Ask Lemmy

I’ve read some recent reviews on doc martens being total garbage now.

Doc Martens are now Chinese made IIRC and don’t last.

Solovair is the the company that used to make Martens and you can still buy that style there. I hear they’re much better than Martens, but also occasionally a mixed review that they didn’t last very long.

I’ll offer a mixed review for carhartt…while they used to be strictly workwear, they’ve started putting up retail spaces in designer clothing areas. Prices have shot up. I had a belt from them that fell apart pretty quick with normal wear. Got a work shirt that’s doing pretty good though. IMO they’re headed down the same road as a lot of brands that get popular - price hikes with decreased quality.

!buyitforlife@slrpnk.net

Lenovo ThinkPads

I bought an old model in 2013 and it lived in my backpack through 7 years of school and university. It was dropped hard enough to permanently bend the heatsink, the disk drive cover snapped off, and it regularly overheated from throwing it in my bag without turning it off. It ran windows, dozens of Linux distros (up to 3 at once) and now it's a hackintosh for when I need a Mac. I'm confident I could buy spare parts and repair it myself if anything important broke.

Doc martens are not so great quality now. The general consensus is that Solovair are the spiritual successor (in terms of quality) to what Dr Martens were. This video has more info: https://youtu.be/vkhCcvfVHRs?si=21bH9fSvkNgmjwm1

For laptops O would recommend framework laptops. The idea is that they have upgradable and repairable.modules. You can follow them on mastodon too: @frameworkcomputer@fosstodon.org And we have a Lemmy community too: !framework@lemmy.ml

JanSport backpacks. My wife had the zipper wear out on the backpack she has had for ~20 years. She contacted the manufacturer. They don't make that particular bag anymore so they just sent her a comparable equivalent with almost no questions asked.

Osprey Packs - Back packs.

Patagonia for apparel and Red Wing for footwear.

Miele (European) (dish) washing / dryers / fridges

i kind of can't believe how long my Seasonic PSU is lasting. It's been on continuously for the last like, 12 years. unreal

For the Euros- if you need to replace any parts in your toilet, buy Geberit.

I frequently have to replace cheap flush mechanisms and filler valves, and I always replace with Geberit.

I have Geberit flush mechanisms that were installed in the 80s and if they start to leak, you pop them out and replace a washer. No tools required

Speed queen washers and dryers. LGs and Samsung's drop like flies in comparison. They are expensive but they are made in the United States and last donkeys years. I've heard of people moving out after 10 years, and taking their speed queen dryer with them.

Also, in general, hand made Japanese knives. Any knife will keep cutting if sharpened but most of "sharpness" is thinness of the blade. That's why we don't use meat cleavers for daily prep. Japanese knives are made to be thinned and polished, as the edge will become thicker with repeated sharpenings. Other knives will get thicker and thicker and become complete carrot crunchers. These can be thinned too but it's much more difficult with only sharpening stones.

Additionally the handles are easily replaceable by anyone, western style handles require destructive disassembly of the existing scales and rivets.

I’ll throw a weird one in here. If you want to do any smart home automation stuff, Lutron. Their stuff is famously bulletproof and generally “just works” and almost never needs troubleshooting.

It can be a little pricy for a light switch, but it will work with just about any platform you want to use. Also, all of their wireless switches work without internet.

Doc Martens are not a good buy for a while now. Standards of quality have dropped loads and my nephew has had two pairs fall apart from the DM store in the last 8 months. Red Wing, Thorogood, Solovair among others, but avoid Doc Martens when buying for life.

USB-Cable - Anker

3 years ago I bought a double pack of usb-C to A cables on Amazon. Description mentioned a lifetime warranty so I took a screenshot for future. The only thing Anker wanted to know was the production number (which is on the packaging) and a proof of destruction of the old broken cable. Not a single usb cable survived longer than a year at our household despite Ankers.

For hiking and camping gear: Savotta

If you're not from Finland you've probably never heard of them but I'm yet to buy one product from them I'm not satisfied with. They make gear for the Finnish defence forces aswell.

Miele, but I think they recently got bought out and enshittified. Their vacuums and dishwashers were built insanely well, sometimes you can still find old stock. They last decades.

Pacsafe backpacks too. Mine has lasted well over a decade. Fuck jansport and all those backpacks that fall apart.

Already mentioned in thread, Anker cables. It has very good threaded covers that are strong and hard to damage. Internal copper cables and the USB ends are also very well made so there is no chance for it to fray or crack.

Bought a pair pack over 6 years ago. Still haven't used the second cable because the first one is as good as new.

Also NGK spark plugs lol.

Tools are kind of a cheat, they’re pretty solid chunks of metal and even halfway decent tools will work a while with care. There are absolutely lemons out there made of junk metal that will shatter.

So a shout out to Harbor Freight. Buy their Icon brand or Doyle hand tools. They are often good enough for some serious mechanics, and absolutely good enough for the home wrench slinger with normal use. Yeah, there are a lot of upper tier tools like Gearwrench that will last forever, but HF stuff will get the job done for cheaper and last just as long.

The normal kitchen aid stand mixer. A no-brainer.

A nespresso-made nespresso. Not the cheap ones made by breville or whatever that are sold at Target. Our Nespresso has been seeing fairly regular use for almost 2 decades. Don’t expect it to literally be BIFL, but it’s doing great.

Strongbags. Designed for flight crew, but anyone can buy it. Super-durable gear for travel. Maybe not fashionable in the trendy sense, but it’s well made and as close to BIFL as you can get. Doesn’t have the trendy cache of Fjallraven and the like. Had one of their coolers for 15 years now.

An odd one: Bestek. Bought one of their car power adapters. 12v with 3 12v sockets and 4 USB out. Damn thing won’t quit. Charges all the family’s devices on road trips plus runs the dashcam.

Kent comb. Yeah, it’s just a comb. However, that cheap shit at the chain drug store (like Goody) cracks, loses teeth, and is just cheap. Unless you deliberately abuse the Kent comb it will last a lifetime.

Used to be a fan of Benchmade; kinda seems like they went cheap more recently.

For footware, I've had pretty good luck with Danners - they had an ABU compliant stitched sole boot that was super comfortable; one pair got me through 4 years of active duty, and remain my go-to pair of work boots. The ABU uniform was phased out since I separated, so if you're lucky you might be able to find a crazy good deal at at military surplus store; otherwise I'm sure they've got a newer OCP boot now.

Timberland boots also last. Docs have gone down in quality

I doubt it matters much, but I've had the same cloak from Cloak and Dagger for close to a decade now. The only issue was that the clasp detached, but it was an easy fix.

For pots and pans, buy Demeyere. The Demeyere Apollo pots and pans I bought 21 years ago still look just about as good as the day I unboxed them, and I am rough on my cookware. I have a little weathering along the edge of the heart conductive disk on the bottom of some pans, but that is it.

They sit dirty too long and get crusty. They go right into my dishwasher. They fall out of my lower cabinet onto my tile floor all the time. None of this phases them. I bought them over two decades ago because I had an employee discount at a cookware store and the company rep classified them as, "dishwasher recommended." As an avid home cook and occasional caterer, these pans, a Le Creuset Dutch oven, and my grandmothers' cast iron are my daily workhorses.

You are going to pay through the nose for Demeyere pans, but they will last long enough for your kids to cook with them after you are gone. You can get their least expensive line of regular pans, cry once, and be good for life.

You might see used Demeyere indoor smokers, asparagus steamers, egg poachers, and other similarly oddball pans in online market places. Ignore those. They were a cheap line made in a different factory at one point. They are not the same quality. All of the regular style Demeyere pans (skillets, sauce pans, woks, sauciers, etc.) are excellent, and I would not hesitate to buy them used.

Columbia (especially their winter gear). Never failed and kept me warm.

I recently bought some "cheap" underwear at Walmart. I really don't like Walmart and avoid going there but I decided that underwear lasting for a decade or longer is just too long. So I'm intentionally NOT doing BIFL with underwear, socks and other things. Because it just seems cleaner and healthier to replace that stuff more often.

With many things I do prefer better quality, BIFL-class products:
LEDs are a much better value even than CFLs bulbs and incandescent are actively eliminated in my house.
I have a Deere mower that seems like it will never die.
Corelle dishes seem to last forever, I have had many of mine for 30 years.
Victorinox knives (pocket and chef's).
KaBar and Morakniv knives.
Kohler plumbing fixtures.
Rotel or McIntosh audio equipment.
Vitamix mixer.
DeWalt, Makita, Craftsman, Milwaukee, Husky and Hitachi tools.
Deckmate or stainless steel screws for outdoor use.

It's not at all in the vein of work wear, but I have had Klipsch speakers all of my life and have never had any issues with any of them. My dad has some enormous old school Klipsch speakers from the 60s that are almost as tall as I am and are still crisp, clear and deep. I am rocking Klipsch throughout my house as well. They're very expensive but I appreciate the clarity.

Sub Zero Fridges, amazing. Toyota, just about any vehicle they make. Vulcan Commercial gas ranges/ovens. Original Penguin Button Up Shirts or Pendleton outer wear. Stihl chainsaws. Festool power tools.

I bought a shark vacuum 6 years ago that's still going strong.

It's easy to access everything to clean out any jams, it stopped itself from burning out its motor when a sock got jammed inside.