askchapo

I work in roofing on and off. I'll just say get a metal roof if you can afford it. They come in lots of colors. They're easy to install solar on. They last a lot longer than shingles and add value to your home. Some people think they're ugly, but I think they can look pretty good.

I love it when a company makes a decent product for a reasonable price, gets bought out by PE and then puts out dogshit for the same (or more) price.

Surprised nobody has yet mentioned /r/buyitforlife aka "BIFL". If you have specific needs it is a good search.

In general its hard because if someone has something they bought 20 years ago, its difficult to know if the same model of the same brand produced today will perform as well.

I think looking at the length of the warranty is a good metric. Not just if it breaks but if it requires service. Are parts available? Look up online people attempting to replace or upgrade diy.

And you can learn to inspect items to see how likely it is to hold up. For textiles: Always prefer a YKK zipper to an unbranded one. Look at the stitching. To start with, on things you already own, compare how an item which you feel is good quality is made to a bad quality. Turn a good and bad pair of trousers inside out and put them side by side.

I have a bag with a failing zipper. Its arguably my fault for putting too much stress on it. However the zipper is badly placed due to strange design. I tried to reinforce the zipper with some extra stitches, but now I see the zipper has barely anything to attach to and I'm just sewing into some thin nylon. Also the zipper tape is weaker, thinner than you'd expect on a backpack and there is nothing really to grab onto at that side. To salvage this bag would require substantial reconstruction and this isn't the only flaw. It was not extremely expensive but I could have bought something for 1/3 the price that wouldn't need this much help. I will just have to be extremely gentle with it.

I have had a Breville toaster oven for 11 years and have used it far more than any regular oven in any of the places I've rented. It has not needed any maintenance at all. Someone told me 4 years ago it was probably going to break soon and it is still working fine. Best $250 I've ever spent.

Osprey has a lifetime warranty on its products.

But I still think we buy too many things because we are brainwashed into being consumers. Since realizing this I've started paying attention and realizes I had plenty of good working things, but I was taught that I should be wanting something more or buying something more would help me in some way. I still probably buy way too much shit and it's an ongoing thing, but I truly think as comrades it's probably best for us to start teaching each other how to make what we have better or reusable bc when that consumer faucet gets turned off it we will be required to work with what we have.

Here's some shit I've bought that lasts:

Cars: 1990s to early 2000s Hondas are forever cars. Basic maintenance, and you can expect to get over 300k miles on the engine. 500k are not an uncommon occurrence. Parts are cheap and abundant. Tangent: some electric cars have easy battery swaps, like the Nissan Leaf. Buy a Leaf for 1k, and a battery for 4k and have a super efficient car that can charge off a wall outlet.

Clothes: Levi's jeans are not as good as they once were but still better than any other jeans. Dickies work clothes last forever and even look ok as they fade. Shoes are mostly disposable today but I've had the same pair of Adidas Superstars for 3 years and while worn, still are functional.

Cooking: Vitamix mixers are a lifetime buy. A trip to the thrift store and buy anything cast iron; plenty of YT vids will show you how to restore. A ceramic kamado smoker/grill will also last forever with only needing simple hardware replaced occasionally.

Miscellaneous: Costco accepts returns on anything that isn't a computer, game console, or TV, regardless when purchased. I don't use this as an excuse to treat major purchases as disposable, but it is an invaluable form of insurance against shit that quite honestly shouldn't break (related: fuck you, Dyson - unreliable, yuppie tech bullshit).

If you like weed and dry herb vapes, I recommend the mighty plus by Storz and Bickel. Have had it for about 4 years and it’s still going strong.

Instapot filed for bankruptcy because their products last so long people didn't buy new models.

Get work/safety shoes instead of sneakers. You can find some for like 40 bucks if you look a bit and in my experience they're a lot more durable and also comfy since they are designed for people to work long shifts doing manual labor.

Duluth Trading brand underwear, specifically the standard Buck Naked ones

I have pairs that I bought almost 10 years ago and they're still comfortable and holding up real good

I like wolverine for work boots. They lasted just as long as my coworkers red wings and cost way less, and personally I found them to be way more comfortable out of the box.

I really liked the Hankook S10 Nobel tires I put on my last car. Great price/performance ratio.

As far as clothing goes get a needle and thread kit and learn to patch up your own clothes. I've given up on quality clothing, I've yet to find a brand of pants or shirts I can't put a hole in. So I just buy all my clothes second hand and repair as needed.

Older Toyota's/Lexus' are fairly bullet proof and will run for as long as their maintained. My grandma's camry she bought new decades back that is now being driven by a cousin has over 300k on the clock and still fires up like the day it was bought.

Corporate/commercial laptops. Find an old Levono Think Pad or Dell Lattitude, they are absolute work horses. My last job had an e-waste program and I'd dig as many of these old laptops out of there as possible because they usually only needed either a new hard drive or ram module.

Darn Tough socks, but I can’t spend almost 20 for a pair of socks anymore.

I’ve had the same Honda Accord for 10 years, just regular oil changes and it’s going strong, should be just about to roll over 100,000 miles this year.

Redback Boots out of Australia make some really durable steel toe slip ons, I’ve had this pair for 6 years no issues.

For coffee I’ve been using the same Aeropress with the Fellow Prismo attachment (to use it as a french press) and a basic Harrio burr grinder. My wife likes drip coffee and it’s outlasted 2 of her drip machines.

As far as clothing goes: I buy a lot from Uniqlo. I mostly do t-shirts, socks, underwear, chinos, real basic stuff you don’t need to pay too much attention to.

Also, while we’re on the topic: I will take any given opportunity to glaze DE safety razors in great detail. closer shave, better for skin and the environment and even saves your money in the long run.

My F-91W is 15 years old, still on the original battery. I did have to replace the watch band about ten years in. The watch band was the cost of the watch 😭

In the electronics space Macbooks tend to be pretty durable. The downsides are anything recent which is worth buying (M1-4 chips) has soldered on storage, ram, etc so they're not really user upgradeable and there's also the issue of needing an adapter for anything USB-A. I wouldn't buy new for value unless it's on clearance as an old model. But after at most a battery replacement they tend to be pretty solid machines even used as long as they weren't badly mistreated. Older Thinkpads (not E-series, mainly T and P) also tend to be pretty durable and you can buy them cheap used on ebay and are a lot more serviceable than Macbooks. Screens are not as great though, not the clearest or sharpest things but usable if you're not doing graphics work or using it as a high end, high quality media player. Macbooks win on the nice screen front hands down.

a moccamaster will outlast several mr. coffees while looking cooler, being easier to clean and brewing a better cuppa

If you're looking for cheap t-shirts, try a craft store. I bought 3 earlier this week for $3 each at Michael's.

I walk 10-15k steps per day and work 260 days per year. I've gotten nearly 2 years out of my set of Brooks walking shoes (though, I did have to replace the insoles after a year).

I've been rocking BLU brand smartphones and Straight Talk instead of a contract for over a decade. Great service and it's cheap. The phones do everything I could possibly need, and if you're careful they last years. I'm on my third one in around 12 years and one was because I shattered the screen really bad.

They're goofy, but Crocs are super comfortable and you can walk miles in them. They're lightweight and waterproof. Amazon has them the cheapest.

Think about getting a Costco membership if you can. The bulk food is cheap and a lot of it is organic. They have more vegetarian/vegan options than any other huge box store. Sometimes you can get some great clothes there for ridiculously cheap. I bought a wool coat there for like $25 and it's the warmest thing ive ever had. I bought some shorts there and they're the most durable ive ever had. I went back and bought several more pair for work. Their cheese pizzas are cheap and pretty good. Their gas is always 50¢ cheaper. I bought a couple of Orvis brand button up shirts that are super durable. The shorts brand I was talking about is Gerry.

So long as we're not looking too close about supply chain and manufacturing problems...

Tractor Supply Company's in store, Blue Mountain, brand of clothes. Basic T-shirts, long sleeved shirts, shorts and pants that are very reasonably priced and pretty comfortable. Buy a bit larger than you think you need as they tend to shrink a bit in the dryer.

Etnies sneakers. In the last 10~15 years I have bought three pairs that I still have and am pretty hard on (for a person who isn't a skateboarder). Jameson's and Barge's have been very good to me for less than 75$ a pair. My oldest is finally to the point that the sole is so broken down its like I'm walking in bare feet so i should probably get insoles.

Those fuckin rubber sandle shoe things (Crocks or Gators or whatever the fuck). Its taken me years of wearing my outside set while running around on rocks and through the woods to wear holes in the bottoms. My inside set will probably never be unwearable.

Splurged this year and bought some Wolverine brand work boots. Took some time to get them comfortable, there was something pokey on the tongue that I could never seem to find but hurt like a bastard.. Haven't had them long enough to be confident in their build quality but its been seven months and nothing has fallen off them which is about five months longer than all the other "work boot" shaped objects I've purchased in the last four years.

Jansport backpacks

I might be outed as a tree-loving, crunchy granola hippy, but goddamn if Birkenstock sandals aren't the comfiest stuff you can wear on your feet. Every autumn and winter is a countdown to when i can wear my birkenstocks again. They're pretty durable, and more importantly to me, repairable.

Peak Design camera bags.

i have a pair of grafters steel toe work boots that i've had for 20 years that i got pretty cheap
wear them pretty much every day and i've only had to put a new insole in