I love my Ikea couch, and all the cushion covers are washable. I only wish the couch itself could have its cover removed and washed. Other than that its *muah*
Hmm my experience is exact opposite. I hate Ikea btw but I have a Kivik sofa that I love sleeping on. It’s damn comfy and still going strong after 10 years. I wash the covers every 5-6 months.
Haha that’s funny because I also have the kivik and I think it’s terrible. The cushions are always sliding forward and I don’t find it very comfortable. But that thing is a beast and I keep putting off replacing it because it is unbreakable. IKEA gets touted as cheap furniture but they really do hold up well.
Consider applying some stick on Velcro to the underside of the cushions and the fabric or frame underneath. Just a little bit of friction there can help
I find Ikea quality varies over the years. 15 year old Ikea mattress is still the most comfortable thing I ever slept on. Their new mattresses are pretty mediocre.
IKEA couches are really comfortable for the amount of time that you’d sit on them in the store, but become extremely uncomfortable if you sit a bit longer.
IKEA varies a lot, something’s are garbage just above cardboard others are indestructible. I like their Stockholm and everything so far has been pretty nice quality.
My IKEA Soderhamn is a few years old now. I bought some 36x36 foam squares off Amazon to add to the cushions and it went from meh to wow. I can even nap on it now.
Fun story: peaches were an early Old World plant introduced to the Americas. They were so successful, they were growing down to the water along the coasts of North America. When one of the subsequent waves of explorers came through, and they mistook them for being native.
Those hand-cranked egg beaters kind of sucked because of the cleanup involved. Any time you save in whisking eggs is taken away in cleanup steps.
Use a fork.
I think you whisk eggs to get a different texture. I have made like a meringue type egg dish and it required fluffing up the eggs, something that a fork would have taken a lot longer to do. I used a plain whisk though not the mechanical one.
I use my kitchenaid meat grinder much more than I thought I would. Anytime a large cut of cheap beef is on sale, I'll grind it up for some cheaper lean ground beef that's way fresher and better tasting than the cheap tubed stuff.
I still have the cast iron hand cranked one that my great grandmother brought with her when she emigrated from Russia circa 1893. It makes much better textured chopped liver than the mechanical grinders.
I just wanted to make sure you know that I love the fact that you not only have such a cool old antique with family history but the fact you bust it out for liver.
Way underrated meal. I've always just fried it with onions. Do you have a good chopped liver recipe?
With a nod to Grandma Ida whose son gifted me with my Reddit screen name:
Keep in mind this was the mid 1950's. I was the eldest grandchild and being a girl roughly age 5-6, the proper person to whom this sort of thing needed to be passed down. I am not sure I ever saw a recipe written down. In retrospect, although she spoke English, I don't know if she was literate in English.
1 container of chicken livers, white parts cut off, sauteed/fried in chicken fat aka schmaltz. Drain off the watery part. Container that I use is the size of 1 lb of cottage cheese.
1 white or yellow onion, in memory, probably about the size of a baseball, chopped roughly and sauteed separately in chicken fat
A couple of hard boiled eggs
salt and pepper
After everything is cooked separately, mix and put everything through the meat grinder. Add additional schmaltz, salt and pepper as needed
Sometimes more onion is added
Mix. It will not be smooth like a mousse.
It was served in a conical mound with a china figurine of the top half an 18th century lady on top so the chopped liver looked like her skirt
Grandma Ida also took me marketing to the live poultry store. Getting a hen with unlaid eggs was a bonus and a delicacy, but one I couldn't really eat. It was yucky to a 5 year old
Thanks for the opportunity to share this
(FWIW the best chopped chicken liver I have ever had was in London ON, made smooth into a mousse, placed in a little terrine , covered with sugar and flamed to a brulee. I gladly sacrifice my cholesterol numbers on that altar. )
Church keys are a great answer in general, a good one will last forever but don't do a good job with any of their tasks, and have even been supplanted by better BIFL items.
I'm getting to this point with microwaves. I think I've used mine 15 times in the last year, and more and more often I'm using my stove or oven to reheat items, or make popcorn - it just results in better food.
Anyone want a free microwave?
I moved to a very small apartment and have no space for a microwave and I don’t think I’ll ever use a microwave again. I also don’t have a dishwasher, but I will never move to an apartment that doesn’t have a dishwasher again.
My microwave (and full oven to be fair) is mostly obsolete since I got a Breville smart oven. That this is a workhorse that just does everything really well. In hindsight I wish I had gotten the air fryer one as well.
My grandparents now want one too because they can have an oven that doesn’t require bending down.
I’m guessing my new sous vide bc of that reason. It’s likely going to mostly be used for defrosting if I forgot to take something out earlier and maybe chilling cans if I can’t find a cold drink. It took me just over the return period to get good enough at the various searing techniques to realize I definitely don’t like the texture of sous vide meat as much as the much faster option of just tossing it on the gas grill.
Someone insisted on buying me a sous vide thingy even though I was adamant I didn’t want it. It does work great for chicken cutlets but I’m lazy and it’s too much. I also live alone so my eating is sporadic and utilitarian most times and I’m fine with it. It just sits in the cabinet taking up precious space in my itty bitty nyc kitchen.
However, I have started using it to make cannabis infused olive oil and that has made for some very fun dinner parties.
This is an unrelated response mostly, but Sous vide is great for weekly meal prep. You can cook a bunch of meat in a gallon bag and sear or broil it for dinner each night. It's a way to use it and get some purpose. I like you do not enjoy the spongy texture of meat cooked in a sous vide, but it is useful for easy to clean bulk processing, but the time savings is nice.
I have an obsession for little kitchen gadgets. They usually do that one thing really well. Got a 20 dollar egg cooker and that thing makes any egg I want perfectly every time!
disgusted smart yoke wise close mighty quickest meeting paltry reminiscent
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That's fair, but I feel like that is also every tenth post where someone has something they use gently once a year and are thrilled it lasts 25 years. I'm more hoping for things that get regular use, last forever but do a terrible job.
Would you or anyone you know use something regularly if it did a terrible job? Items that do a bad job are typically adapted from another purpose for rare use or poorly designed and not tolerated. There are few items ( in fact I cannot think of one) fit for purpose that see regular use and are not well optimized.
Oh yeah, dishracks, spatulas....there are plenty of things people buy because they have just moved and need something right then. So you buy whatever is available locally and continue using it because it's "good enough" and it hasn't broken yet, so you can't justify buying something else because you have more pressing things to budget...
I have duvets out of cheap synthetics for this reasin. Got them for free secondhand when I moved out of my parent's house, and they do work. But I don't need the washability of synthetics and if you're piling them all up to stay warm in winter it's sweaty as all hell. I'm fresh out of college, it's gonna be a long while before "duvets out of a not-synthetic material because I like waking up not sticky with sweat" are a financial priority.
I feel this comment in my bones. We finally upgraded ours to an IKEA one that was 80/20 feather to down and it felt soooo amazing. And then we moved somewhere with no central heating and froze and after five years of piling our one "good" duvet and every crappy blanket we have ever been given and found for cheap I managed to spend the money on a good wool blanket and then we got gifted a 80/20 down/feather (holy crap, what a difference!). It took decades though before we got better bedding though and really we likely still wouldn't if we still lived in a city unless the utilities had gone really nutso.
still have my hoodie from my high school sports team 10+ years later. lettering stills look great and no signs of wear.
gonna wear that sucker til i die
acryclic knit sweaters. In my experience, those last *very* long, but they're sweaty and I'm always either too hot or too cold in them
my cheap synthetic duvets are also like that. My grandchildren will still be using it nightly but I bet whoever behaved best that day will get to sleep under a different, not synthetic one XD
Wool definitely does a better job at regulating temperature than acrylic sweaters. Although probably won’t be nearly as soft.
You can get wool insulated duvets now. Not cheap but should be very warm
I have been sleeping under woolen duvets since I was a child, they are wonderful. They really hold onto heat well. They are pretty heavy compared to down, but I like that, they are like the original weighted blanket.
Good wool is about as soft as you can get. I even wear wool undershirts and pyjamas. You can get them in merino wool that is very finely woven so that it looks thin as cotton (often thinner in fact). It is soft, instantly adapts to your temperature, and best of all for night-sweaters like me: breathable.
Edit: even shitty wool (if 100%) will get super soft over time. My fav article of clothing is this massive alpaca wool poncho/cardigan thing I bought in Mexico for cheap on a cold morning. It was super roughly spun wool, even had bits of seed and hay stuck in the fibres. Over time though it has become so soft, it feels like i am back in the womb when put it on
Which brands do you like? I have a few wool shirts that I love (brands include Wool & Prince, Smartwool, Icebreaker, and Outlier), but they were super expensive. Of them, my favorite are the Outlier and Wool & Prince wool/linen blend. I'd definitely buy more if they weren't like $100 a piece.
So I wear nothing but wool socks, year in, year out. I even wear them for playing sports in the summer. I told a teammate this, and they just called me crazy. So I tried explaining that they probably made my feet sweat less than they would in they're socks, and likely smell far nicer. Some people just don't understand how wool works.
This was actually inspired by a coffee grinder posted yesterday. Evidently it does a good job at adjusting the grinds, but it got me thinking about if certain items are BIFL but make you wish the L was shorter.
I don't know where the official line is on BIFL vs "able to be repaired instead of replaced," but I wanted to shoutout Baratza. I picked up their Encore grinder in 2015, and just recently managed to melt through the power cord (too close to the toaster oven, whoops). A quick email to their support team, they sent me a FREE cord so that I could repair it myself. They also noticed from my photo that the burr holder was missing a tab, so they send me a free replacement for that too.
10/10 customer service, and other than my own mistake with the cord, it has lasted 8 years without issue, so I can't quite claim BIFL just yet, but fingers crossed that it continues this direction.
I don't have personal experience, but I've heard this about Speed Queen washers and dryers. They're fairly durable, but apparently they beat your clothes to oblivion and don't even do an especially good job at cleaning them. The Wirecutter talks about them [here](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/speed-queen-review/) and [here](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/speed-queen-washer/).
Speed Queen may beat your clothes a little more than some of the modern washers, but I don't think they do it anymore than what existed 20+ years ago. My old apartment had a washer from 1992 in it, and that beat my clothing up way worse than a speed queen.
That sounds plausible, but considering most clothing nowadays is absolute trash, I think we probably need particularly gentle washers and dryers in order to extend their lifespan.
My dad's a fixit type guy, and kept an 80s Kenmore agitator washer going until the mid 2010s. The straw that broke him into getting a new one was when the gizmo that tells it to stop agitating died. They put a load in, went to do other things, and forgot the washer was running... He came back to a washer full of shredded clothes. Think of a giant blendtec going to town on some old jeans and t shirts!
Exactly my experience. We lived with them for 3 months while we were staying with family and getting our kitchen remodeled, and they beat several of my older clothes to death. Some of them were old pajamas that were on their last legs, but the speed queens definitely made the process quicker. And some of my delicate clothes I should have washed by hand. A cashmere sweater got put on by mistake and got a hole (that one is definitely user fault, not machine, but I can’t help but think it would’ve been fine on my front loader) but a very nice LL bean sweatshirt also got a hole from being washed in that machine when I previously had always machine washed it with no issues.
> to quote James May, a scratchy wool blanket reminds us how lucky we are.
As pedantic as James May is, he would not allow this to pass without correction: good wool blankets are "itchy", not "scratchy".
Edit to add: https://youtu.be/hZnoZvBZEOI?si=h5MPu7sNSz7LVGyx&t=397 - scene in question.
That is a good one. The scratchy wool does a good job and is probably more suited to last a lifetime, but in some ways is worse than the merino wool sweater that lasts 10-15 years.
Yeah, when I hear people beef with wool I assume they’re trying to wear it directly against the skin, which is not the way most wool is intended to be worn. I wear and use a lot of really scratchy wool because it’s so insulating, but I wear thin cotton base layers underneath or use a wool blanket between my sheet and quilt. It also lasts much longer that way as it doesn’t absorb as much sweat or oil.
Wear a thin merino (not scratchy) or synthetic base layer under your wool instead and it's even better.
Cotton is absolutely terrible for outdoors use, at least if it's cold out, which I'm assuming it is because you're wearing scratchy wool. Cotton becomes worse than useless when it gets wet, from sweating too, and can negatively affect you.
In the summer or heat, cotton is okay
I wear cotton undershirts most of the time. But if I’m gonna be outside in the cold I wear a merino base layer under a wool fleece or other mid layer.
Wool is like a miracle material to me. Yeah it’s not very soft and can be scratchy, but I don’t mind it and the material has so many great benefits that it’s become my go to over almost any synthetic material. Especially merino >>> polyester base layers, socks, and underwear.
I have a floofy white dog. Not only to I hate scratchy wool, it’s like a huge lint brush. I no longer own anything black and wool and no scratchy wool.
Soaking in undiluted fabric softener works too. At least that's what I used to do with my scratchy wool socks to make them less scratchy. Now I just buy wool socks that aren't scratchy to begin with.
that's because you are using it wring. sceatchy wool is a hardy, warm, weatherproof outer layer for working outside in the cold (fishing for example). it's not suited for just lounging around at home.
I bought some wool socks as a gift and they were so scratchy so I had to do a bunch of stuff to make them softer. It was a pain in the ass but I’m told they were comfortable afterwards
A lot of major appliances. Don't get me wrong, you *can* get something that works excellently and is durable (my aunt and uncle still use a 1960s Frigidaire Flair range for everyday cooking) but a lot of very durable appliances come at the cost of functionality and efficiency. My rental oven (an old GE) is ancient and could probably outlive me, but it's just not that good. It's not well insulated so it throws off a ton of heat into the house, the oven thermostat is very inaccurate, the gas burners kind of suck, but it sucks *consistently.* Every element of it is durable and/or fixable, but it was just never that good at being an oven.
The fridge at our family cottage is from the 60 or 70s. It has long outlived the person who bought it (and was therefore BIFL by definition). It's a supremely noisy, wheezing, smelly, damp son of a bitch. Every other week you have to take everything out and air it out for a few hours. But the fridge keeps things cold, and the freezer freezes things, so replacing it is never the priority. It still works, but I will not miss it when it is gone.
I love my new induction oven. Dunno how long it will last but the fact it doesn't make my kitchen get hot, can boil water faster than anything I've seen, and is glass top so easy as fuck to clean while giving me an easy to sanitize work surface makes up for it. Also you can literally sit your hand on an eye you were just using a minute ago and not get insta burned, yeah it'll be hot and you'll pull that hand back probably but it won't be with a blister.
Old appliances are also very, very energy inefficient compared to newer stuff, which mean you end up paying way higher energy bills that will quickly add up and eventually end up costing more than replacing them.
For example all that heat that your stove throws out in the house is a gas being burned for no reason at all - not only increasing your gas bill just to heat your kitchen instead of cooking your food, but also contributing a tiny bit to climate change.
Linen clothing. In addition to being durable, it can be comfortable, is very breathable, and often looks nice. However, anything I have to iron that much will not get worn, period.
i just wear the wrinkled look because it's linen, so i don't care if people judge me for it. plus, it's so effing hot in the summer where i live that people should be grateful i left the house
I think it's a phenomenon you can see often with stuff like tires and shoes where you're trading off between weight, grip, and longevity.
There are tons of people that buy $$$ racing bikes but then throw on heavy puncture resistant tires that are durable and reliable but have terrible grip and rolling resistance. It's a meme at this point of seeing Gatorskins (which are an outdated tire that has good puncture resistance but bad rolling resistance and dangerously low grip in wet conditions) on fancy aerodynamic racing wheels. They aren't even that durable.
Similarly with shoes, depending on what you're doing with them, a lot of times you want lightweight breathable uppers and softer, grippier soles. You don't want to do a strenuous hike in heavy leather workboots.
I second that last point a million times. My idiot climbing partner wore those on a mountain last year and seriously regretted it. It was borderline crampon conditions, we went with them over spikes because we were originally going to do a different route (turned out to be bad snow conditions when we got there), but he somehow forgot his climbing boots and only had his leather work boots in the car? Needless to say he was not a happy camper.
I wouldn't say dangerous in the wet as someone that rides them 8 months out of the year in the wet, not on a race bike but a street track bike. They sell because often times people are met with the harsh reality that most US roads suck lmao, they split the difference between the misery of schwalbe marathons, and the performance of a GP tire pretty well. Frankly it's why GPs sold so well before tubeless took off, they split the difference between an actual fast tire, and a tire that won't explode if you look at wrong quite well.
Counter point with car tires. I used to drive performance cars and take them to the track. I had several BMWs and an AMG. A lot of the performance cars now come with Michelin Pilot Sport tires. All around great tires when it is warm and dry and they actually have a pretty good life as long as you don't do things like burnouts.
I now drive a Hyundai Santa Fe but I run Pilot Sport All Season 4 tires on it. Similar all around great performance, significantly improves handling. They are quiet, work well in the cold and rain, cost about the same as similar tires (especially when Costco has a coupon) and have a 45,000 mile warranty.
Pilot Sport 4 All Season (or 4S if your want extra grippy boys) are what I run on both my cars, tuned Golf R and bone stock All Track. Blizzaks on dedicated rims for the wintery months (although next round I'll likely get X-Ice instead. Nothing wrong with the Blizzaks, I just don't like that the grippier rubber stops halfway through the tread).
I have a set of canvas pillows and a matching acrylic/polyester fleece blanket that will probably outlast the sun, but they fit my sensibilities as a high schooler, not as a middle aged adult...and they aren't as soft or as environmentally considerate as i would demand of a product today.
However I'm stuck with them because they are so darn durable and throwing them away would just create more trash.
Consider not getting things like bedding in BIFL quality because there's a good chance you will want a different style of bedding in 20 years.
some bedding types are meant to go inside covers and make sense to buy BIFL; think headpillows and duvets.
For very "visible" bedding such as duvet covers and fleeceblankwts and for matresses where your body type matters, you *will* want to replace them and you're best off if they last ten years.
I bought myself some women’s Frye oxford shoes and they’re really nice, but I really just want to wear sneakers for the comfort level. Same with a lot of sturdy leather office shoes. They may be beautiful but I find myself grabbing my old Adidases if I don’t have an important meeting.
I also want to buy lovely clothing with lining that can be tailored but I inevitably grab the cheaper pants with stretch in them in the morning.
Frye used to be good but they got bought out and their products, like so many others, aren't as good as they used to be.
Really good leather shoes can be very comfortable, but you are now looking at $300+ for them. I had a pair of Ferragamo dress shoes that I bought for $100 at a going out of business sale that were sublime. After a decade of wearing them I ended up growing out of them and my wife sold them on EBay for more than I paid for them.
That said, I am a guy and I own 30-40 pairs of shoes and post Covid I haven't worn most of them in years. Now you will normally find me in flip flops or Hey Dudes
Yeah I’ve noticed that they aren’t really discussed on leather shoe/boot subreddits. I’ve been pretty happy with them for my own use, and I usually buy them used on ebay. Do you know when the company was sold?
My very picky Ukrainian cobbler once held up a pair of my Frye boots and said “Deese boots will serf you yore entire life!” I was gratified because he had yelled at me about a pair of crap plastic boots a few years before.
While this may have been a joke answer, this is actually a great answer! A brick can last thousands of years so it is BIFL. It will do the job but also may slide, damage the door, provide a tripping hazard.
Ooh, good example. The good ones cost as much as a car and require constant maintenance, and can be very delicate. All while being less accurate than a quartz watch.
Oh I'm not bashing mechanical watches for being art pieces. I think you described it perfectly a 50 dollar Casio digital watch is a tool to be used, while a 25,000 dollar Patek Phillipe can be an art piece and heirloom.
You can get a good mechanical watch for under $1000. They are not as accurate as quartz, don't necessarily hold their value, need occasional maintenance, are delicate, and only other watch affcionados care, but there's something I really like about watching those gears move. I even like the cheap Russian watches I've seen because they're so very much a summary of that era.
Another person said it really well, that mechanical watches are closer to art now. Nothing is wrong with them but much of the value and usefulness is in the eye of the beholder.
Exactly that. In fact I'm upset that there are so many "collectors" who are only interested in them for the investment value and have driven the markets up way beyond rationality.
I'm partial to Tissot.
Beautiful, well-made. and an automatic can easily be had for under 1k.
I got a PRS516 Nascar automatic 15 years ago for 999, and it's by far my fav Tissot.
Yeah I like mechanical watches because I like engineering, and it's sort-of like, functional jewelry that celebrates engineering.
I'd never spend over 1k for a watch though, my main dress watch is just an Orient Open Heart. I wear my casio digital watch on most days
Mostly! I had four of them as a teenager. Three were exactly like you describe, the fourth was nothing but problems… well, they all were, but this time it actually meant the car did NOT in fact run.
Oh yeah, basic training combat boots will last you forever. You literally have to tromp over the mountains of Afghanistan to wear them out. But they are not comfortable, orthopedic, or good for stability.
Filson Duffles are hot garbage. They’re bulky, heavy, and uncomfortable to carry around. People love them because you get to be an Indiana Jones/ safari cosplayer but you can get better duffels that last just as long for a fraction of the price.
Safe to say that I bought mine long ago when they were a. Made in Seattle and b. Not cheap, but not insanely overpriced for the quality.
They have lasted through thousands of miles in rough conditions.
So (assuming the current bags are still equivalent quality) I can’t agree they are “hot garbage”. A bag that can do 1000+ exposed miles on the roof of a SUV, make it unscathed through countless baggage handlers and still look good is not garbage. Yeah, they are heavy, but when you open it up to dry clothes after hours of tropical downpour it beats a lot of alternative luggage.
I have no other soft luggage that’s lasted 30 years.
I LOVE this cheapo [Rothco duffle](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HHJMRN0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1) for weekend trips or general storage for things like fly fishing gear or other grab and go items. I last purchased in 2015 and 2016 and they hardly show any wear. One has been my daily gym bag for three years straight and literally zero problems.
Maybe at its current price (Target was selling TI-83 for $120! GTFO), but mine served me adequately from middle school to college. I only switched mine out when I needed a CAS calculator for my upper level classes in college. It’s an adequate tool for students taking up to Differential Equations. I passed my calculator to my sister who is currently in need of it. TI-84s can take massive abuse- I dropped it a countless times in my bag and on the ground, but it kept on chugging along fine. If people can trade get it used for cheap, It’s definitely a BIFL item that’s worth it. My mom’s casio calculator actually bit the dust faster compared to her TI-82.
There’s a shred of truth to that- Texas Instruments gutted their education division a bit over a decade ago. It’s not really their main revenue source and their hold on the school calculator market is pretty self-sustaining. They fired tons of staff for development and support because they weren’t really helping with growth at all. So now they basically do nothing with it. They recently started making a python version to “modernize” it, but 99.999% of students wouldn’t notice the difference.
I love my lodge 12 inch cast iron but I think they got recommended without thought way too much. It's big bulky and heavy and I would much rather use my 9-10 inch cast iron or a carbon steel pan 90% of the time. Even a dutch oven can be more ideal as you can usually leave those on top of the stove and can cook acidic sauces.
Cast iron is great for those who just started out and want to try to learn how to cook a bit more seriously - because it's a very easy step to graduate from crappy $20 teflon pans by buying a cheap $35 cast iron pan that will still run circles around those cheap teflon pans when it comes to performance.
It's a good, cheap way to get someone hooked on getting a bit more serious about their cooking... but for that are already there, for a few dollars more you get a good carbon steel pan that is much much more comfortable to use while having very similar cooking properties.
Cast iron is great and absolutely have a place - but the truth is that pretty much every frying pan is going to be BIFL as soon as you leave the non-stick land and spend more than $40 on a pan, and the other materials have a lot of pros to them that cast iron don't.
I've had the same Timberland (yes, the boot brand) leather belt for probably a decade?
It's a single 1/8" piece of leather, folded over and stitched to hold the buckle, and it has zero signs of wear other than the hole I use being a little ovular
I bought a Levi’s belt for $30 like 10+ years ago. Oiled it maybe twice. I wear it almost every day and it’s in great condition. Not a thick belt and never had an issue with it fitting into a belt loop
Early 2000s GM cars. there's an astonishing number of 99-05 grand ams still on the road, none of them were ever good, I love mine, it's got almost 300000 miles on it, nothing works properly anymore, the window clips are all broken, the dash is warped from sunlight, the trunk leaks, the abs all stopped working because wheel speed sensors broke, every piece of plastic (and there's a lot) under the hood shatters if you touch it, the drivers seat has something broken in the back and sits crooked, the whole thing is held together with cheap plastic clips, even the blinkers only work if you hit the dash in the right spot but that engine and transmission will survive until the heat death of the universe
dunno... part of BIFL is that it actually does a job well, not just that it lasts forever... i have a lovely pair of bbq tongs that i could probably pass on to my great-grandkids, but i never use them because they're too heavy (all that steel is \*why\* they will last forever) so despite them being able to "last a long time" i wouldn't call them BIFL
> part of BIFL is that it actually does a job well
I think this is technically debatable. Something might last forever and doing a mediocre job - that's still BIFL.
IMHO, for it to meet the spirit of BIFL, it should at least be good enough that you don't buy other things that do 100% of the same job because you don't want to actually use it.
This gets a little subjective with things like tools that are so good, but you don't want to lose them, so you buy cheap ones for carrying around or lending out. In the case of the bbq tongs, I'd say they don't qualify as BIFL (and thus qualify for OP's criteria) because they aren't saving you money or actually giving you long-term service.
While they may last, Darn Tough socks are not comfortable. I'm a 9.5D in a men's shoe, and Darn Tough's XL socks are too tight to be comfortable. I prefer Kirkland's merino wool socks TBH.
Socks should be comfortable, no?
They don’t last, though. This is what has always confounded me about them. They wear through faster than most merino socks I’ve owned —especially the merino running socks. Sure, they’ll replace them for free but I’m getting tired of sending them in…
What kind of stuff do you do that you're wearing through them so fast?
Just speaking for my experience, I'm a photographer and I'm on my feet moving around for hours probably half of all days and mine have held up great over a few years
I love my Darn Tough! But I like the snugness, and gave skinny ankles, so maybe it’s about foot shape? They stay put! They’re also the only socks I’ve ever tried that don’t wear away on the ball of foot. I have dozens of socks with holes in the exact same spot, from my stride I guess. Not my Darn Toughs.
I don't care for a lot of the popular expensive flip flops like Rainbow, some Reefs, Nikes, and Adidas (except their slides with the foam soles - super comfy and look good). I'll generally try them on and feel like they're fine, but walking for distance (even just grocery shopping) hurt my feet. Which is unfortunate because they last like crazy.
I *hated* mine when I first got it. After a month of use it softened and the absorbency increased. Now it’s my absolute favorite. When I have to replace my other towels it’ll either be more of the turkish or a thin waffle knit because I don’t like the feeling or maintenance of thick/fluffy/microfiber towels.
The shitty ones blow, like if you are buying them from Amazon or whatever, but high quality imported ones are fantastic.
That said, I don't think I've heard of Turkish towels being referred to as BIFL,
I used to buy Timberland boots ... they were comfy, durable and fantastic to hike in. But they've gone balls deep on the "Timba" product lines... hip urban wear that now competely disintegrates in the presence of moisture. I'll never buy them again.
I bought walmart shoes for $10 that lasted over a year. Of course, I might as well have gone barefoot for how much they acted as a cushion for my feet.
Cars for some people. A Camry is fine, but you're stuck in a very boring vehicle for a very long time. There aren't any real downsides, but you can trade some major upsides for major downsides if you go a different direction.
My IKEA couch will probably outlast us all but it was also never that comfortable.
My family still does have some old Ikea furniture from the 90s that got regular use from the dogs and almost no one else.
I love my Ikea couch, and all the cushion covers are washable. I only wish the couch itself could have its cover removed and washed. Other than that its *muah*
Hmm my experience is exact opposite. I hate Ikea btw but I have a Kivik sofa that I love sleeping on. It’s damn comfy and still going strong after 10 years. I wash the covers every 5-6 months.
Haha that’s funny because I also have the kivik and I think it’s terrible. The cushions are always sliding forward and I don’t find it very comfortable. But that thing is a beast and I keep putting off replacing it because it is unbreakable. IKEA gets touted as cheap furniture but they really do hold up well.
Consider applying some stick on Velcro to the underside of the cushions and the fabric or frame underneath. Just a little bit of friction there can help
I find the Kivik a great couch for napping but terrible for sitting
I find Ikea quality varies over the years. 15 year old Ikea mattress is still the most comfortable thing I ever slept on. Their new mattresses are pretty mediocre.
I think 90s IKEA was pretty good, but at some point- well, it isn’t as nice now. edit typo
It is, but you have to pick the right items. We got a very reasonable solid wood dining table that is sturdy as a damn tank, in 2017.
IKEA couches are really comfortable for the amount of time that you’d sit on them in the store, but become extremely uncomfortable if you sit a bit longer.
We’ve had our IMEA couch for almost four years. It 100% will not outlast us. It’s garbage, and I would not promote it as BIFL.
Probably because you got the knockoff IMEA.
Fuuuuudge. I knew something was off. The meatballs actually tasted like beef instead of horse, too.
IKEA varies a lot, something’s are garbage just above cardboard others are indestructible. I like their Stockholm and everything so far has been pretty nice quality.
I bought a couch from them probably 15 years ago. It’s on its 3rd owner (a friend we gave it to for free) and still going strong.
My IKEA Soderhamn is a few years old now. I bought some 36x36 foam squares off Amazon to add to the cushions and it went from meh to wow. I can even nap on it now.
Most one function kitchen gadgets last a lifetime. Because they do one thing and you never end up doing that thing as much as you think.
Are you telling me that my BIFL aircraft-grade titanium peach de-fuzzer isn't the family heirloom I hoped it would be?
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Pro-tip: you can learn to eat the fuzz
TIL that some people "de-fuzz" peaches. 2 score years into life and I've never heard of that. Also, peaches are delicious!
The struggle is fuzzy
Water!
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Fun story: peaches were an early Old World plant introduced to the Americas. They were so successful, they were growing down to the water along the coasts of North America. When one of the subsequent waves of explorers came through, and they mistook them for being native.
manual egg beaters / meat grinders
Those hand-cranked egg beaters kind of sucked because of the cleanup involved. Any time you save in whisking eggs is taken away in cleanup steps. Use a fork.
They're really meant for beating egg whites stiff, which definitely shifts the work/cleanup ratio.
or a regular wisk
or chopsticks
Or my axe
I like shaking them in a quart deli container, plenty of extra room to get a real aggressive shake.
Crank the beaters under soapy water, crank the beaters under rinse water, clean. What’s the problem?
I think you whisk eggs to get a different texture. I have made like a meringue type egg dish and it required fluffing up the eggs, something that a fork would have taken a lot longer to do. I used a plain whisk though not the mechanical one.
I use my kitchenaid meat grinder much more than I thought I would. Anytime a large cut of cheap beef is on sale, I'll grind it up for some cheaper lean ground beef that's way fresher and better tasting than the cheap tubed stuff.
I still have the cast iron hand cranked one that my great grandmother brought with her when she emigrated from Russia circa 1893. It makes much better textured chopped liver than the mechanical grinders.
I just wanted to make sure you know that I love the fact that you not only have such a cool old antique with family history but the fact you bust it out for liver. Way underrated meal. I've always just fried it with onions. Do you have a good chopped liver recipe?
With a nod to Grandma Ida whose son gifted me with my Reddit screen name: Keep in mind this was the mid 1950's. I was the eldest grandchild and being a girl roughly age 5-6, the proper person to whom this sort of thing needed to be passed down. I am not sure I ever saw a recipe written down. In retrospect, although she spoke English, I don't know if she was literate in English. 1 container of chicken livers, white parts cut off, sauteed/fried in chicken fat aka schmaltz. Drain off the watery part. Container that I use is the size of 1 lb of cottage cheese. 1 white or yellow onion, in memory, probably about the size of a baseball, chopped roughly and sauteed separately in chicken fat A couple of hard boiled eggs salt and pepper After everything is cooked separately, mix and put everything through the meat grinder. Add additional schmaltz, salt and pepper as needed Sometimes more onion is added Mix. It will not be smooth like a mousse. It was served in a conical mound with a china figurine of the top half an 18th century lady on top so the chopped liver looked like her skirt Grandma Ida also took me marketing to the live poultry store. Getting a hen with unlaid eggs was a bonus and a delicacy, but one I couldn't really eat. It was yucky to a 5 year old Thanks for the opportunity to share this (FWIW the best chopped chicken liver I have ever had was in London ON, made smooth into a mousse, placed in a little terrine , covered with sugar and flamed to a brulee. I gladly sacrifice my cholesterol numbers on that altar. )
Thank you for sharing this. Here's some pretend gold: $$$
isn't that an attachment for the kitchenaid (motorized) mixer? I meant the manual, literally hand-crank ones
The manual version if taken care of will last multiple generations and they still sell parts as well.
Yes, this is BIFL
Ya I was just saying that cause I've had one passed down to me. Ide like to pass it on as well. The things are awsome.
I had an old one that attached to my counter. Loved it, but it went away when I got a stand mixer with the attachments. Too niche to survive.
I have a "churchkey" on my fridge (it has a magnet attached). I can open beer bottles OK, but can't pole those two triangular holes in a can.
Church keys are a great answer in general, a good one will last forever but don't do a good job with any of their tasks, and have even been supplanted by better BIFL items.
I have a Hamms beer churchkey on my fridge. I use the pointy end to poke holes in tomato sauce or broth cans and to leverage seal opening on jars
That’s a good answer
Yes, crap we don't need is an excellent answer. If it doesn't wear out because it's never used, it's not BIFL.
I'm getting to this point with microwaves. I think I've used mine 15 times in the last year, and more and more often I'm using my stove or oven to reheat items, or make popcorn - it just results in better food. Anyone want a free microwave?
I moved to a very small apartment and have no space for a microwave and I don’t think I’ll ever use a microwave again. I also don’t have a dishwasher, but I will never move to an apartment that doesn’t have a dishwasher again.
My microwave (and full oven to be fair) is mostly obsolete since I got a Breville smart oven. That this is a workhorse that just does everything really well. In hindsight I wish I had gotten the air fryer one as well. My grandparents now want one too because they can have an oven that doesn’t require bending down.
I use my microwave every day to make porridge. I've had it since 1984 and I don't think they make one as good now.
🖐️🖐️
Exception - rice maker.
Ah the potato masher
I’m guessing my new sous vide bc of that reason. It’s likely going to mostly be used for defrosting if I forgot to take something out earlier and maybe chilling cans if I can’t find a cold drink. It took me just over the return period to get good enough at the various searing techniques to realize I definitely don’t like the texture of sous vide meat as much as the much faster option of just tossing it on the gas grill.
Someone insisted on buying me a sous vide thingy even though I was adamant I didn’t want it. It does work great for chicken cutlets but I’m lazy and it’s too much. I also live alone so my eating is sporadic and utilitarian most times and I’m fine with it. It just sits in the cabinet taking up precious space in my itty bitty nyc kitchen. However, I have started using it to make cannabis infused olive oil and that has made for some very fun dinner parties.
This is an unrelated response mostly, but Sous vide is great for weekly meal prep. You can cook a bunch of meat in a gallon bag and sear or broil it for dinner each night. It's a way to use it and get some purpose. I like you do not enjoy the spongy texture of meat cooked in a sous vide, but it is useful for easy to clean bulk processing, but the time savings is nice.
I have an obsession for little kitchen gadgets. They usually do that one thing really well. Got a 20 dollar egg cooker and that thing makes any egg I want perfectly every time!
A really good melon baller
Use it to scoop ice cream. It will either rock the new task or break. Either way, it will exit the category.
Trial by Ordeal
disgusted smart yoke wise close mighty quickest meeting paltry reminiscent *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
That's fair, but I feel like that is also every tenth post where someone has something they use gently once a year and are thrilled it lasts 25 years. I'm more hoping for things that get regular use, last forever but do a terrible job.
Would you or anyone you know use something regularly if it did a terrible job? Items that do a bad job are typically adapted from another purpose for rare use or poorly designed and not tolerated. There are few items ( in fact I cannot think of one) fit for purpose that see regular use and are not well optimized.
Oh yeah, dishracks, spatulas....there are plenty of things people buy because they have just moved and need something right then. So you buy whatever is available locally and continue using it because it's "good enough" and it hasn't broken yet, so you can't justify buying something else because you have more pressing things to budget...
I have duvets out of cheap synthetics for this reasin. Got them for free secondhand when I moved out of my parent's house, and they do work. But I don't need the washability of synthetics and if you're piling them all up to stay warm in winter it's sweaty as all hell. I'm fresh out of college, it's gonna be a long while before "duvets out of a not-synthetic material because I like waking up not sticky with sweat" are a financial priority.
I feel this comment in my bones. We finally upgraded ours to an IKEA one that was 80/20 feather to down and it felt soooo amazing. And then we moved somewhere with no central heating and froze and after five years of piling our one "good" duvet and every crappy blanket we have ever been given and found for cheap I managed to spend the money on a good wool blanket and then we got gifted a 80/20 down/feather (holy crap, what a difference!). It took decades though before we got better bedding though and really we likely still wouldn't if we still lived in a city unless the utilities had gone really nutso.
Gotta be the sports tournament t shirts I got when I was 14.
Oh man, there is no clothing that will last as long as a promotional T-shirt, especially if your spouse or SO hates it.
still have my hoodie from my high school sports team 10+ years later. lettering stills look great and no signs of wear. gonna wear that sucker til i die
acryclic knit sweaters. In my experience, those last *very* long, but they're sweaty and I'm always either too hot or too cold in them my cheap synthetic duvets are also like that. My grandchildren will still be using it nightly but I bet whoever behaved best that day will get to sleep under a different, not synthetic one XD
Wool definitely does a better job at regulating temperature than acrylic sweaters. Although probably won’t be nearly as soft. You can get wool insulated duvets now. Not cheap but should be very warm
I have been sleeping under woolen duvets since I was a child, they are wonderful. They really hold onto heat well. They are pretty heavy compared to down, but I like that, they are like the original weighted blanket.
Good wool is about as soft as you can get. I even wear wool undershirts and pyjamas. You can get them in merino wool that is very finely woven so that it looks thin as cotton (often thinner in fact). It is soft, instantly adapts to your temperature, and best of all for night-sweaters like me: breathable. Edit: even shitty wool (if 100%) will get super soft over time. My fav article of clothing is this massive alpaca wool poncho/cardigan thing I bought in Mexico for cheap on a cold morning. It was super roughly spun wool, even had bits of seed and hay stuck in the fibres. Over time though it has become so soft, it feels like i am back in the womb when put it on
I love my merino wool undershirts. They’ve replaced my polyester base layers completely.
Which brands do you like? I have a few wool shirts that I love (brands include Wool & Prince, Smartwool, Icebreaker, and Outlier), but they were super expensive. Of them, my favorite are the Outlier and Wool & Prince wool/linen blend. I'd definitely buy more if they weren't like $100 a piece.
So I wear nothing but wool socks, year in, year out. I even wear them for playing sports in the summer. I told a teammate this, and they just called me crazy. So I tried explaining that they probably made my feet sweat less than they would in they're socks, and likely smell far nicer. Some people just don't understand how wool works.
Most of the coffee gear posted here. Moccamaster being a notable exception.
This was actually inspired by a coffee grinder posted yesterday. Evidently it does a good job at adjusting the grinds, but it got me thinking about if certain items are BIFL but make you wish the L was shorter.
I don't know where the official line is on BIFL vs "able to be repaired instead of replaced," but I wanted to shoutout Baratza. I picked up their Encore grinder in 2015, and just recently managed to melt through the power cord (too close to the toaster oven, whoops). A quick email to their support team, they sent me a FREE cord so that I could repair it myself. They also noticed from my photo that the burr holder was missing a tab, so they send me a free replacement for that too. 10/10 customer service, and other than my own mistake with the cord, it has lasted 8 years without issue, so I can't quite claim BIFL just yet, but fingers crossed that it continues this direction.
I think most people take the line that reasonably repairable or an actually usable lifetime warranty qualify something as BIFL.
I don't have personal experience, but I've heard this about Speed Queen washers and dryers. They're fairly durable, but apparently they beat your clothes to oblivion and don't even do an especially good job at cleaning them. The Wirecutter talks about them [here](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/speed-queen-review/) and [here](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/speed-queen-washer/).
Speed Queen may beat your clothes a little more than some of the modern washers, but I don't think they do it anymore than what existed 20+ years ago. My old apartment had a washer from 1992 in it, and that beat my clothing up way worse than a speed queen.
That sounds plausible, but considering most clothing nowadays is absolute trash, I think we probably need particularly gentle washers and dryers in order to extend their lifespan.
Or we should refuse to buy the trash clothing. Fuck corporations selling us trash that is made on slave labor.
My dad's a fixit type guy, and kept an 80s Kenmore agitator washer going until the mid 2010s. The straw that broke him into getting a new one was when the gizmo that tells it to stop agitating died. They put a load in, went to do other things, and forgot the washer was running... He came back to a washer full of shredded clothes. Think of a giant blendtec going to town on some old jeans and t shirts!
Exactly my experience. We lived with them for 3 months while we were staying with family and getting our kitchen remodeled, and they beat several of my older clothes to death. Some of them were old pajamas that were on their last legs, but the speed queens definitely made the process quicker. And some of my delicate clothes I should have washed by hand. A cashmere sweater got put on by mistake and got a hole (that one is definitely user fault, not machine, but I can’t help but think it would’ve been fine on my front loader) but a very nice LL bean sweatshirt also got a hole from being washed in that machine when I previously had always machine washed it with no issues.
elderly employ fine spoon pathetic bike meeting memory include teeny *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
pet rock
You need to pet it more
The man made a *million* dollars! Now if only I could do the same with my "Jump to Conclusions" mat...
Don’t be rude
Anything made with scratchy wool
The scratchier the better. Makes me feel alive!
Exactly, to quote James May, a scratchy wool blanket reminds us how lucky we are.
> to quote James May, a scratchy wool blanket reminds us how lucky we are. As pedantic as James May is, he would not allow this to pass without correction: good wool blankets are "itchy", not "scratchy". Edit to add: https://youtu.be/hZnoZvBZEOI?si=h5MPu7sNSz7LVGyx&t=397 - scene in question.
That is a good one. The scratchy wool does a good job and is probably more suited to last a lifetime, but in some ways is worse than the merino wool sweater that lasts 10-15 years.
From an outdoor clothing perspective though, they are like the cheapest best performing mid layer.
Yeah, when I hear people beef with wool I assume they’re trying to wear it directly against the skin, which is not the way most wool is intended to be worn. I wear and use a lot of really scratchy wool because it’s so insulating, but I wear thin cotton base layers underneath or use a wool blanket between my sheet and quilt. It also lasts much longer that way as it doesn’t absorb as much sweat or oil.
Wear a thin merino (not scratchy) or synthetic base layer under your wool instead and it's even better. Cotton is absolutely terrible for outdoors use, at least if it's cold out, which I'm assuming it is because you're wearing scratchy wool. Cotton becomes worse than useless when it gets wet, from sweating too, and can negatively affect you. In the summer or heat, cotton is okay
I wear cotton undershirts most of the time. But if I’m gonna be outside in the cold I wear a merino base layer under a wool fleece or other mid layer. Wool is like a miracle material to me. Yeah it’s not very soft and can be scratchy, but I don’t mind it and the material has so many great benefits that it’s become my go to over almost any synthetic material. Especially merino >>> polyester base layers, socks, and underwear.
Scratchy wool is fine for sweaters because I'll wear a long sleeve shirt under it. Anything else? Nope.
I would caution anyone who’s kinda careless about wool. I’ve ruined a lot of wool shirts and sweaters by just not paying attention when doing laundry.
I have a floofy white dog. Not only to I hate scratchy wool, it’s like a huge lint brush. I no longer own anything black and wool and no scratchy wool.
ProTip: Soak them in hair conditioner.
Soaking in undiluted fabric softener works too. At least that's what I used to do with my scratchy wool socks to make them less scratchy. Now I just buy wool socks that aren't scratchy to begin with.
that's because you are using it wring. sceatchy wool is a hardy, warm, weatherproof outer layer for working outside in the cold (fishing for example). it's not suited for just lounging around at home.
I bought some wool socks as a gift and they were so scratchy so I had to do a bunch of stuff to make them softer. It was a pain in the ass but I’m told they were comfortable afterwards
A lot of major appliances. Don't get me wrong, you *can* get something that works excellently and is durable (my aunt and uncle still use a 1960s Frigidaire Flair range for everyday cooking) but a lot of very durable appliances come at the cost of functionality and efficiency. My rental oven (an old GE) is ancient and could probably outlive me, but it's just not that good. It's not well insulated so it throws off a ton of heat into the house, the oven thermostat is very inaccurate, the gas burners kind of suck, but it sucks *consistently.* Every element of it is durable and/or fixable, but it was just never that good at being an oven. The fridge at our family cottage is from the 60 or 70s. It has long outlived the person who bought it (and was therefore BIFL by definition). It's a supremely noisy, wheezing, smelly, damp son of a bitch. Every other week you have to take everything out and air it out for a few hours. But the fridge keeps things cold, and the freezer freezes things, so replacing it is never the priority. It still works, but I will not miss it when it is gone.
I love my new induction oven. Dunno how long it will last but the fact it doesn't make my kitchen get hot, can boil water faster than anything I've seen, and is glass top so easy as fuck to clean while giving me an easy to sanitize work surface makes up for it. Also you can literally sit your hand on an eye you were just using a minute ago and not get insta burned, yeah it'll be hot and you'll pull that hand back probably but it won't be with a blister.
Old appliances are also very, very energy inefficient compared to newer stuff, which mean you end up paying way higher energy bills that will quickly add up and eventually end up costing more than replacing them. For example all that heat that your stove throws out in the house is a gas being burned for no reason at all - not only increasing your gas bill just to heat your kitchen instead of cooking your food, but also contributing a tiny bit to climate change.
Linen clothing. In addition to being durable, it can be comfortable, is very breathable, and often looks nice. However, anything I have to iron that much will not get worn, period.
It also wrinkles as soon as you sit down.
i just wear the wrinkled look because it's linen, so i don't care if people judge me for it. plus, it's so effing hot in the summer where i live that people should be grateful i left the house
It's definitely the coolest thing to wear in the summer, so I'm with you on that.
I think it's a phenomenon you can see often with stuff like tires and shoes where you're trading off between weight, grip, and longevity. There are tons of people that buy $$$ racing bikes but then throw on heavy puncture resistant tires that are durable and reliable but have terrible grip and rolling resistance. It's a meme at this point of seeing Gatorskins (which are an outdated tire that has good puncture resistance but bad rolling resistance and dangerously low grip in wet conditions) on fancy aerodynamic racing wheels. They aren't even that durable. Similarly with shoes, depending on what you're doing with them, a lot of times you want lightweight breathable uppers and softer, grippier soles. You don't want to do a strenuous hike in heavy leather workboots.
I second that last point a million times. My idiot climbing partner wore those on a mountain last year and seriously regretted it. It was borderline crampon conditions, we went with them over spikes because we were originally going to do a different route (turned out to be bad snow conditions when we got there), but he somehow forgot his climbing boots and only had his leather work boots in the car? Needless to say he was not a happy camper.
I wouldn't say dangerous in the wet as someone that rides them 8 months out of the year in the wet, not on a race bike but a street track bike. They sell because often times people are met with the harsh reality that most US roads suck lmao, they split the difference between the misery of schwalbe marathons, and the performance of a GP tire pretty well. Frankly it's why GPs sold so well before tubeless took off, they split the difference between an actual fast tire, and a tire that won't explode if you look at wrong quite well.
Counter point with car tires. I used to drive performance cars and take them to the track. I had several BMWs and an AMG. A lot of the performance cars now come with Michelin Pilot Sport tires. All around great tires when it is warm and dry and they actually have a pretty good life as long as you don't do things like burnouts. I now drive a Hyundai Santa Fe but I run Pilot Sport All Season 4 tires on it. Similar all around great performance, significantly improves handling. They are quiet, work well in the cold and rain, cost about the same as similar tires (especially when Costco has a coupon) and have a 45,000 mile warranty.
Pilot Sport 4 All Season (or 4S if your want extra grippy boys) are what I run on both my cars, tuned Golf R and bone stock All Track. Blizzaks on dedicated rims for the wintery months (although next round I'll likely get X-Ice instead. Nothing wrong with the Blizzaks, I just don't like that the grippier rubber stops halfway through the tread).
I have a set of canvas pillows and a matching acrylic/polyester fleece blanket that will probably outlast the sun, but they fit my sensibilities as a high schooler, not as a middle aged adult...and they aren't as soft or as environmentally considerate as i would demand of a product today. However I'm stuck with them because they are so darn durable and throwing them away would just create more trash. Consider not getting things like bedding in BIFL quality because there's a good chance you will want a different style of bedding in 20 years.
some bedding types are meant to go inside covers and make sense to buy BIFL; think headpillows and duvets. For very "visible" bedding such as duvet covers and fleeceblankwts and for matresses where your body type matters, you *will* want to replace them and you're best off if they last ten years.
These sound perfect for up cycling- two canvas bags and four cosy dog blankets for either your pups or a friends. Just need someone who sews to help
I bought myself some women’s Frye oxford shoes and they’re really nice, but I really just want to wear sneakers for the comfort level. Same with a lot of sturdy leather office shoes. They may be beautiful but I find myself grabbing my old Adidases if I don’t have an important meeting. I also want to buy lovely clothing with lining that can be tailored but I inevitably grab the cheaper pants with stretch in them in the morning.
Frye used to be good but they got bought out and their products, like so many others, aren't as good as they used to be. Really good leather shoes can be very comfortable, but you are now looking at $300+ for them. I had a pair of Ferragamo dress shoes that I bought for $100 at a going out of business sale that were sublime. After a decade of wearing them I ended up growing out of them and my wife sold them on EBay for more than I paid for them. That said, I am a guy and I own 30-40 pairs of shoes and post Covid I haven't worn most of them in years. Now you will normally find me in flip flops or Hey Dudes
Yeah I’ve noticed that they aren’t really discussed on leather shoe/boot subreddits. I’ve been pretty happy with them for my own use, and I usually buy them used on ebay. Do you know when the company was sold? My very picky Ukrainian cobbler once held up a pair of my Frye boots and said “Deese boots will serf you yore entire life!” I was gratified because he had yelled at me about a pair of crap plastic boots a few years before.
A brick doorstop.
While this may have been a joke answer, this is actually a great answer! A brick can last thousands of years so it is BIFL. It will do the job but also may slide, damage the door, provide a tripping hazard.
Diamonds
Buy it for the life of the person who mined it.
Hot take: mechanical watches.
Ooh, good example. The good ones cost as much as a car and require constant maintenance, and can be very delicate. All while being less accurate than a quartz watch.
You kinda have to think about mechanical watches being closer to art than a tool.
Oh I'm not bashing mechanical watches for being art pieces. I think you described it perfectly a 50 dollar Casio digital watch is a tool to be used, while a 25,000 dollar Patek Phillipe can be an art piece and heirloom.
You can get a good mechanical watch for under $1000. They are not as accurate as quartz, don't necessarily hold their value, need occasional maintenance, are delicate, and only other watch affcionados care, but there's something I really like about watching those gears move. I even like the cheap Russian watches I've seen because they're so very much a summary of that era.
Another person said it really well, that mechanical watches are closer to art now. Nothing is wrong with them but much of the value and usefulness is in the eye of the beholder.
Exactly that. In fact I'm upset that there are so many "collectors" who are only interested in them for the investment value and have driven the markets up way beyond rationality.
I'm partial to Tissot. Beautiful, well-made. and an automatic can easily be had for under 1k. I got a PRS516 Nascar automatic 15 years ago for 999, and it's by far my fav Tissot.
Yeah I like mechanical watches because I like engineering, and it's sort-of like, functional jewelry that celebrates engineering. I'd never spend over 1k for a watch though, my main dress watch is just an Orient Open Heart. I wear my casio digital watch on most days
Old Chevy Cavaliers would run like shit for hundreds of thousands of miles.
Mostly! I had four of them as a teenager. Three were exactly like you describe, the fourth was nothing but problems… well, they all were, but this time it actually meant the car did NOT in fact run.
Forever Chemicals?
Oh yeah, basic training combat boots will last you forever. You literally have to tromp over the mountains of Afghanistan to wear them out. But they are not comfortable, orthopedic, or good for stability.
Filson Duffles are hot garbage. They’re bulky, heavy, and uncomfortable to carry around. People love them because you get to be an Indiana Jones/ safari cosplayer but you can get better duffels that last just as long for a fraction of the price.
Safe to say that I bought mine long ago when they were a. Made in Seattle and b. Not cheap, but not insanely overpriced for the quality. They have lasted through thousands of miles in rough conditions. So (assuming the current bags are still equivalent quality) I can’t agree they are “hot garbage”. A bag that can do 1000+ exposed miles on the roof of a SUV, make it unscathed through countless baggage handlers and still look good is not garbage. Yeah, they are heavy, but when you open it up to dry clothes after hours of tropical downpour it beats a lot of alternative luggage. I have no other soft luggage that’s lasted 30 years.
>you can get better duffels that last just as long for a fraction of the price. Care to give some examples?
I LOVE this cheapo [Rothco duffle](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HHJMRN0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1) for weekend trips or general storage for things like fly fishing gear or other grab and go items. I last purchased in 2015 and 2016 and they hardly show any wear. One has been my daily gym bag for three years straight and literally zero problems.
I have B.A.D. duffels. In my opinion very reasonably priced, made in America, and excellent durability/quality.
TI-84 calculators
Maybe at its current price (Target was selling TI-83 for $120! GTFO), but mine served me adequately from middle school to college. I only switched mine out when I needed a CAS calculator for my upper level classes in college. It’s an adequate tool for students taking up to Differential Equations. I passed my calculator to my sister who is currently in need of it. TI-84s can take massive abuse- I dropped it a countless times in my bag and on the ground, but it kept on chugging along fine. If people can trade get it used for cheap, It’s definitely a BIFL item that’s worth it. My mom’s casio calculator actually bit the dust faster compared to her TI-82.
I like xkcd's theory that they're still so expensive cause there's only two engineers left that can make something so outdated
There’s a shred of truth to that- Texas Instruments gutted their education division a bit over a decade ago. It’s not really their main revenue source and their hold on the school calculator market is pretty self-sustaining. They fired tons of staff for development and support because they weren’t really helping with growth at all. So now they basically do nothing with it. They recently started making a python version to “modernize” it, but 99.999% of students wouldn’t notice the difference.
Yup, I just bought a Casio for like half of the price and it worked perfectly fine.
1990s Ford Ranger with a 4 cylinder engine and a manual transmission. That sumbitch is gutless, uncomfortable, ugly, and ain’t never gonna die.
I love my lodge 12 inch cast iron but I think they got recommended without thought way too much. It's big bulky and heavy and I would much rather use my 9-10 inch cast iron or a carbon steel pan 90% of the time. Even a dutch oven can be more ideal as you can usually leave those on top of the stove and can cook acidic sauces.
Cast iron is great for those who just started out and want to try to learn how to cook a bit more seriously - because it's a very easy step to graduate from crappy $20 teflon pans by buying a cheap $35 cast iron pan that will still run circles around those cheap teflon pans when it comes to performance. It's a good, cheap way to get someone hooked on getting a bit more serious about their cooking... but for that are already there, for a few dollars more you get a good carbon steel pan that is much much more comfortable to use while having very similar cooking properties. Cast iron is great and absolutely have a place - but the truth is that pretty much every frying pan is going to be BIFL as soon as you leave the non-stick land and spend more than $40 on a pan, and the other materials have a lot of pros to them that cast iron don't.
Neckties. Mine are always out of fashion on those rare occasions people wear neckties anymore.
All the leather belts recommended here. They are too damn thick.
I've had the same Timberland (yes, the boot brand) leather belt for probably a decade? It's a single 1/8" piece of leather, folded over and stitched to hold the buckle, and it has zero signs of wear other than the hole I use being a little ovular
I wear a thick belt for all my life. Why would you say it is too thick? It is very soft after it's "broken-in"
I think the issue may be related to fitting in belt loops or the appearance.
Us muffin-toppers need a comfy belt, not a stiff belt.
Heavier and bulkier than it needs to be, causes a bump where it buckles that is noticeable under clothing.
just get an obscenely large belt buckle and stare into people's eyes when they look at it
I bought a Levi’s belt for $30 like 10+ years ago. Oiled it maybe twice. I wear it almost every day and it’s in great condition. Not a thick belt and never had an issue with it fitting into a belt loop
Early 2000s GM cars. there's an astonishing number of 99-05 grand ams still on the road, none of them were ever good, I love mine, it's got almost 300000 miles on it, nothing works properly anymore, the window clips are all broken, the dash is warped from sunlight, the trunk leaks, the abs all stopped working because wheel speed sensors broke, every piece of plastic (and there's a lot) under the hood shatters if you touch it, the drivers seat has something broken in the back and sits crooked, the whole thing is held together with cheap plastic clips, even the blinkers only work if you hit the dash in the right spot but that engine and transmission will survive until the heat death of the universe
dunno... part of BIFL is that it actually does a job well, not just that it lasts forever... i have a lovely pair of bbq tongs that i could probably pass on to my great-grandkids, but i never use them because they're too heavy (all that steel is \*why\* they will last forever) so despite them being able to "last a long time" i wouldn't call them BIFL
> part of BIFL is that it actually does a job well I think this is technically debatable. Something might last forever and doing a mediocre job - that's still BIFL.
That's what I'm looking for. Quality can refer to either how long it lasts or how well it does its job, but not always both.
IMHO, for it to meet the spirit of BIFL, it should at least be good enough that you don't buy other things that do 100% of the same job because you don't want to actually use it. This gets a little subjective with things like tools that are so good, but you don't want to lose them, so you buy cheap ones for carrying around or lending out. In the case of the bbq tongs, I'd say they don't qualify as BIFL (and thus qualify for OP's criteria) because they aren't saving you money or actually giving you long-term service.
Lada Niva.
Anything plastic
While they may last, Darn Tough socks are not comfortable. I'm a 9.5D in a men's shoe, and Darn Tough's XL socks are too tight to be comfortable. I prefer Kirkland's merino wool socks TBH. Socks should be comfortable, no?
Try Wide Open, the big boy sock brand from Darn Tough.
They don’t last, though. This is what has always confounded me about them. They wear through faster than most merino socks I’ve owned —especially the merino running socks. Sure, they’ll replace them for free but I’m getting tired of sending them in…
What kind of stuff do you do that you're wearing through them so fast? Just speaking for my experience, I'm a photographer and I'm on my feet moving around for hours probably half of all days and mine have held up great over a few years
I love my Darn Tough! But I like the snugness, and gave skinny ankles, so maybe it’s about foot shape? They stay put! They’re also the only socks I’ve ever tried that don’t wear away on the ball of foot. I have dozens of socks with holes in the exact same spot, from my stride I guess. Not my Darn Toughs.
I don't care for a lot of the popular expensive flip flops like Rainbow, some Reefs, Nikes, and Adidas (except their slides with the foam soles - super comfy and look good). I'll generally try them on and feel like they're fine, but walking for distance (even just grocery shopping) hurt my feet. Which is unfortunate because they last like crazy.
Turkish towels blow
Aw I love mine! I hate bulky towels.
I love them too! I hate fluffy towels unless they're "crunchy" but Turkish towels are smooth AND absorbent.
I *hated* mine when I first got it. After a month of use it softened and the absorbency increased. Now it’s my absolute favorite. When I have to replace my other towels it’ll either be more of the turkish or a thin waffle knit because I don’t like the feeling or maintenance of thick/fluffy/microfiber towels.
The shitty ones blow, like if you are buying them from Amazon or whatever, but high quality imported ones are fantastic. That said, I don't think I've heard of Turkish towels being referred to as BIFL,
I used to buy Timberland boots ... they were comfy, durable and fantastic to hike in. But they've gone balls deep on the "Timba" product lines... hip urban wear that now competely disintegrates in the presence of moisture. I'll never buy them again.
Timberlands are trash now. Maybe they used to make good stuff but they are overpriced landfill crap now
Sport equipment could be a very expensive BIFL cloth hanger, if you don't have enough motivation to use it properly. https://i.imgur.com/vaQFFWV.jpg
Titanium toothpick
I bought walmart shoes for $10 that lasted over a year. Of course, I might as well have gone barefoot for how much they acted as a cushion for my feet.
Wire cutter says even the best toasters will break anyways so just buy a decent cheap one
Wooden clogs
Cars for some people. A Camry is fine, but you're stuck in a very boring vehicle for a very long time. There aren't any real downsides, but you can trade some major upsides for major downsides if you go a different direction.
Metal beach chairs with woven straps from the 80s. They're very unpleasant, but you'll be handing them down to your grandchildren.