This is not a conversation about guns. This is a conversation about items that have withstood abuse that are near unbreakable.
Some items I have heard referenced as AK47 of:
Gerber MP600: It’s a multi tool
Old Thinkpad Laptops
Mag lights
Toyota Hilux
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Swiss army knives. You’ll find at least one in everyone’s bedside drawer or junk drawer.
Ive found them dull all the time, but never broken
The TSA confiscates tens of thousands of these things
Ive found them dull all the time, but never broken
Victorinox uses a steel that favours corrosion resistance over hardness. They’re easy to sharpen though, I’ve even used the underside of a ceramic coffee cup.
I feel like I’m being baited to mention Nokia
I’m seriously considering buying a Nokia smart phone to use with LineageOS. I’m a big fan of shitty android phones anyway.
Nokia of now is not the Nokia of yesteryear. Their new phones are just cheap Android smartphones.
a cheap microsoft phone isn’t a nokia
Who said anything about Microsoft
LineageOS wouldn’t run on a real nokia unless you’re talking about the nokia branded microsoft phones and they’re more like a 3d printed gun than an AK-47.
I think the argument still is, that those aren’t „real“ Nokias. At the very least they’re not the same Nokia that built the 3310, as that Nokia isn’t in the consumer electronics market anymore.
Pretty sure they’re referring to the sale of Nokia’s phone division to Microsoft in the mid-2010s. It’s since been bought back and is in the process of renaming to HMD.
ok, that’s cool. and their stance on repair ability means if they make a reasonably sized smart phone before I need a new one I’ll be getting one, and one of the stupid tablet sized ones anyway if not.
Didn’t it get resold again to a Chinese firm? Please tell me they’re independent again.
Sort of. HMD licenses the Nokia name from the broader Nokia business and kept a lot of the old c-suite. Manufacturing is owned by a subsidiary of Foxconn.
Just be aware their newer phones are hot shit. It’s the older phones that got the reputation for durability.
if they still ran on the phone network maybe
Estwing hammers. Not excessively expensive, but the kind of hammer you buy for life.
Are there hammers you don’t buy for life?
Those cheaply made in china plastic handle one, it will break and fling itself across the room.
Plenty
The voxelab aquila “knockoff ender 3” 3d printers.
At this point, I’d also just say Ender 3 printers. You can get them for a hundred bucks now. They’re not as fancy as the newer 3d printers with auto-leveling, remote printing, dual extruders, etc. But they get the job done just fine.
My Ender3v2 always has some new problem to deal with. It’s cheap but it’s a pain in the ass.
Interesting, I have the opposite experience. Even with my half assed tinkering it prints just fine. Slow but fine.
1990s or 2000s era Volvo station wagon or sedan
I owned a 96 Volvo 960 for about 15 years before engine gave out with fixable problems … I didn’t have the money to get it fixed, sold it and from what I heard, the new owner is still driving the thing. (one potential buyer that wanted it was a young guy that wanted it for a demolition derby as he claimed that Volvos were great for this kind of use because they are indestructible in a crash. He said the engine is so well placed and protected that it would take several hits from other vehicles before being compromised)
Later bought a 2004 station wagon and other than a few minor problems (electrical issues that aren’t critical to driving the car) and a bit of rust spots, it’s still my daily driver. I met a young guy a few years ago that had a 1992 Volvo Station wagon with a million kms on it (the thing was covered in rust and looked like hell but it was still driveable)
I can confirm the durability! I had a 89 240 wagon, went cross country three times with it. It eventually met its end when I was car number 9 in a 13 car pile up. Total write off. But after all the smashing and spinning around, none of the three of us were injured and I had to turn the car off. I miss that car a lot.
Feel the same here … I miss my 960 … it was known as a diplomats car … the thing was luxurious inside and it looked like a plain vehicle from the outside. And it could turn on a dime! I used to love being able to turn around on two lanes without doing a three point turn! I joked with my friends that it had a turning radius of a bicycle. The main reason I didn’t want to sell it to the demolition derby guy was that I didn’t want to see the car destroyed!
Fair enough! I would totally feel the same.
But 1989 … wow! … I also had an old Italian friend who was very frugal with her money and the vehicle’s she owned. She also had an 80s era Volvo station wagon that she ran for about 15 years before she got tired of it and traded it for another newer Volvo in the late 90s.
Pre-2010 Toyota Corolla
Camry too.
I’ve been interested in this subject for a while and have a few recommendations.
Stanley Thermos. It could get hit by a fucking train and would still outlive you. Don’t recommend putting cofee/milk products etc in them though because it will make the gasket smell. Excellent water container though.
Double edged straight razor. The handle piece is virtually indestructible. I bought a package of like 500 blades for like 30 dollars and haven’t had to buy new ones for actual years. Fun fact as well, once you learn to use one it’s better for sensitive skin because you’re only dragging one razor across your skin per stroke instead of 5 or 7 or whatever the fuck the “better” ones have. Can confirm the “more blades = better” shit is just pure predatory marketing.
Buck knife. Multi tools are cool but if you tend to use the knife often, invest in a higher quality knife and stones to sharpen it. Sharpening stones (not the crap ceramic stuff they try to sell) will last a lifetime and will also keep all your kitchen knives beautiful for years. While you’re up to it, get a piece of raw leather, like the back of of an old belt, and use it as a strop to polish off the blade when you’re done sharpening, it really does make the cut smoother.
People say Mag light, but I’d personally recommend Olight as well for flashlights. The Olight Baton 4 is a ~600 lumen adjustable brightness flashlight with strobe which will blind you if you aren’t careful and its smaller than a pill bottle and comes with a reversible clip and inset magnet in case you need to stick it somewhere to keep the light steady.
A graphite metal “magic” pencil. Instead of using normal graphite, these metal bodied pencils have end pieces you screw in as a tip, are erasable, and one nib takes forever to run out, something like 5 pencils. They dont draw as dark as a regular pencil due to the hardness but for general usage they are handy.
Mighty plugs ear plugs. Want to know what it’s like to be deaf? Buy these. They aren’t too costly, completely seal the ear, and I only have to get a new package once every few years. They’re so effective I had to purchase an alarm clock built for deaf people which shakes my mattress instead of making a sound because I couldn’t hear any normal alarm clock after I started using these. This combination is unbeatable if you have awful neighbors or live on a busy street with night traffic.
Any self winding watch. Stop fucking around with button cell batteries and evolve. If it’s cheap, that’s probably better, if it gets scratched you don’t have to care. Seiko is a good brand in my experience.
If you’re into camping get a decent mid sized carving hatchet. I have a mid sized Hultafors swedish steel one. People like splitting axes because they do what they’re advertised to do, but theyre huge, heavy, and you cant carve or skin with them. A lighter smaller carving axe will do the same job splitting a log if you baton it with a medium sized stick. If you need something bigger to cut down a tree, go for a curved folding saw to bring with the hatchet. The Silky Saw Big Boy is great for that. Also buy a wool blanket. That shit will keep you warm in -35 C if you use it correctly. Also tents are neat but cumbersome, instead invest in a tarp and learn to make a lean to/other tarp configurations in combination with a ground sheet. If you expect you’ll be facing inclement or extremely wet weather, get an oilskin tarp (or make one yourself its literally just a cotton sheet which you have ran through a few dryer cycles as hot as possible, and then soaked through in a 50/50 mix of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits and hung outside until completely dry. Don’t put an open flame near it at any point in that process).
I probably have a bunch more, but can’t think of them off the top of my head.
Just bought some earplugs. They better be legit! I use silicone earplugs right now and they’re okay but on nights when my husband is really stuffy, he’s like a chainsaw.
The ones I recommended are similar to some other silicone ones, but are a bit softer. As a result I find they seal better in comparison. I had been using silicone ones prior to discovering these and they are definitely my preference.
Thank you! Fingers crossed that they’re even better than the ones I’m currently using. Which are pretty good (Eargasms) but don’t have a super high decibel rating and I definitely have to toss each pair after about a week and a half of wearing them every night, just because they stop being as…sticky? They’re not really sticky but they do adhere when they’re fresh, and not so much after a few days.
I see. Over a long enough time I do find that these ones harden as well at which point I change them, however that’s usually a month or more instead of a couple weeks. I hope they work out well for you should you buy!
As heads up as well, the little pucks they come as are way too big for my ears, but you don’t want them to be too small either.
These are amorphous like a sort of putty, so I usually tear a puck in half, and then another into quarters, and then mash them together such that I have 75% the size of a puck for each ear. This insures they completely seal my ear, but also cant get stuck or anything.
This also has the benefit of not needing to worry about sizing though!
have ran
have run
While this does appear to be a grammatical error, Wiktionary also lists it as a dialectical, nonstandard past participle of run, so it looks like some people use it depending on where they’re from, including myself it seems.
I suppose I select ran as the past participle because in other cases where I use it in past tense, run does not sound correct to me.
For example where I am from, I would say someone “ran” from the police, instead of that someone “had run” from the police, so I default to this version of the word in these cases.
right?!?
Wait, you’re saying not to use coffee in a Stanley thermos?? Even if I don’t have milk in it too? What’s it for then, only soup?
Yea or water is what I primarily use it for. You CAN put coffee and such in there however, you will want to take off the gasket and clean the hell out of it. It absorbs smells quite strong. You could also probably get a different gasket which is not as bad for it. Should the gasket begin to smell, I recommend soaking it over night in vinegar, and then another night in water. This really seems to suck the smell out of it.
In that case, it’s probably any gasket that’s susceptible to this, coffee is really strong-smelling. My Zojirushi thermos is only used for coffee, for this reason…
It can probably affect all gaskets, but depending on the type of rubber some might be better or worse. I haven’t played around enough with testing different ones to know for certain though.
Instead of a curved folding saw I prefer a rope saw. I’ve always been able to take down limbs and trees faster.
For those that don’t know what that is, imagine a chainsaw chain with handles on either end.
Rope saws are neat as fuck as well.
Do you use one that is actual chain, or braided wire? I’ve used the braided wire saws, and I like how tiny/light they are, but I’ve never used one of the chain style saws to see if the weight/volume increase is worth it.
Mine is the chain style. I cannot compare as I have never used the braided wire and I don’t have to think about weight savings that much. I don’t generally hike far to a camping spot.
I’m totally fed up with the usual 5-bladed razor crap from Gillette and especially Wilkinson. But I’ve always been to afraid to use an old school double-edged razor because I only, blindly, shave my head with it and maybe my pubes. Seems more risky. Any advice / recommendations?
Its a matter of practice. Just know that as long as you only move the razor in a straight line and dont wobble it side to side, you cant fuck up too bad. You want to learn to hold the razor such that it is always meeting the surface of your skin at a 45 degree angle, use very short strokes, and use your other hand to pull your skin taught.
You also want to remember that, especially when starting out, you dont have to do a great job on the first or even second pass. Do the best you can, and if there is still hair, just re-apply shaving cream and go over those spots again. Eventually you get good enough you can get everything in a single pass most of the time.
There are some good videos on youtube where people have tutorials on learning to use one. Also because it cuts closer to the skin, you may want to invest in a face moisturizer in addition to an aftershave. Really helps to prevent ingrown hairs and makes your face feel amazing after shaving with one. For pubes/longer hair, I would shave with an electric shaver first to shorten the hairs, and then follow up with the razor.
I’ve been shaving my head and my balls with safety razors for like 15 years. Get some nice soap like sandalwood, cedar, lavender, frankincense, or whatever and make a lather on your body in the shower. A lather from actual soap is critical to avoiding nicks, cuts, and especially razor burn. Use a new blade and gently drag the razor across your skin. Use short strokes, not long passes. Clean the razor. Add more lather when needed. Don’t press hard or move the razor sideways or diagonally. That’s how you cut yourself. Watch out and take care for any bumps and rounded corners, like warts, the back of your jaw, or any sagittal crest you may have. Hold the razor with one hand and use the other to feel for hair and smoothness. Make a pass with the grain and another against the grain. Reapply lather between passes.
Maybe before you begin, shave a little hair off your arm or leg to test the angle you hold the razor. The feel of individual hairs being cut will be tactile and satisfying. When it’s right, it’ll feel right.
Get a sharps container for used blades. It’ll take a lifetime to fill. Blades only cost like a dime, so just treat yourself and use a new one every time.
It ain’t too difficult. Just be gentle, take short and slow strokes, feel your way around, and don’t shave dry skin. You may be surprised how easy it is. They’re called safety razors for a reason.
Guess I’m getting a safety razor for Christmas then. It really sounds easy enough. I usually combine showering and shaving so lather really shouldn’t be a problem. Thanks!
You won’t regret it. Safety razors, and if you decide to, straight razors are far superior. I used a safety razor for a few years and then decided to get a Dovo straight razor and I love it.
For those more sensitive areas you want to make sure you’re getting a razor body where the blade doesn’t protrude as far. Henson shavers are incredible quality but I dont remember if they have a razor body suited for body hair.
The idea with these razors is to not apply much pressure, just letting the weight of the razor itself do the pressing. As long as youre doing that, and not holding it at a stupid angle, you should find it quite difficult to hurt yourself shaving your head. Same goes for your pubes, but if you’re going to shave your balls with it you’ll need to take a lot of care.
I’ve been shaving with a DE razor for about 15 years now, and I haven’t found it any easier or harder to cut yourself with them than the modern “Mach 84 Spike TV Edition” cartridge razors.
It’s like anything, you get used to it after some practice. Definitely not as daunting as you think.
You can either start with one of the milder razors sold by Edwin Jagger, Muhle or Merkur and pair with a moderate blade such as the Gillette Silver Blue OR get a good adjustable razor such as the Merkur Progress or Merkur Future and again pair with a moderate blade. Do not start with Feather blades.
KitchenAid mixers before they got cheap
I inherited a 6" Wilton vise from my dad. He’s still alive but I convinced him to pass it on to me early because I had a couple projects it would be super helpful on. And maybe a little bit to beat my siblings to the punch.
Zippo lighters.
My dad also has a Lincoln Electric welder that will last to pass onto another generation or two. He still uses it though and again, I probably have a sibling or two who would also appreciate having it.
zippo lighters
I’ve never had any luck with zippos, whenever I tried to use it it wouldn’t work and I had to refill it. I hear you have to use them often but I’m not a smoker or arsonist so will only use a lighter maybe once a month. Any tips or recommendations for lighters that you don’t have to use often but will last longer than a cheap disposable one?
You can get butane and arc lighter inserts for zippo shells. I’ve had the arc lighter for going on 3 years, I’ve only had to charge it 5 times, it’s gone through the wash twice now and it’s still working great.
Bought my best friend the butane one the same time. She’s a heavy smoker, not only is it her conversion starter but apparently it’s been cheaper than buying bics.
Use a butane insert. Still refillable but it’s sealed in well enough to last years of infrequent use.
Get a cheap disposable one. If you really don’t use it often the cost of an unused reusable thing is greater than buying disposable.
Maybe the Nvidia GeForce 10xx cards? Super cheap compared to the 9xx cards, and still going strong!
Can confirm. I have a 1080ti and a 1070ti on my PCs. They can run just about any game comfortably at 1440p, which is my preferred resolution.
Salt.
- Nearly every recipe uses it
- Ifinfite shelf life (durable)
- cheap as heck.
- Keeps demons away
It’s funny how it used to be expensive. In Danish we have a saying to say someone is poor if “they can’t even afford salt for their egg”, as if an egg is cheaper than salt. Because it actually used to be that way.
Good take on the question
(Off-Topic) Does anybody have “anti-planned obsolescence” communities?
Maybe where good products are discussed or recommended? Similar to r/buyitforlofe but without the shilling of socks
Edit:
Thanks, subscribed!
Zippo Lighters.
Never understood these. Old fluid, stink, durable but for a lighter I just don’t get the price and love. Non smoker.
I put the electric insert in one of mine, charged it in 2021… still works!
Now the electrics are good. I’m a believer there. Just not the old school kind as much when lighters are so abundant. Only issue with electric is the flame is often needed for other non smoking purposes and electrics have no flame.
If you use it often, sure. If you don’t smoke and just occasionally need to light fires, get a butane conversion. It’s a replacement for the wick, which pops into the Zippo shell. It doesn’t evaporate over time since it’s sealed.
Pinecil soldering iron. Cheap (only $26!), open source, portable, usbc powered. Even more powerful than $100 ones. I love that thing
Open source soldering iron? How does that work?
The tip heats up enough to melt solder.
It has some fancy features to allow for custom heating presets among other things. Also, it means you can easily repair/modify the hardware for whatever reason you might come up with.
Also, it means you can easily repair/modify the hardware for whatever reason you might come up with.
The ironic part is that you’d need a second soldering iron to do that.
It has a display and even bluetooth. The Firmware is open source. The schematics are available.
Imo open source is not that important for an iron unless you want to add a klingon translation. But the iron is pretty good, although it is often rather >50 bucks including shipping.
Open source might be important if we want to run DOOM on it.
Open source is good because it means it can be maintained even if the manufacturer shuts down. One of the biggest issues with keeping older tech alive and in a useful state is proprietary firmware.
it has software for the temp control and such
specifically: https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS
Fruit of the Loom men’s briefs.
I buy a six-pack from Walmart every year. I don’t think I’ve ever been so loyal to a brand.
How do six briefs only last you a year?!?for my benchmark, If any set of underwear lasts leas than three years, it’s not a good deal.
I would assume that they have more than six briefs in total.
Yeah, exactly.
They last two or three years and I throw them out as they wear out. Six briefs is my annual top up. They come in packs of six.
Mate I’ve got briefs that are two decades old, and they were from Primark! (Cheap shit clothing shop)
If I had to buy a new pack of 6 every year I’d drop the company like a hot turd 😂
At the moment I quite like Dim ones. Shit name, but I’ve had them 5 years and they’re still going strong
Mate I’ve got briefs that are two decades old
I don’t think I would do that. I kinda like having new-ish underwear.
Washing machines are a thing
AR-15
Also, the 1911 class of pistols. Can’t go wrong with the OG Colt Government Model. As in, it can’t jam, fail to feed, fail to eject, fail to chamber, fail in any way.
Honorable mention goes to Hi-Point. Ugly and heavy fucking guns, but they function flawlessly and last forever.
Damn, seeing you downvoted makes see how sadly opinionated Lemmy is.
Like if you live in a rural area, a firearm is a fantastic and common investment. In rural areas, emergency help is a while away or nonexistent. Animal Control isn’t gonna be there when your chickens are getting snatched by a raccoon or your pets are getting hunted by coyotes. Cops aren’t gonna show up in time if some methhead is bashing down your door.
Plus, with a firearm, you can hunt! Yay for the most ethically sound way of putting meat on your table!
They’re just plain wrong about 1911s though. Those things have been surpassed many times over in every category that you would care about in a hand gun, including reliability. I know a few gunsmiths. They’re always fixing 1911 platforms, well beyond what your would expect for their popularity. Everyone always says “two world wars,” and they were a great gun for they’re era, but there’s a reason they got replaced.
You’re not wrong, but the discussion is tools and equipment, not firearms.
A firearm is very much a tool in some non-combat applications. Ranching, for instance.
Honey, bring the AR-15. The cows need to be reminded who’s boss.
Well i think its more to deal with wild animals that wander in and attack the cows lol
Having a firearm larger than a pistol that is semi auto is very much needed. ARs are no worse than any other hi cap semi auto all the way back to invention of semi autos so if you ban an AR you my as well ban every semi auto. I’ve seen coyotes and wolves in packs corner someone in the woods. Bolt guns just aren’t an option for certain situations. Hate the system causing oppression and the person for doing bad things due to outside factors illness or systemic issues not the tool used. A firearm is a tool nothing more nothing less. Without a user its useless.
Real, cows gotta learn!
Ruger 10/22 for general varmint control and small game. Ruger wrangler .22 revolver for snakes and close up varmint control, works well with ratshot. Browning BPS 12 gauge for pretty much all shotgun needs.
1911 is also a damn fine handgun.
