 gun and spend $1500 on ammo, training, and practice. Equipment matters, but only so much.
Stuff From Hsoi 
One of my favorite old carry guns is the one I call my “$300 Carry Special”. The gun is an old, armored car company trade in Smith and Wesson Model 64-4 in .38 Special. The gun has a 4″ heavy barrel and it was a factory DAO gun. I bought it five days after my 21st birthday for the grand total of $189, I bought a good leather IWB holster for $40, two HKS speed loaders for $15, and had a local ‘smith work over the action for $50. All told, I spent just under three hundred bucks on a solid shooting, carry gun. Anyone can do it, you can still even find this M64s hanging around for $200.
I then spent a WHOLE bunch of money on things like ammo and training. I’ve spent twenty times the amount of money that the gun costs on building the software to use it, worth every penny.
In the end your brain has more ability than a piece of machinery, you’re best off to invest in those abilities than a fancier piece of metal.
-Rob