I never thought Id be excited for a garbage can, but after going through multiple plastic cans and having the lid mechanism fail on cheaper metal cans, I broke down and got a more expensive one from Simple Human. I feel the quality everytime I use the step to toss something. It sounds so dumb, but I’m really blown away after years of crappy cans.
Aside from that, my python water changer for aquariums. That thing has been the goat for years at this point.
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So, you cannot buy a new one as far as I know, but if you can find a vintage heuck cin can opener, I would absolutely snatch it. I have a 45223 that was originally my grandparents and I almost never have problems with it. I’ve been using it over the other can openers since they’re modern ( think less than 5 years old ) and I have more problems with them than an old metal can opener that needs a good cleaning after decades of use.
Other than that, there aren’t really any products I would fully stand by in any capacity. Besides Mr. Brown Coffee. As of now, it’s one of 2 coffees I will drink that isn’t from a specific coffee place where I live. I like how the cans feel basically indestructible in my hands and I stand by the flavors of the brown and blue cans, alongside the macadamia nut one as well. Cannot vouch for the other flavors, since I’ve only seen the 3 in my area.
My family still uses the Miele vacuum cleaner my grandma bought around 2000. Sucks just as much as it did new.
Thinkpads are probably one of the least garbage of laptops out there
Also not a product per se but bib overalls, specifically ones with lots of pockets, or even better, one big pocket on the chest. I wear them pretty much every day now. Having ADHD means anything not immediately on my person is lost, and being blind means it’s lost forever, so everything goes in a pocket.
Antique furniture.
It’s heavy, it’s durable, it’s actual wood, it’s over 100 years old and will still be here in another 100 years.
It’s also extremely inexpensive and readily available in antique shops, goodwill, second hand stores, estate sales, etc…
I was blown away when I started looking around at used furniture. It’s functionally the same as the new stuff, but a digit or two cheaper. Nothing else depreciates quite the same way, and for so frivolous a reason.
When you’re talking antiques, it probably goes up again, but still.
I need to find better goodwill and second-hand stores! Anything I’ve seen made of Real Wood is stupid-expensive.
Anything by Zojirushi but especially their rice cookers.
I love there bread machine!
I’ve considered getting that.
+1 for their vacuum insulated water boilers.
They also make fantastic insulated mugs. My coffee stays hot for hours in that thing
They have an insulated bottle (I think it’s meant for soups, but you’re definitely not meant to drink from it directly) that I use for keeping soup or water hot all day and for keeping gravy (think Thanksgiving) warm.
Back when I hiked, I used it a lot for hydrating and warming soups, but these days I’m mostly use it for sauces and gravy at the table.
Edit: I’m surprised that your coffee doesn’t stay hot nearly all day. Make sure you pre-warm the mug with hot water if you need it to stay warm longer (I say this as much as for anyone reading as for you because you probably already know that).
The coffee probably does stay hot that long, it just doesn’t last that long : )
I’m a big fan of zeolite cat litter and the litter box system with absorption pee pads beneath. I’ve tried all the things over the years. I hate clay especially.
Despite the initially high upfront cost to get started, I think it’s cheaper long term. Even more so because I recycle the zeolite pellets by rinsing them in a big bin instead of throwing them out and buying more. I dry them out then stir in baking soda. It’s a porous mineral formed into pellets, doesn’t break down just gets dirty over time. You lose some over time of course, lodged in turds and kicked out, fodder for the vacuum, but it’s so cheap and way cleaner. The two cats aren’t tracking that heavy pellet all over the house like clumping clay or urine soaked wood pellets that disintegrate into pee mulch. Ew.
The pee pads aren’t very green of me so maybe next step is figuring out an alternative absorption medium to put in the tray beneath the pellets.
So I’m not recommending any brands because they’d all hate me for not being wasteful and fully replacing pellets every month like their bags instruct. Zeolite is zeolite, buy the cheapest per KG that day. I’d just say avoid Purina/Tidy Cats brand when possible. They over charge, especially for pee pads.
Barkeepers Friend. I thought my stainless steel (stainless, my ass) dishwasher was damned to look filthy for the rest of its life, until I saw Barkeepers Friend being recommended on reddit and thought I’d give it a shot. What can I say, my dishwasher looks like new. That stuff is magic.
Fun fact - stainless doesn’t mean stain proof, it literally means stain less.
And Comet works just as well for me
Not a brand, but natural fibers. 100% cotton sweats and t-shirts, cotton/hemp blend shirts, wool sweaters. I can’t deal with plastic against my skin anymore, at least not when I’m trying to be comfortable.
Same thing for bedding. I have bad night sweats at times and it really has helped using cotton sheets and blankets, at least for the layers closest to my skin. I still sometimes wake up drenched but it is less unbearable than synthetic
Personally my preference is like 85-95% cotton, but with some kind elastane in them.
I can’t go back to non stretchy clothes, they just feel so much more limiting, but I’d take 100% cotton over 100% polyester every day of the week.
Me with canvas pants specifically. Always thought I hated anything but cotton sweats, but they suck to work in. Jeans are either so elastic they don’t feel protective, or they feel protective at the cost of feeling restrictive (The good jeans are ridiculously expensive). Canvas work pants feel sturdy and they don’t limit movement. Plus they wash out super easily
Carhartt stuff is amazing
King Arthur flour! It doesn’t always matter but for finicky baked goods it matters a lot! Love them.
I like their big book of bread too
This is why I think its important for advanced economies that the average person have actual discretionary income of a decent level. so that people can make decisions to spend more for things they believe are quality. otherwise all products become a race to the bottom.
The problem is more figuring out which brands are actually quality. I have no problem paying for BIFL, but I’ve been burned too often to believe that higher prices = higher quality.
yeah and the reason its so hard is because only some people do not have the problem paying. If all folks could go for other options than the cheapest for the things most important for them for life you would have more feedback like yours to find the quality items which would bump how often they are bought which would lower price (theoretically) or influence lower priced options to up their quality game.
Bone conduction headphones, specifically Aftershokz.
Running, cycling, walking whatever activity I’m doing outside I can listen to music or audiobooks and still be aware of my surroundings.
Taking an acid trip? Now I can hear the birds and have a nice background soundtrack to the day whilst I trip in the woods!
Working with heavy machinery, I can wear ear protection and also listen to what ever I want to pass the time. No more blasting headphones in an attempt to drown out the machine noise and fucking my ears up.
Fucking love these things!
Aftershokz were my first headphones of that type, and I loved them. A big bonus point was that they were the only type of headphones that were watertight enough for running in Irish weather.
Then they died on me a month out of warranty. I did some research and found many others with the same experience. Since then I’m buying no-name brands of bone conducting headphones. Even if they last only half as long, their cost is much lower.
That is fair enough. I use mine in all weathers and have been so drenched many times I may as well have jumped in the sea and never had issues with water ingress.
I haven’t really looked at what others have said about them so only have my own experiences. My first pair did eventually stop charging but that was when they were still using micro USB for their charging ports, I have never had an issue with charging since they started using the magnetic charging connection.
I am now on my 6th pair in the last 12 years but the reason I change them is due to battery life. I use them 10 - 12 hours 6 days a week and then usually 3 or 4 on the 7th day. That amount of constant charging is bound to degrade the battery so I’m never annoyed and think that is worth the money for me. They usually still have plenty of life left in them when I switch but I like being able to have 12 hours of use on a charge ans not have to worry about charging them during the day.
How’s the quality, audio wise, of such devices?
The shokz openrun pro 2 sound really good because they added a mini speaker for bass frequencies
I personally only listen to audiobooks, from an mp3 player. The files themselves have quality issues that are expected from their compression, so I can’t really evaluate the quality of the headphones. For spoken word, however, the sound is perfectly fine.
For your last one, I use just regular ANC earbuds with over ear hearing protection and it works great without cranking the piss out if them. Never tried bone induction or whatever. What’s the big difference? Also sometimes I do like the block out the noise so I can hear the audio book or whatever I’m listening to…
I personally find those over ear hearing protection uncomfortable and sweaty, especially trying to wear them for a full shift but I have tried that method in the past.
I can’t say I have any experience with ear buds as they have never fit my ears well so even before bone conduction I would gravitate more towards headphones that hooked onto my ears or more often than not just closed back headphones. That being said I know that you would be sacrificing bass primarily in terms of audio quality when comparing the two.
The bone conduction does give you a weird sensation of bass in the way they vibrate against the side of your head but it is no substitute for actual bass, so your main sacrifice in the comparison will always be audio quality. That being said all the points I said outweigh the loss in quality for me.
I can wear these for a whole day and they are never uncomfortable like I would get with any other headphones. On top of that they excel at audiobooks which is what probably 70% of my listening is. The tech was originally developed for military comms so as to keep the ears open to surrounding noises and as such they were designed to be used for speech initially.
The sensation is a bit different to regular headphones too. Regular headphones are using your ear drum like you would usually where as bone conduction is vibrating through your bones directly to the three little bones in your ear that you use to hear, bypassing the ear drum entirely. Because of this it sounds like the audio is coming more from the center of your head rather than from outside of it as it would with regulars. In combination with in ear ear defence I can block out outside noise so well that you don’t need the bone conduction up loud it just feels like the audio is comfortably coming from inside my head in a weird way.
On top of all of that it is no where near as fatiguing to listen to things for extended periods of time like if you use regular ones, regardless of how loud you have them.
Ultimately it is a different experience and particularly for audiobooks they absolutely excel. I was skeptical at first and it took me nearly 2 years of reading about then and questioning if they would even work before I bit the bullet. Since I first got them though they barely ever left my head and I use then for nearly everything, and I’m a guy who use to carry around closed back headphones with an external amplifier and everything but these just win in so many other respects for day to day use.
Bone conduction headphones don’t touch your ears directly. They transmit sound vibrations through your skull, so it sounds like the music is inside your head. It also leaves your ears open to hearing outside sounds normally instead of muted… There’s no noise cancellation, but it allows you to use earplugs or other ear protection and still have music.
Arm And Hammer products. I use their toothpaste, laundry detergent and deodorant, all top notch while not having a premium price tag. Don’t have a cat ATM, but I used to use their kitty litter.
They’ve had the same few products for as long as I’ve been aware of the brand. They only do a few things, but they do them right. Praying they never enshittify or start spreading themselves thin.
Welcome to adulthood, where we get excited by the same household goods we thought our parents were lame for getting excited over.
Yeah, once it’s your choice, instead of what gets brought home in spite of you, suddenly a lot of grown up stuff gets interesting.
Which is good. If all the stuff I have to worry about now, was as boring as it was then, it would be catastrophic.
