So the idea of “buy it for life” is to buy items that are durable and last for a long time, things you could buy once and have your whole life, which can save money and be good for the environment
What are some of the top items you recommend for this?
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.
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.
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.
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 worked in a building full of Herman Miller Aeron chairs, which cost more than $1000. I did not find them comfortable. The plastic frames dug into the back of my legs.
This isn’t to say that everyone will find them uncomfortable or that they’re bad. But don’t buy a chair based on a brand. Sit in the chair.
Their CEO took a bonus and told employees in a video to work hard instead of being in “pity city” when they were left without bonuses.
https://www.npr.org/2023/04/19/1170669245/millerknoll-ceo-andi-owen-video-bonuses
Even more reason to buy used. The CEO might be a cunt, but that doesn’t change whether it’s good for your body.
The point is that a chair designed for ergonomics of sitting at a desk all day will do you much better than one designed to look like it belongs in a racecar.
That advice stands whether that’s Haworth, Steel case, Herman miller, or any other serious office chair brand.
Working somewhere that had only Herman Miller chairs fucking broke me.
Almost like ergonomics is individual and not a fucking brand name.
I’ve yet to find a “serious office chair” that actually properly supports MY spine the way my supposedly shitty “gaming” chair does.
Mainly because the concept of a “serious office chair” is horseshit. A chair is either good or bad and sucking off one particular name over and over doesn’t change the fact that a well-made uncomfortable piece of shit is still and uncomfortable piece of shit.
I’ll add Haworth to that list. Especially their Zody chairs. I swear by them for having to sit 8 hours a day on.
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.
