Quality equipment and ingredients is very important. This is something that should not be sacrificed. A good quality set should last a lifetime and is relatively inexpensive. For jars I use and recommend as a minimum standard Fido snap top /wire-bail latching lid, these have been shown to provide a superior seal (which is important to keep oxygen out). With the standard Fido snap top lid I feel comfortable leaving my ferments out at room temperature for around 3-4 weeks before moving to the refrigerator. Fowlers-Vacola and Weck jars with metal clips that lock the lid down, these are both very similar, again I feel comfortable leaving for 3-4 weeks with these.

Next step up is the Fido lid and Weck lid with the airlock device that allows carbon dioxide to exit and prevents oxygen from entering, allowing for an anaerobic ferment. In my experience and research fermenting around these are unnecessary, the standard Fido lid and Fowlers-Vacola do a fine job fermenting safely for 4 weeks. Pickl-It is considered by many the gold standard and best lid. I have not personally used them; I find and feel comfortable with what I have recommended here already. I held off from getting Pickl-It for 2 reasons, they are more expensive and not very easy to get a hold of in Australia.
If you want to upscale fermenting Crocks are a great option, I personally have my own range of crocks that hold around 7L, these are made from food grade ceramic, they use ceramic weights that keep the ferment submerged under the brine and have a water moat system lid to keep air out.

As for ingredients I believe organic is a must, but I feel this goes with all our food anyway.
Salt: Celtic sea salt or Himalayan pink salt as it is less refined and has all the mineral and trace elements left intact. Dosage of salt that seems to work well for me is around 1.5-3% (about 20grams of salt for 1000grams of vegetable). Standard mason jars left out for 3 days using whey as a starter culture whilst is better than not fermenting at all I encourage longer fermentation times without using whey for the full benefits. You are not going to get the full probiotic benefit by fermenting for 3 days, during this period whilst there is a rapid drop in pH and the fermentation process is kick-started there is still many steps of fermentation that take place over the course of a month. Keep in mind when doing the longer ferments good quality fermenting jars are important, a standard screw top lid jar is not good enough

Miscellaneous items include the weights that can be purchased to put on top of the ferment to keep the contents submerged under the brine. A mandolin can come in handy also as it makes for consistent chopping that you would not achieve with just chopping veges with a knife. Some people like to use a pounding device (like a mini baseball bat), for the size of ferments that you probably are likely to do I find just using my hands to be effective (and also therapeutic). Here is the video review of the jars: 

Stay tuned for part 2.