Buy It For Life

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 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!

Happy to see this community, I really liked it on Reddit

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

same discussion on other communities:

!frugal

https://lemmy.world/post/2642565?scrollToComments=true

!general

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.