Ask Lemmy

Easy. Leatherman Wave. Spent 80 bucks on it at least 10 years ago. I've used it to build furniture, repair glasses and electronics, breakdown boxes, open bottles, light duty wood processing/work on campsites and fix crappy cars. It all still works like new. You can have 1 tool in your car, and it can do about 90% of what a box full of tools can do.

My B&O landline telephone in ~~1982~~ 1985. Didn't really pan out.

Dualit classic toaster. Was replacing Breville and other brand toasters every 18 months or so.

Dualit cost more than twice my previous fancy units. So far, it has lasted 5 years, of nearly twice daily use. All parts repairable or replaceable, but haven't needed to yet.

Leatherman wave 10+ years EDC repaired once. Replaced a 20 year old Leatherman classic which I now keep in work apron. Wave has a blade lock and is superior.

Don’t get me started on my guitars

Zojirushi steel drinking bottles. Holding up very well. Being able to completely disassemble and clean the components of the lid seals saves me from my worst habits.

Bought a belt and wallet from hanksbelts.com and they have aged very well! They come with a 100 year warranty so I'm sure if anything does happen I'll be covered, though I doubt they ever get destroyed in my lifetime.

Japanese made Makita half inch router my dad bought in 1976

Chromecast 1. Still going strong after over a decade.

Everything I own, except the burial plot. I bought that for death.

Not something I bought a long time ago but I want to share the idea, I have now got myself One Single Ballpen. I was moving and saw that I'd got way too many ballpens that were not even used and that I would not use at all that were just offered or I don't even know how I got them. So I bought myself a metal ballpen with some recharges, and well in one year i've not even finished the first recharge, and i've basically only written with this pen and signed with this pen

Lodge cast iron pans Wolverine boots Steelcase office chair (caveat, had go buy new arm pads after 8 years) Boos block cutting board has been holding up damn near daily chopping

Stax SR-007A headphones (Sorry Stax mafia, I meant Ear Speakers 😰).

I used to buy headphones and IEMs like crazy and I was never satisfied. There was always something nagging me, I could never find a pair of headphones that sounded "perfect" with all types of music so I'd have a selection of headphones that I'd use for specific genres. Now I only have this one pair and a second pair I kept for guests to use on my guest gaming rig.

Thankfully good audio gear doesn't really lose much value so I didn't end up losing all that much money over the years of buying headphones but it's nice to not have to think about it anymore and just enjoy the music. Headphone addicts will understand lol.

A Baratza Virtuoso coffee grinder.

It's solidly built, works great, all parts are replaceable and if you need parts or advice all you need to do is mail Baratza.

I've owned it for 15 years now and it still works just as well as the day I bought it.

Edit: I also bought an expensive 1zpresso hand mill (a K ultra?) from someone who had buyer's remorse. Sometimes I don't want to make tons of noise grinding coffee in the middle of the night and it's nice to have a quiet way to grind for a cup. It's built as solidly as the electric grinder so I'm pretty sure I'll have it for life as well. Both were great BIFL purchases.

Bought my 1st watch in '85, simple analog/digital display commodore and it still works.

Red Wings work boots. The quality has admittedly gone down a lot in the past decade but it's still leaps and bounds better than any other off-the-shelf work boot. Saving up for a pair made by a PNW bootmaker, but my 4 year old 877s keep going

My Stanley thermos is as good as the day I bought it

A $30 Under Armour water bottle, I bought the thing back in 2014 and I'm still using it even now. The push button latch for the lid doesn't really work anymore, but it still has a lid lock so not really an issue. The thing has stood up to almost a decade of abuse and still works great.

Some of my BIFL:

I seem to lose Swiss Army Knives before they wear out or break. On my 3rd or 4th one now and trying to hang on to it.

I still have my Atari 2600 from when I was a kid. And many more cartridges than I had before. The CRT I played it on still works too.

Various tools like vice grips, hammers, corded drills, table saw, and circular saw.

Bare and enameled cast iron pots and pans.

Several tents. The oldest one is a Coleman Oasis canvas tent I used growing up. HUGE tent - 12' at the peak and about 12'x12'.

I don't plan to keep it for life, but I have a wallet from the Buffalo Billfold Company. Bison and very durable. I think mine is the hipster.

More frugal than buy-for-life but: good shoes. Twice the price but they last way longer. It's cheaper in the end.