Buy it for Life

A place to post anything that's vintage, old, or out of production, but still kicking with plenty of life to give!

My big stack of cartridge razor blades has just run out and I'd like to replace it with something less wastefull, and from what I hear a safety razor gives a better shave too.

From what I can see there's no big difference beyond personal preferance on ergonomics, but are there any brands to avoid? Any well regarded? Can I just get anything? Anything I might not have thought about?

I'm looking to change my reading and buying habits away from Amazon and need an alternate source for my ebooks. Where can I buy ebooks that won't expire or have their licence revoked and will allow me to download a copy of that ebook I can store on my own system regardless of the websites status?

I bought a Thule Crossover eight years ago and the zip on it has finally gone. Short of getting a local seamstress to fit a new zip, I think it's time for a new one, and am a bit tempted by the Thule Crossover 2 30l. Are Thule still good? Is there anything else of the same sort of size that I should be considering?

I just bought this carry-on, the 22" Essential expandable, from Briggs and Riley based solely on their lifetime warranty and the feature-set I was looking for in a bag.

I've suffered too many times with loose or damaged castors, wonky expandable handles, straps that break when cinched, and ZIPPERS - like, the one part of the entire bag that really, really needs to work!

I will be using it for the first time next month so I'll be able to offer my opinion on the bag then.

Anyone else already have one and care to share their experiences?

ETA: I forgot about their sustainability efforts: check out https://www.briggs-riley.com/pages/our-sustainability-efforts.

Again, not offering an opinion on use of the bag just yet, just passing along their information.

I have a Mastermouse MM530 by Cooler Master at the moment, bought on the basis of its "sturdy" build, but the mouse wheel has been playing up for a while now, occasionally scrolling down when I'm in fact scrolling up.

I'm not even looking for a gaming mouse, just a decent mouse with a clickable scroll wheel. More buttons is nice, but not needed. Any tips?

So, hi! Hello!

I've been looking for a spring coat/jacket and I came across this on Amazon. I love the colour, and I love the look. Very utility, kind of military with the epaulets.

But I've seen it under half a dozen different brand names with the same picture, and on Wal-Mart, and many other fast-fashion shops, so I assume it's going to end up being made of crafting felt or something.

My first thought was figuring out how to dye an army surplus jacket, but I doubt I'd get the colour I want. I've tried looking elsewhere, but I'm not even sure exactly what I'm looking for, here, but whatever it is I'd love for it to fit well, and to be made of a strong material that will last.

cross-posted from: https://lemdro.id/post/7868819 >Willing to consider alternate styles such as parkas, as long as it includes a head covering

Any recommendations for bike lights? They all seem to come with non-replaceable internal rechargable batteries these days 😢

EDIT: The consensus on the proposed rule change seems to be to remove the rule, and to re-investigate it if it ever becomes an issue. Let's see how it goes!

-------

Heyo everyone, hope you're doing well!

For the past week or so, I've been thinking about tweaking the rules slightly. Specifically, the requirement that a suggestion/recommendation must still be in production.

In previous community chats, a consistent complaint about the reddit BIFL was that it was inundated with random vintage items, some of which could be hard to track down.

However, there have been a couple times that I've held back recommending an item because its no longer in production, even though it's fairly commonly available second hand. In addition, buying used is very much in-line with Solarpunk ideals, as it reduces waste, carbon emissions from increased production, and if purchased locally or from an individual, helps keep money out of the hands of corporations.

With that in mind, I think it may be wise to remove that rule, but wanted to get the community's opinion first. Yay, Nay, or do you have a different idea?

--------

As for the secret project...

Thanks to @poVoq@slrpnk.net's efforts, BIFL now has access to its very own wiki page! (The wiki itself will receive an official announcement at the start of next month with more details, so keep it on the down low 🤫).

Today I've been puttering around with it, and put up an experimental wiki-page for the BIFL Community.

So far, my plan with it is to slowly add in all the various things that the community recommends, taken from posts and comments, along with price information and any little tidbits the commenter mentions about the item (You can see how I'm formatting that in the Rain Gear catagory). But I'm open to any other suggestions you may have on how else we can utilize this new wiki! :D

Lastly, if you have any other general recommendations, ideas, or thoughts for the community, don't hesitate to throw 'em down in the comments!

Am also looking for sneakers to get for the following seasons:

• grey ones for summer
• black ones for spring/autumn

But I'm virtually clueless when it comes to fashion + they should be available in the EU

I'm currently looking for new (or 2nd hand) boots to get and was wondering whether anyone here had experience with Solovair in particular or could recommend other ones available in the EU.

I have been walking to the nearest grocery, and have just had my foldable shopping cart break. The large plastic wheels shattered, and made for a very unpleasant time dragging the thing back home. I'm curious if anyone has suggestions for a good cart, or even one that's relatively easy to repair. Foldable is not important. Not getting stuck on every crack in the sidewalk would be a plus.

There are now two BifL communities in the free decentralized world:

• !buyitforlife@slrpnk.net
• !buyitforlife@discuss.tchncs.de

Perhaps each wants to mention the other in the sidebar?

I've got a backpack that's falling apart after less than a year and was looking for a much better one that will hold up well. Specifically, the use case is dragging food home from grocery stores or dragging cards in plastic boxes/board games around at best...

So I don't live in a hurricane area, but average storms got the best of my two umbrellas that I thought would withstand the wind. One samsonite, one Taiwanese brand (rainbow) that had advertised it as storm resistant. It is true that both would "pop out" in case of strong winds, which is to prevent the immediate break.

Still, facing the wind (a sudden burst as I was walking past a tall building) has bent the ribs irremediably.

Any suggestions based on actual experience?

Thank you

Im looking for some pants. My wife has been repairing mine for a couple years now, but some of them are coming apart at the seams. I got mine really cheap. Im willing to spend if it means they are repairable and made better. Any suggestions?

Ive had a couple pairs of walking boots in the past and none of them have survived more than 6-8 3 day hikes and I'm sick of replacing them. What are some points to look for in good walking boots, where should I look to buy them from in the UK, how much should I look to be spending as a rough guide?

Cheers!

Any recs on a BIFL key chain? Those rings always get bent over time, looking for something sturdy. Might just be a flaw in the design because if you can bend it enough to get a key on, you can probably bend it out of shape over time.

Any buying tips? Does it need to be any more complicated than lying on a few at the showroom? Of course I know mattresses aren't lifetime purchases; my main concern is avoiding paying good money for something I'll hate in a few years.

I'm prepared to spend up to US$1500. I want a spring coil mattress. I don't want memory foam. Please lend me your shopping experiences!

Dear all, as the title says I am looking for some advice on durable hiking poles and microspikes/crampons.

I frequently hike in the alps and people have told me that there really are no durable microspikes and that the best you can do are repairable metal links. I was wondering if any of you have advice and or experience with these items.

I'm retired spend most of my time in my workshop or doing maintenance on outbuildings on our rural property. I really like Dickies Duck Logger pants, but they seem to wear out quickly. I have three pairs that get worn almost constantly in rotation. The oldest pair is now just over two years old and is worn out - I've repaired the seam in the crotch once, but now the fabric either side of it is thread bare. My phone has worn trough the bottom of the right front pocket.

Are there similar pants that will last longer, or am I expecting too much?

I'm in Canada.

I'm aware that the plastic handles probably disqualify these from being true "buy it for life", but the exciting thing for me is that they are relatively cheap and can be found on the shelf in most stores with an office supply section. It's an unfortunate reality that the vast majority of BIFL items are special order and cost several times more than their mainstream equivalent, so I wanted to shout out Scotch brand for maintaining such good serviceability on an item you can literally pick up at Walmart.

I just pulled apart a pair of these which was cutting horribly, gave each blade a couple passes on an oil stone, then reassembled and tightened them up with a drop of oil in the joint. They cut as well as the day they were bought, and the handles are still in good shape so I could see doing this several more times before I even have to consider replacing them.

My current water kettle leaks more by the day. It is mostly stainless steel, but the few plastic parts are corroded and lead to leaking.

Do you have recommendations for fully stainless steel or similar kettles that are basically not able to break?

I was looking at this: https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/product/xiaomi-wasserkocher-170-l-wasserkocher-23599517

But I don't really trust xiaomi to make quality consumer products

I've never been one to write things down by hand, generally preferring to use a word processor instead. But recently I've been wanting to improve my handwriting, and I've been reading that there appears to be some merit to the idea that taking physical notes improves retention of whatever you're trying to learn or remember.

All my life, I've used cheap pencils and pens, and never really gave it a second thought. A pencil is a pencil, a pen is a pen, it either works or it doesn't. But out of curiosity, I decided to get a 'nice' pencil. After a little research, I found constant references to one pencil in particular, one that is widely applicable, durable, simple in design, while also being affordable (I ain't about to drop big money on a pencil).

That pencil was The Pentel Sharp Kerry.

!

It's an elegant little sucker, with no wearing parts like a rubber grip that'll wear down or become sticky. It feels well engineered, and precisely made.

!

The lead sleeve (barrel?) is tight, allowing no wiggle room for the lead, preventing the snaps you'll find in a disposable Bic pencil.

!

It's not a big pencil, nor is it heavy. It'll fit in a shirt pocket (if you don't mind the stigma), or pack away easily in bag or folder.

But the star of the show;

!

Is the way it writes. It glides across the paper smoothly, consistently. Not as smoothly as a fountain pen (saving that for a future post... Yeah, I got a fountain pen too...🥺) but certainly the smoothest pencil I've ever used. EDIT: As @tal@lemmy.today mentioned in the comments, the smoothness is not unique to the pencil, it probably just came with a softer lead than I'm used to.

!

There's a little eraser under the clicker cap, which is also replaceable! It's not very broad, which actually makes it very useful for drawing, but if you make a lot of mistakes while writing (like I do!), than it may wear out faster than a broad one. But you can pull out the erasor from it's little cartridge to extend the life of it, and a box of replacements that'll last you years is pretty darn affordable.

!

A nice feature is the pen-like cap, which protects the pencil lead and barrel/sleeve thing when not in use. One review on amazon had a funny quip about it:

>The cap prevents the biggest injury intellectuals face. That of self inflicted lead stabbings.

It clicks very satisfyingly onto the metal portion of the pencil on both ends to hold it in place.

!

So yeah, nice little pencil, and from what I've read there's not really any point in buying anything more expensive, this just does the job, and does it well.

But if you have your own preference of pencil that's BIFL material, I'd love to hear what you have to say about it, either in the comments of this post, or in a post of your own! ^^

cross-posted from: https://alien.top/post/231430

> The headline says it all - and no, I'm not memeing the last post, just riding the hype. > > Let's start with my reason for still using the FP3: it hasn't fallen apart yet (although barely so). That's it, you really don't need more. > > ## Major flaws > > ### Camera quality > It's literal garbage. The plus upgrade is slightly better, but honestly, even the FP5 quality is bad compared to alternatives. I've accepted it to just be the sacrifice you make for having a Fairphone. If you want to make decent pictures, just get yourself a DSLR. > > ### Repairable? > In theory the Fairphone 3 is very repairable and a great sustainable option. In practice, the sustainably tends to show its limits about 4 years in. > > I've so far replaced almost every component I can and I've started notice that even the screw mounts are starting to come off at this point, preventing you from screwing the components on. Luckily, there are enough mounts left per component that it all still stays in one piece when screwed together. > > The cost is another whole beast though. Replacing the screen of new phone for just €90 sounds pretty good, but replacing the screen of a 4 years old phone for... still €90? Well, at that point I'd rather just buy a new phone. (Not the mention the €25 for the back cover, which is mostly just a piece of plastic...) > > Lastly, we arrive at the massive unrepairable hunk that is the motherboard. I had my GPS die on me a little while ago, which prevents you from using any kind of navigation whatsoever, as location services are not accurate enough. As it's on the motherboard, I had no hope of replacing that one, so I did what any sane person would do. I bought a VK-162 USB GPS-receiver and hook it up to my phone whenever I need to navigate anywhere. As an added bonus, now I can have GPS on my laptop as well! > > ## Upsides > > ### Software > > I can't believe this phone still has extraordinarily good software support at this stage, and switching to a LineageOS fork (iodéOS) didn't even turn my phone into a glitchy/outdated brick. You'd never see this with any other phone. > > ### Headphone jack > > Headphone jack. > > ### Sturdy > > I complain a lot about how many components have died on me, but honestly, this phone should not have survived as long as it did. With the amount of water, salt, power surges and impacts this phone had to endure, it's amazing that it still turns on at all. I've had some slight discolouration along one edge of the screen after getting my phone wet (too many cracks to be even remotely water resistant at this point), but it's all gone by now. > > ## Verdict > > After the GPS issue I really started eyeing the release of the FP5, but honestly, I'm so high on copium that I'm riding this ethical train straight to its last breath. The phone still works, and honestly, it still actually does its job too. The battery (replaced after the first got too fat) still holds out throughout the day with medium use, and I've got a second one for when it doesn't. Messing with a USB cable whenever I need GPS is not quite ideal, but it does the job and if anything is at least heaps better than any tiny build-in receiver (after it has had the chance to warm up...). > > If you don't mind the lack of a modern feel like smaller bezels, better screen, a fingerprint scanner that isn't bipolar and the ability to keep more than a few apps open, the FP3 still does a very good job at being your pocket companion. We're past the point where phone specs double every year and if you don't mind the static pricing to keep your phone going, it can definitely help you sleep at night for quite a while.

My old Merino wool shirts both have a hole now. They were the cheapest Amazon ones I found and sold even cheaper because the label was wrong. I want to buy new ones, but I need suggestions before buying a shirt for 70€ on the internet. I want a loose fit and black colour. Any suggestions for high-quality shirts? I'm in Germany.

When I became more environmentally conscious many years ago, I decided to switch to a safety razor to reduce plastic waste. I landed on a reputable safety razor with a 'mild' angle, something that would be good for sensitive skin. Even with a good shaving soap, I found that I would regularly still get some discomfort from razor burn, despite learning a solid technique.

Enter: the Henson. This was touted as a 'new' design of safety razor that fully supported the blade, making it particularly well suited for sensitive skin, and much harder to nick yourself.

Well, I've been using this thing for a few months now, and I can honestly say the marketing isn't an exaggeration, it's been a game-changer for me.

It really is MUCH harder to nick myself with this, to the point where I can press it against my skin firmly like a disposable, and I still don't get irritation. It's one of the most pleasant shaving experiences I've had, and I can heartily recommend one for anyone who wants a truly mild safety razor.

Its made of machined aluminum, and built to tight tolerances. I anticipate I'll be using this sucker quite literally for the rest of my life.

Though do bear in mind, If you have a thick beard or non-sensitive skin, the mild henson might not be ideal for you. As an example I still use my old razor with it's more exposed blade to shave my head, as this henson gets clogged up far too quickly for that application (unless the hair is already really short). But for the face with light facial hair? Perfection.

I do hope this fits here, in case it doesn't feel free to remove.

cross-posted from: https://jlai.lu/post/2383962

> Finally, there's a no-tech-knowledge-needed alternative to Etsy. I'm really excited about where this will go!

Hey everyone, just wanted to announce that BIFL has a brand spankin' new sidebar, with guidelines influences by community suggestions in the previous Community Discussion. For future posts going forward, please try to tag your posts if applicable.

There's also a new Megathread for Vintage items, so feel free to post your old art-deco toasters, grandpa's old wool flannel, or anything else that's out of productionm but still holding up better than ever.

I'll leave this post up and pinned for a while, so if you have any other suggestions or feedback for the community, please let me know! 🙂

cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/4891794

> So I recently got into this community and as Winter is slowly approaching I am looking to buy and keep following items for quite some time: > > - a jacket: should keep me warm enough to around -5°C but as I cycle my commute should keep be too warm on its own, it does rain a lot (snows less often) so that should be kept in mind as well > > - a pair of shoes that fit the same criteria mentioned for the jacket. > > Also, my budget for both items is not too high (\~100€) per product. > > If this does not fit any rules for posting, please tell me so & if this is the wrong Subreddit tell me too :) >

I’m looking for a lightweight waterproof jacket with a hood, ideally available in the UK. I don’t buy jackets very often so I don’t know what I should be looking for asides from that broad category. Suggestions welcome!

A new bike has been recently introduced which is designed with the goals of products in the 1960s-- rugged, simple, built to last. Nothing is flimsy on this bike. Even the fenders and sprockets are thick. The design focus was two main goals: robustness and simplicity so owners can fix it themselves. The gears are internal, which seems to reflect ruggedness being prioritized over self-repairability. Derailers are inherently fragile and cassettes wear down relatively quickly and also would impose a thin chain. The internal gears enable the chain to be thick and wide.

The website is in French but I machine-translated the “about” section:

>A Bruxellois, magnet to travel by bicycle in town, activist in several environmental associations and working in the design and manufacture of cycles since 2014, established the SUGG srl in 2021 to provide simple, solid, practical, fast, fun, designed and assembled bicycles in Brussels with high quality components often produced in Europe.

>The SUGG bikes are aimed at young people from 9 to 99 years of age who wish to move by bike without assistance and prefer to exploit the powerful resources often ignored whose nature has given them. Indeed, with no electric assistance, SUGG bikes are more economical, light, ecological, simple, reliable, durable and fun. At SUGG, the efficiency and ascent qualities of the bike are optimized by the choice of geometry and components. It's fun!

>A few objectives of SUGG: to contribute to the improvement of life in our cities thanks to less air and noise pollution, calm and friendly streets, intelligent and respectful traffic, efficient, beautiful and funny movements; to participate in the fight against unemployment in our regions, on the one hand by repatriating the design and assembly in us and on the other hand by procuring the parts with manufacturers not too far away from us

I don’t have one myself but if I wanted a bomb-proof bike that would last my whole life, this is probably what I would get.

Now that the weather is getting colder I am looking for some warm thermal socks and some kind of warm jumper/sweater. Any recommendations in the UK? preferably a physical shop I can go to to try these things on.