Buy It For Life Thread

Anyone else obsessed with quality? For as long as I can remember I have long felt that my money should only be spent on things that are actually worth the money. A lot of times I find this makes for expensive purchases, but I justify it by being extremely selective.

I spend a lot of time doing consumer research and evaluating consensus about products before buying them. It's been a great way to cut past the bullshit and not waste money on things that do not last.

What do you buy that will last you for life? I'll start:

1) Chrome backpack.

NOTE: The original founders of Chrome now produce backpacks as company Mission Workshop. Chrome backpacks have gone downhill since, but the old ones like mine are easily some of the toughest on the planet. Every pocket is double walled with heavy-duty truck tarp liner and is weatherproofed. The build quality of these packs is just insane! My next pack (if I even need one?!) will be Mission Workshop for sure.

2) Ranger RD-7

These are now manufactured by Ontario Knife Company but the quality is the same as the original Rangers. This is a tough knife to an extreme. Super thick blade formed as one piece, the composite handle is indestructible. On youtube, there's a video of a crazy guy who puts knives through destruction tests. As I expected it took him a LOT of abuse to break. I'd trust this knife with my life.

3) Stainless steel bikes.

I own Soma (japanese Tange steel) and a Surly. Neither are high-end but are extremely reliable! You can't go wrong with SS cro-moly.

4) Thermos Sipp cup

Mentioned this one in the cups thread. Simply the best coffee mug ever. It never leaks, the design is perfection, and it's easy to clean. Anything stainless steel is inherently strong and will last a lifetime. It has a tea bag hook built in, and the flow rate is just perfect for coffee/tea! Fucking love this thing and refuse to buy anything else.

5) Hemp Hoodlamb jackets

I won't say they are indestructable, but of all of the jackets I have owned I easily like these the best. They are really tough and the design makes great use of both hemp and useful synthetics. Both of my jackets are easily going to last many years before I retire them. My first has been shredded by by dog (he plays rough) and it's threads are still hanging together just fine. I wear my hoodlamb jackets daily and even though they were expensive it was money well spent.

5) Lodge cast iron pan

I have the 10" standard and despite buying it from Walmart, Lodge makes a hell of a nice cast iron pan. It's the only pan I cook with now and it fucking rules.

So what have you?
Does anyone know of shoes that are really, really tough? So far I really haven't found a shoe company that does anything to stand above the rest. I'm still hunting for The Ones. What other BIFL worthy goods are out there?

Music gear and whatnot yes, clothes etc, no. If I could get good quality clothes that were me and not fashion then i'd pay.

Mission Workshop is awesome, but the prices... oy. I've also heard really good things about Timbuk2's custom made bags. They seem to better made than the off the rack ones, and not too much more expensive.

  On 3/8/2016 at 3:49 PM, maitake said:

 

3) Stainless steel bikes.

I own Soma (japanese Tange steel) and a Surly. Neither are high-end but are extremely reliable! You can't go wrong with SS cro-moly.

 

 

What's that adage? "They don't make things like they used to" It is true. I think there's been a resurgence of it with some commodities but in general it's sad just how geared some products are for disposal years later. Likewise, things we take for granted now used to be pretty expensive, but the quality was unmatched. I know surveyors and engineers who still use HP calculators they bought in the early 80s. I have a radio clock alarm I bought at a thrift store that was from the late 60s and sounds amazing despite being beat up. I looked it up and it was over $200 new when it came out. Even had a payment plan but also came with a lifetime warranty. People would spend paychecks on things we now buy at dollar stores.

Electronics and appliances especially. If something wasn't covered with a generous warranty it would at least be easily repairable by a specialist.

Some of the things I will probably have forever are from the 70s - stereo receivers, utility knives. I still wear a lot of shirts and pants I've had for over 10 years.

I'm like this with shoes - I actually just bought my first sneakers for the first time in something like 6 years. My Onitsukas and Sambas before that literally fell apart before I got new ones a couple months ago.

I do regret not taking better care of my car. I change the oil but neglect washing it and cleaning it and own repairs like spark plug replacement. As a goal I want to get a old truck with a specific goal of servicing it myself and learning how to repair/work on engines.

I'm slowly trying to change my furniture to things that will last for decades. Like furniture that is really durable and/or easily repairable, not the cheap plywood/fiberboard/plastic/cardboard kind that breaks in the first move. The kind that 100% of my furniture was when I was a student..

I now have two solid wood writing desks (the other one is functioning as a temporary kitchen table with a waterproof tablecloth..) and a pinewood futon bed frame. The bed frame is fucking heavy and even heavier with the king size futon mattress. Maybe 100kg or so. Next maybe some good quality bookshelves.

Also good quality kitchenware is really nice. I have things in my kitchen that have been in constant use since the late 1970s and are still in good condition.

  On 3/8/2016 at 4:18 PM, doublename said:

Mission Workshop is awesome, but the prices... oy. I've also heard really good things about Timbuk2's custom made bags. They seem to better made than the off the rack ones, and not too much more expensive.

My current backpack is from TOPO, hopefully it lasts quite a long time.

edit: I'll have to check out that Thermos mug though. I was thinking about getting one of those clicky Contigo ones, but I'm sure they break.

 

  On 3/8/2016 at 3:49 PM, maitake said:

 

3) Stainless steel bikes.

I own Soma (japanese Tange steel) and a Surly. Neither are high-end but are extremely reliable! You can't go wrong with SS cro-moly.

 

 

 

If you're doubting the prices on those Mission bags don't.. I swear by them so much that i'd pay $1000 for one and not even question it.

You should know that I also own 2 Timbuk2 saddle bags for my fat bike. They are very nicely built as well and on a budget probably fine but god damn are Mission/old Chrome bags the absolute shit! I have a deep affection for mine.. You could throw it out of a 35,000 ft aircraft a thousand times over and won't break.

  On 3/8/2016 at 5:12 PM, maitake said:

 

  On 3/8/2016 at 4:18 PM, doublename said:

Mission Workshop is awesome, but the prices... oy. I've also heard really good things about Timbuk2's custom made bags. They seem to better made than the off the rack ones, and not too much more expensive.

My current backpack is from TOPO, hopefully it lasts quite a long time.

edit: I'll have to check out that Thermos mug though. I was thinking about getting one of those clicky Contigo ones, but I'm sure they break.

 

  On 3/8/2016 at 3:49 PM, maitake said:

 

3) Stainless steel bikes.

I own Soma (japanese Tange steel) and a Surly. Neither are high-end but are extremely reliable! You can't go wrong with SS cro-moly.

 

 

 

 

 

edit: arrgh i have to go to work. i want to respond to the other posts. post more good shit!

Part of me thinks this pseudo-advertising is consumeristic nonsense and obsession about notions of "quality" a bit childish (it's just stuff FFS), but that won't prevent me from looking up places like permabuy.com (formerly Last Me A Lifetime blog) for inspiration.

Backpack-wise I have an Asaklitt 30-liter that I couldn't be more happy with, despite the non-expensive brand. Super-solid and comfortable. I really like Timberland boots; I've got a black pair that's lasted me more than 5 rough-ass northern winters without any internal wear-and-tear and only slight external. Other shoes I will completely wear through within a few months.

I like robust kitchenware and have a Le Creuset pan and an old cast-iron pot that should outlast me.

I second the Lodge cast-iron stuff - however, I have an old set of Wagner cast-iron (2 10" and 1 9") skillets, and they are fantastic - they have their nonstick properties so well baked in I hardly ever need to re-season them.

That being said, sometimes you can find really well made things cheaply - good example - America's Test Kitchen recommends the T-Fal nonstick skillet and they use it almost every show, and it's only 25 bucks. I'm planning on getting one based on that recommendation.

Gillette Sensor razor - they unintentionally made these too well. I had one from 1991-2013 and only had to change the blades. It isn't easy to find the vanilla model anymore, so I bought 3 new handles when I ran into them on clearance in a walmart a few yrs ago.

I don't own a pair myself, but the Sennheiser HD-25's and Beyerdynamic DT-770's are both headphones that seem to last ages. I know the Beyer's have user replaceable parts as well .

i have a timbuk2 custom backpack for a few years (one of the ones made in sf). it's held up fine except one of the chest strap snaps fell off. i think it has a lifetime warranty so i could probably get it replaced for free? it was my main bike bag for a couple of years though and the thing fucking reeks when that sweat shit gets reactivated (heat+humidity).

invested in some high quality commuting shorts and pants in the last couple of years after blowing out a number of my $20 h&m shit shits. definitely appreciate the quality stuff. $80 for a pair of swrv shorts that have seen thousands of miles in the last couple of years (i commute 20mi/day 5 days a week in them). they're mad faded, especially in the seat, but they're not going anywhere. i'll probably dye them soon as the shorts season has already started here (wearing them now). the pants i got were cadence and have been as durable as the swrv shorts but haven't faded nearly as much.

also owned two surlys. my cross check was totalled in an accident but i've been riding a pacer (built up like a crosscheck 'cause i prefer bar ends) and has seen nearly 10k miles since i got it. i beat the shit out of my bike and basically ride it until the chain breaks and then replace the cassette with a new chain.

i'm def in the market for a lifetime quality locking blade pocket knife. problem i keep running into is that most of the affordable/well known ones come w/leather sheaths and i'm a fell good vegetarian pussy asshole

agree with joyrex on cast iron kitchenware, my parents have some cast iron stuff still going strong from the 70s.

I have a pair of Cat shoes, and they have lasted way longer than any other shoe i've owned, I will definately buy again.

On a side note I fucking hate the trend towards disposable flimsy tents.

I have a cabanon proper canvas one which should last for ages, and a little 2person one which has lasted me years as well. WTF is wrong with ppl who buy loads of cheap tents and destroy them.

  On 3/8/2016 at 5:32 PM, chim said:

Part of me thinks this pseudo-advertising is consumeristic nonsense and obsession about notions of "quality" a bit childish (it's just stuff FFS), but that won't prevent me from looking up places like permabuy.com (formerly Last Me A Lifetime blog) for inspiration.

 

Backpack-wise I have an Asaklitt 30-liter that I couldn't be more happy with, despite the non-expensive brand. Super-solid and comfortable. I really like Timberland boots; I've got a black pair that's lasted me more than 5 rough-ass northern winters without any internal wear-and-tear and only slight external. Other shoes I will completely wear through within a few months.

 

I like robust kitchenware and have a Le Creuset pan and an old cast-iron pot that should outlast me.

Excuse me what? It isn't just stuff. These are things that are useful and last for many years after purchase. The value is unreal when considering I only bought them once and never needed to buy another ever again. I'm not just hyping brands chim, this is the stuff I depend on every day.

  On 3/8/2016 at 5:36 PM, Joyrex said:

I second the Lodge cast-iron stuff - however, I have an old set of Wagner cast-iron (2 10" and 1 9") skillets, and they are fantastic - they have their nonstick properties so well baked in I hardly ever need to re-season them.

 

That being said, sometimes you can find really well made things cheaply - good example - America's Test Kitchen recommends the T-Fal nonstick skillet and they use it almost every show, and it's only 25 bucks. I'm planning on getting one based on that recommendation.

Argg Wagner jealousy :( I do wish they finished their pans like they used to.

  On 3/8/2016 at 7:20 PM, AAAAh said:

agree with joyrex on cast iron kitchenware, my parents have some cast iron stuff still going strong from the 70s.

 

I have a pair of Cat shoes, and they have lasted way longer than any other shoe i've owned, I will definately buy again.

 

On a side note I fucking hate the trend towards disposable flimsy tents.

I have a cabanon proper canvas one which should last for ages, and a little 2person one which has lasted me years as well. WTF is wrong with ppl who buy loads of cheap tents and destroy them.

Caterpillar shoes? I saw they are venturing into industrial grade phones. Will check them out.

  On 3/8/2016 at 7:00 PM, doublename said:

I don't own a pair myself, but the Sennheiser HD-25's and Beyerdynamic DT-770's are both headphones that seem to last ages. I know the Beyer's have user replaceable parts as well .

Aha yes! Both awesome brands. I'll add my Audio Technicas to that list too. Extremely tough headphones! So worth it.

  On 3/8/2016 at 4:48 PM, joshuatx said:

What's that adage? "They don't make things like they used to" It is true. I think there's been a resurgence of it with some commodities but in general it's sad just how geared some products are for disposal years later. Likewise, things we take for granted now used to be pretty expensive, but the quality was unmatched. I know surveyors and engineers who still use HP calculators they bought in the early 80s. I have a radio clock alarm I bought at a thrift store that was from the late 60s and sounds amazing despite being beat up. I looked it up and it was over $200 new when it came out. Even had a payment plan but also came with a lifetime warranty. People would spend paychecks on things we now buy at dollar stores.

Nicely put, I feel as though we've probably fucked our culture and environment into the ground for years to come by being totally reliant on/obsessed with throwaway things. Imagine a society with our technological advancement that also had the sense to make things that were intended as investments, the kind of thing you could pass down through three or four generations and have repaired when they broke.

I read an article recently about the place in Mongolia where they mine and process the rare earth minerals that go into smartphone screens and Apple watch screens. The environment there is pretty messed up, as you might imagine. Basically, the author made a really pertinent point that in the past, with old-style pocket watches, we mined valuable minerals from the earth and used them to make precious heirlooms; now, we mine even rarer minerals and put them into products we expect to have updated yearly. Thought it was pretty fucked and spoke volumes about our culture.

  On 3/8/2016 at 7:00 PM, doublename said:

I don't own a pair myself, but the Sennheiser HD-25's and Beyerdynamic DT-770's are both headphones that seem to last ages. I know the Beyer's have user replaceable parts as well .

Aha yes! Both awesome brands. I'll add my Audio Technicas to that list too. Extremely tough headphones! So worth it.

I've had a Lenovo Y50 laptop for a year and a half now and still runs some of the latest games near flawlessly, on par with many desktops out there. Definitely won't buy an HP again, and it might be a good while still before I need a replacement PC.

I've owned a 2015 Nissan Versa for nearly a year as well. Only major problem I'm having right now is I have to put air in the rear left tire every two weeks or so, though I'm still not sure why it slowly loses air pressure. Will probably need to do my second oil change soon as well. Did the first one last Halloween, of all days to do it.

My Magic Bullet blender proved pretty versatile since I bought it six months ago. Originally bought it to make "bulletproof" coffee, but lately I've been using it to make smoothies, guacamole, hummus, etc.

Also bought a new Norelco cordless shaver about two months ago. Pretty much what I use all my haircuts and beard mowing for, being a baldy.

Even though I'm not wealthy by any means, I pretty much have what I need material-wise. From here it's more a matter of getting more engaged in exercise, outdoor activity, maybe social outings...crap like that.

I have some musical equipment that's literally as old as me. Most of that stuff I expect to last a good long while. I don't spend enough time, money, or energy shopping clothes or anything else though.

  On 3/8/2016 at 7:36 PM, Leon Sumbitches said:

in the past, with old-style pocket watches, we mined valuable minerals from the earth and used them to make precious heirlooms; now, we mine even rarer minerals and put them into products we expect to have updated yearly. Thought it was pretty fucked and spoke volumes about our culture.

Yeah, totally agree on this, it's something I think about from time to time. Aside from my Raspberry Pi, I have never purchased a brand new computer, so I guess I could toot my own horn about not contributing to more manufacturing at least. In the case of smartphones, though, is that the only alternative? Is it viable to go without a smartphone? I guess the only must-have application for mine is Google Maps, really (and the bus schedule & GPS feature is a huge plus), everything else is just a distraction/annoyance.

Oh yeah and I do have some nice kitchen equipment. Some Le Creuset pots, nice Japanese knives, a Hario pourover (which only cost $20), an Encore grinder.

Spend money on good quality furniture. And I mean money. The museum stuff you see from "back in the day" cost those people a small fortune. Those that couldn't afford it bought the Ikea equivalent of the day (usually a couple of planks nailed together).

Kitchen gear too is nice - sweepstakes, where did you get the Hario kettle for only $20?? That's a hell of a deal.

i'm pretty poor but i have nice stuff, i'm good at saving money. it's always good to have nice clothes.

  On 3/8/2016 at 7:36 PM, Leon Sumbitches said:

 

  On 3/8/2016 at 4:48 PM, joshuatx said:

What's that adage? "They don't make things like they used to" It is true. I think there's been a resurgence of it with some commodities but in general it's sad just how geared some products are for disposal years later. Likewise, things we take for granted now used to be pretty expensive, but the quality was unmatched. I know surveyors and engineers who still use HP calculators they bought in the early 80s. I have a radio clock alarm I bought at a thrift store that was from the late 60s and sounds amazing despite being beat up. I looked it up and it was over $200 new when it came out. Even had a payment plan but also came with a lifetime warranty. People would spend paychecks on things we now buy at dollar stores.

 

Nicely put, I feel as though we've probably fucked our culture and environment into the ground for years to come by being totally reliant on/obsessed with throwaway things. Imagine a society with our technological advancement that also had the sense to make things that were intended as investments, the kind of thing you could pass down through three or four generations and have repaired when they broke.

 

I read an article recently about the place in Mongolia where they mine and process the rare earth minerals that go into smartphone screens and Apple watch screens. The environment there is pretty messed up, as you might imagine. Basically, the author made a really pertinent point that in the past, with old-style pocket watches, we mined valuable minerals from the earth and used them to make precious heirlooms; now, we mine even rarer minerals and put them into products we expect to have updated yearly. Thought it was pretty fucked and spoke volumes about our culture.

 

That's fascinating, I never even thought of the minerals they use for those. Another ancedote I can think of is titanium, now fairly standard as a metal in aerospace engineering on high tech commercial jets but in the past it was so highly sought out for cold war defense programs like the A-12 spyplane (SR-71) that the US government used to have a reserve of it stockpiled. Early on they had to scramble to get a hold of enough of it, so much so that the CIA was tasked with acquiring it...

  Quote

 

In his book Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed, Ben Rich stated, "Our supplier, Titanium Metals Corporation, had only limited reserves of the precious alloy, so the CIA conducted a worldwide search and using third parties and dummy companies, managed to unobtrusively purchase the base metal from one of the world's leading exporters – the Soviet Union. The Russians never had an inkling of how they were actually contributing to the creation of the airplane being rushed into construction to spy on their homeland."[9]

  On 3/9/2016 at 6:08 AM, chenGOD said:

Spend money on good quality furniture. And I mean money. The museum stuff you see from "back in the day" cost those people a small fortune. Those that couldn't afford it bought the Ikea equivalent of the day (usually a couple of planks nailed together).

 

Kitchen gear too is nice - sweepstakes, where did you get the Hario kettle for only $20?? That's a hell of a deal.

Oh sorry, I just got the glass cone for $20. I do have the kettle too, though - my mother-in-law got it for me. That kettle is the SHIT. Life changing, my mornings would be 10x shittier without it.

Telefunken RC 760 TS

My Grandmother (may she be happy were she is) had kind of inhereted this to me. She won it someday in the german lottery. It has even a cinch out. For 15 years it is now my festival radio and shower radio , getting everyday or two rising moisture in its electronics and is still working (and sounding) top notch. Also I'm not very kind with it on festivals, but my RC 760 doesnt care, it stands by me.

I love you grandma and Telefunken, too. Everyone should have a Telefunken in his kitchen.

I lose too much shit for the 'buy something that will last for life' to ever make sense