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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My Yamaha f310 guitar. It’s supposed to be a beginner model, but I never felt the need for anything else. Took it with me traveling and after some 15000km on the road still sounds as on its first day.
Yamaha makes the best guitar for the money.
The instrument I probably play the most is a nylon string Yamaha with a great dual pickup/mic that I got for $100 at a pawn shop. It has some cosmetic wear, but that’s a bonus in my opinion.
Yes! I bought mine in 2004, it was the only proper steel string guitar that I could afford at the time. And it is a really good guitar. There has been zero need for any adjustments, the only replaced part (excluding strings, of course) is a single tuning peg. I was drunk and slipped while I was playing, the guitar hit the floor first but miraculously there was no other damage.
A friend of mine was a guitar tech/roadie for Dio and Metallica in his youth and when he tried the F310 his opinion was that “This isn’t a bad guitar at all, actually it sounds a lot like my own Martin back home. You really might want to hold on to this one.”
Definently only old thinkpads. I had two new ones break on me so now I’m not buying them anymore. One had mouse pad just go numb, the other one had the left control key stop working. I don’t even travel with the laptops. :)
My stationary keyboard has worked for like ten years, and so has my mouse…
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No prob! Just here to not help
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Well, what do you need then?
Any chance you have any suggestions for any “buy it for life” items from your own experience?
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AKG Q701 headphones also. I’ve been using the same pair for well over a decade.
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I’m a bit of an audiophile and the Q701s are the best I’ve listened to. They far out pace anything else under $200 in terms of soundstage and clarity. The bass is a bit low, but this is to be expected from open backs.
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The K7 series is similar but not identical. The sound profile changed slightly when manufacturing was moved from Austria to China.
I love my AKG Q702. I think there are almost identical to the Q701 but with a detachable cable so it can be easily replaced.
I’ve been using them almost everyday since 2020 and barely show any wear.
The only thing that wore out a bit is the elastic on the side but I don’t really notice a difference.
a spoon
I see your spoon and raise to a spork!
The Shure SM52 microphone
You might not have heard of it, but if you’ve been to a live gig, chances are you’ve seen one
If youre ever onstage and need a hammer but dont have one, just use an SM58
If you’re a musician or audio tech trying to get started, the Shure SM58 and SM57 are the first two mics you should grab. 58 for vocals, and 57 for anything that doesn’t need a screen (like an instrument or guitar amp.) Both have the exact same mic capsule, but the 58 has a larger filter that will make it a little warmer and less prone to popping on plosives.
Are there fancier mics out there that sound better, or are made for specific purposes? Yeah. But there’s diminishing returns on audio quality, you can’t use them for as many things, and more sensitive mics are also more fragile. For $100 each, you can get some mics that will be passed down to your grandchildren. If you’re trying to cover the widest possible range of uses, the 58 and 57 are your go-to mics.
Whenever you think of a stereotypical 🎤 microphone, you’re 100% thinking of a Shure SM58.
And the SM57 for things you don’t need a screen on.
You probably meant the SM58. The 58 is the prototypical singer’s mic.
The sm58 is the microphone, if you ask a kid to draw a mic, the kid will draw the sm58.
Aye you’re right I do!
I think every Swedish household i’ve ever been in has owned the same Moccamaster coffee brewer for over 15 years. My parents have had the same one for over 20 years probably, swear those are indestructible.
That metal toaster we got for a wedding present. It was apparently someone’s parents wedding present from the 60’s. We had it for several years until a friend jammed a bagel in it and melted the cord. I replaced the cord and we used it for another several years before losing it in a move.
I like to believe someone found it and it is still toasting to this day.
Was it one of those automatic toasters? Technology connections made a video on it.
Quartz watches: Casio F-91w
Mechanical watches: Seiko 5I have an old clock in my cottage. I got it years ago from a previous cottage I renovated. When I found it, the glass had broken so I just treated it as a piece of junk. I renovated that first cottage over a winter and left the clock there to freeze. I put in an AA battery and forgot about it. It kept time great and didn’t lose time … for about two years on the same battery!
The dammed thing outlasted every other wall clock I owned. So I kept it, removed the broken glass and just left it like that.
After about 15 years I still have it in my cottage and it freezes and thaws with the northern Canadian weather. And I’ve only ever changed the battery with the same basic energizer alkaline battery maybe four times!
I’ve never found a comparable clock anywhere. Every new clock I’ve ever bought either fail prematurely or I am constantly changing batteries every two or three months.
So far I’ve junked about a dozen new clocks because they stopped working while this old cottage clock just keeps ticking reliably.
I’m never getting rid of my cottage clock.
I’ve been using the Casio W800 series (W800-H currently) for the past 12+ years. This is my 3rd watch, only because I simply lost the first two. However, it’s about the 6th strap, so it’s like the AK’s strap.
+1 for the Seiko 5s. Love me a SNZG07J1
Any seiko really
Carolina Outdoor Work Boots.
Like wearing a bulletproof vest on your feet.
Thank you for the recommendation :)
I’ve been searching for steel toes ever since I was burned by Red Wings.
Classic Vitamix blender models. They just work. Long warranty. And even post warranty easily serviceable.
Vitamix smell! Dontbreathis!
That’s Blend-Tec not Vitamix lol
Funny enough this is the first video I ever watched on YouTube, back in 2007, after switching from Google Video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qg1ckCkm8YI
They keep coming out with fancier models, but the 5200 still reigns supreme. Who needs programs on a blender?
And for a buy-it-for-multiple-lifetimes citrus juicer to get juice for the blender, there’s the Nemco 55850.
The Hitachi Magic Wand
I knew this was gonna be here. I just knew it. Felt it in my bones. Someone’s got their doomsday bunker stocked 😂
But they don’t make them anymore :(
Even though they’re made by a different company now they’re still pretty good ;)
Any specific brand recommendations? Asking for a friend of course.
I was mistaken. Vibratex, which made the original Hitachi Magic Wand, is still making them today. They just dropped the “Hitachi” from the name.
A woman’s best friend 100%. Couldn’t live without mine.
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.
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…
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Rope saws are neat as fuck as well.
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!
Old Thinkpad Laptops
This.
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.
