The top answer for me is always a good cast iron pan. Doesn’t have to be expensive but should be quite heavy. It’s not just buy it for life either, it’s buy it for future generation’s lives.
this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
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Sand the crap out of any new pan can make a 'meh' pan into a 'muah' pan. A lot of them aren't nearly as smooth as they could/should be. We bought a cheap one that was quite bumpy, sanding down was a night and day difference.
I think one of the things a lot of people miss in the bifl mentality is the requirement of maintenance, care, and in this case alteration. My post mentioned knives and watches and boots. Learning the right tools and techniques and treatments for those things is just as important as buying the right thing. Good post, I never would have known sanding down a cast iron to make it smoother would make it a better performer.
I heard that the bumps were there to help the seasoning stick. Actually, looking it up and the point seems moot - with people disagreeing as a matter of preference. So there is a bit of nuance there.
I actually have a Lodge that has gone smooth just from the daily use of repeated oiling and scraping and of course carbon buildup.
I had a lodge that I didn't do anything but cook on, didn't have any issues. The ex got that one. Had an old crappy one that I couldn't get to non stick the way my lodge did, then I sanded and seasoned it well before next use. By far my favorite pan years later.
It's kinda funny just how strong folks' opinions are on this.
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Here to rep the ceramic gang. Perhaps not as long lasting as cast iron, but I still have my first ceramic pan from 6? 7? years ago. Still as good as the day I got it. If you like non-stick and don't want to deal with maintinence or fear of fucking up a cast iron, ceramic is an excellent alternative with plenty of longevity.
The only consideration for care needed is just to hand wash it over putting it in the dishwasher. Which you should already be doing for nonstick. People say you can use metal utensils on ceramic but I've never tested that
This is my jam. I love buying only quality gear. I’ll just rattle off some of my personal favorite.
Thorogood American Heritage waterproof wedge sole work boots. Around $300. I’m a tradesman, so I actually chew through them enough to keep a fresh pair for indoor jobs, and my outdoor pair for rough conditions. If you don’t work in heavy construction like me, they’ll last you a lifetime, and when tradesmen like me see them on you’re feet we’ll give a nod/grunt of approval. They’re even union made.
An old school mechanical can opener from OhSay. I’ll never own another can opener.
Pocket knife. Benchmade Bugout in s30v steel. Get a water stone and learn to sharpen it on YouTube. A sharp blade should be in everyone’s pocket. Some minimal care will keep it going for most of a lifetime.
Trayvax element, ascent, or venture wallets. The one my wife carries is my old one, 15 years on it and it’s easily got 40 more.
A hanks leather gun belt. It’s made to be strong enough to support a firearm in a holster, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used without one. Extremely high quality, thick durable, great hardware.
A quality mechanical watch. A tool watch. I run a Sinn, but there are many brands where you can find a serviceable mechanical watch for anywhere from $300 to $3000 and much much higher. The glycine combat 6 is a great starting point, you can find them used for maybe 275, their sapphire crystal is almost impervious to scratching and the stainless steel case is as well. I just had my old one serviced and hand polished to look like new, and I have no doubt with a service every five years it would last me a lifetime of daily wear. Looking for sapphire glass and a sellita or ETA movement from any number of brands will afford you plenty of aesthetic variety.
I might post more later if I’m not busy. Let’s hear some more!
To clarify for others:
Hanks makes many belts that are not specifically gun belts. The one I have came with a 99 year warranty (I think they all might?) and after several years of daily wear, sometimes in rough work conditions, I pretty much believe it'll last that long.
To further clarify, the only thing that makes it a “gun” belt is that it’s built like a brick shit house. There’s nothing “tactical” or meal team sixxy about them. Just good tough belts.
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Happy to see this community, I really liked it on Reddit
As long as it's "you can buy this as a long lasting product"
Rather than "my great grandad bought this lump of solid metal and it's still a lump of solid metal!"
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Quality tools in general. Be disciplined in storing them well and in one place.
A good chef’s knife and gear to keep it sharp. You will never want to go back.
Cast iron pan has been said. A good multi layered stainless steel pan (so layers all the way, not disc bottom). Indestructible and doesnt give you cancer like teflon.
A leatherman or similar multitool.
Good binoculars, if you’re into that kind of stuff.
In addition to the chef's knife, a good sturdy butcher block style cutting board. Oil it regularly.
And soft wood is good wood. The butcher block is there to protect the knife
Just going to emphasise a negative here: no Teflon. In fact if you have some already you should plan to dispose of it as soon as you can afford another pan.
Ideally your local municipality can advise you on how to safely dispose of them.
Recommend looking into cast carbon pans!
A used steel case or Herman miller chair. (Unless you can afford to buy new) Instead of a godawful PU leather spine shattering gaming chair.
The chairs may not last a lifetime but are very durable and will help your spine last your lifetime.
Their CEO took a bonus and told employees in a video to work hard instead of being in "pity city" when they were left without bonuses.
https://www.npr.org/2023/04/19/1170669245/millerknoll-ceo-andi-owen-video-bonuses
Even more reason to buy used. The CEO might be a cunt, but that doesn't change whether it's good for your body.
The point is that a chair designed for ergonomics of sitting at a desk all day will do you much better than one designed to look like it belongs in a racecar.
That advice stands whether that's Haworth, Steel case, Herman miller, or any other serious office chair brand.
Working somewhere that had only Herman Miller chairs fucking broke me.
Almost like ergonomics is individual and not a fucking brand name.
I've yet to find a "serious office chair" that actually properly supports MY spine the way my supposedly shitty "gaming" chair does.
Mainly because the concept of a "serious office chair" is horseshit. A chair is either good or bad and sucking off one particular name over and over doesn't change the fact that a well-made uncomfortable piece of shit is still and uncomfortable piece of shit.
I use steelcase, who have an extremely adjustable chair in the leap and the gesture.
Perhaps you weren't using the correct size for your body. I know that the aeron comes in three sizes as well as the old and new models.
It's not about the brand name, they're well known to be adjustable for the individual, as well as being well made.
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I'll add Haworth to that list. Especially their Zody chairs. I swear by them for having to sit 8 hours a day on.
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You'll have people here recommending specific brands or manufacturers.
Don't fall victim to this. Brands change. Manufacturers change.
Learn how to recognize a good product from bad.
Currently, right now, I can recommend the first version of the LTT backpack. The construction is solid. Gusseted and reinforced frickin' everywhere. The straps are solid. They're attached to the main body of the pack with thick, heavy fabric and not just sewn directly on. They're also reinforced with rivets. The zippers are solid. The interior has a couple of soft pockets for scratch-prone items. There are multiple laptop/document sleeves. The main compartment is way larger than it first appears. The only issue I've had was with the shitty carabiner-style zipper pulls that everyone knew would break. Replaced them with some paracord. Problem solved.
I have no doubt this particular backpack will last me forever. But that's no guarantee anything they make in the future will.
Do not worry about point of origin. Quality can come from anywhere. Shit can come from anywhere. It's all down to the what the brand and manufacturer are looking for.
Watch out for "bait and switch" brands that pop up out of nowhere, sell direct only, and initially offer a very well made product. So many times they find some modicum of success and then immediately turn to offering multiple tiers of products, with their initial "good" products skyrocketing in price as they push the margins higher and higher. There are a TON of small shoe brands that fit this bill, unfortunately.
I don't have specific suggestions, but rather something to look for when shopping for cars. And it's something that people who aren't gearheads or mechanically inclined can do.
If you are worried about the engine in a potential automobile purchase being troublesome or not, look for a vehicle that uses an engine that's used in multiple other things. There's a Toyota V8 that's used in trucks, luxury cars, forklifts, and even small aircraft, and it's a decent engine. The Ford 3.7 is used in F150s, Mustangs, generators, and other equipment. (Although I'd avoid this one in a front wheel drive car)
Past examples would be the 300 I-6 that Ford made for decades, which was used in trucks, boats, tractors, forklifts, generators, and various types of farm equipment. When a manufacturer makes an engine that will be sold to other companies to be installed in their equipment, they seem to take more time to make it less terrible.
Chiming in to say if you're in the market for a car (new or used) consumer reports is an indispensable resource, well worth the subscription price. I just cancel after I've bought a car. They have a catalogue going back decades and keep info on older cars up to date with longevity stats and common problems.
Car forums are a huge help too. Name a car and there's a group of people who have made it their life's work to provide quality information on maintinence, repairs and minute quirks about it.
Also, just buy a Toyota Corolla if you want "an car" that won't shit the bed on you.
Source: I'm broke and have to buy cheap cars from shady used car lots or troll Facebook marketplace
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Washer/ Dryer: Speed Queen. Yes, the machines you use in a laundry mat. The washers are not the absolute best at cleaning, but they do a good job. More importantly they will sit there in your laundry for DECADES and clean your clothes. Mine just turned 10 years old and it still works like new. It replaced a GE front loader that died at 6 years of age.
Stove/ Cooktop: Wolf. Contrary to popular belief, they are not just a luxury brand the "Joneses" buy. They are actually well built and great performing culinary tools. I have a DF304 that is 13 years old and I love it. I will never part from my Wolf and it will probably outlast me. I may move to an induction stove at some point.
I used to sell appliances and the number of idiots coming in whining that their $300 Amana "only" lasted six or seven years was saddening. Every single time they would bitch about how "Well my grandma's Derpomatic washer lasted for like thirty years!" and I would ask them how much grandma paid for the thing. Oh, you don't know? Well good thing the internet knows. Is that the one she had? Yeah? It was $300 too! In 1962. Meaning it was about $3,000 in current-day dollars. Buy a fucking Speed Queen if you want that kind of longevity.
Oh, you don't have that kind of money? Well then go bitch to your boomer-ass parents about how they ruined the world and leave me out of it.
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same discussion on other communities:
https://lemmy.world/post/2642565?scrollToComments=true
https://lemmy.world/post/2642580?scrollToComments=true
edit: mixed up the links
I am currently sitting next to my Swiss Gear backpack that I've owned for 15 years now? It was used when I got it - my parent's work place was moving, and in cleaning the offices to prep a lot of people were getting rid of stuff, they all decided to put together a "free to good home" pile. High school me thought it was dorky and didn't look brand new but free is free and my parent insisted I'd appreciate the quality someday.
Highschool, University, Grad School, months of field work, personal use, bad weather, multiple cross-continent moves, exclusive status as my go-to airline carryon, weekend trips, road trips, and it's now my "work bag". It still basically looks EXACTLY like it did when I got it, too - clearly used but by no means old or in bad repair.
My employer offered to replace it "with something a little less bulky" but all I can think is.... Why? Love it.
Edit: Its previous owner's line of work is also notoriously hard on luggage, and I'm guessing it had been through several years of abuse as a go-bag before I got to it even - probably worth a decade of any other circumstance's use.
I had my Wenger backpack (Swiss Gear parent company) for 10 years. Had to replace it this year because it was used and abused on a daily basis. Never had anything that lasted more than 2 years before this one.
My go to knives are Mora and Opinel. Have only had to buy new ones because I lost it.
For a backpack, Frost River is a bit expensive, but they are practically bulletproof.
I have a minor one... Simply Human trash can. Got tired of throwing out plastic trash cans every couple years and bought a stainless steel one. It was more expensive than one plastic, but it is going strong. It has lots of nice little design touches too, like a hole to allow air to escape so that the bag can fill the trash can cavity and removable inner frame to make it easy for cleaning.
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Hammer, screwdriver, pliers, 12-20mm chisel, and maybe a #4 pattern plane. Basic tools that will last forever, even the cheap ones, but more importantly will let you fix a wide range of wear and use-related issues in other things to extend their useful life.
Grip6 Belt. Highly recommended on Reddit too
I not sure if they are "BIFL", but I've got five pairs of Darn Tough socks I bought five years ago that still feel new.
No other sock aside from Smartwool has lasted me this long ans stayed so comfortable.
With the lifetime warranty, yes, they're BIFL.
Bicycle, I like Surly and All-city. I like steel frames, but still have an Al frame plus carbon fiber fork one that I rode for ten years.
Durable, easy to maintain and cheap to fix.
maybe replace the carbon with steel eventually? I thought carbon was less durable but liked because it's lighter?
edit: aluminum less durable than steel too, maybe upgrade that eventually as well lol
Carbon fiber can suffer from micro fractures that can't be repaired. They're definitely not a buy it for life product at all.
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A good laptop bag. As someone with a traveling job, I burned though one of them ASAP. I know this may not be the best brand but I bought a cheap TUMI off of offer up. This thing is a tank. Barely has any visible damage after downright abusing it.
I’ve had a TimBuk2 messenger bag for over 20 years. I had to email them to replace the plastic buckles at one point, and they sent them free of charge. That’s one less thing in the landfill.
That is another good brand I have heard of. I think I was recommended Briggs And Riley at one point and Saddleback at another. They were a little pricey for me back in the day though
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