Ask HN: What are the best-designed things you've ever used?

These are the best products I've used in the last decade:

1. 2013 Macbook - Still us it. Though bought the new m1 today.

2. Pelican Kayak - Special edition for costco (has detachable bags). Probably not the best kayak. But at $300, probably the funnest thing I've purchase per $ spent. I've explored so many places with it; beautiful, sublime places filled with birds and wildlife. Super fun. 70% of the world is water.

3. K2 Rollerblades - Hate running, but rollerblading feels like a superpower

4. Delonghi Expresso machine + Oat milk.

5. Sony FDRx3000. Like a Gopro, but better. Though now badly needs an update.

6. DJI drones.

Best deal ever: All you can jet pass from BluJet. Flew around the world for $600 for a month. (plus some minor fees).

HP 12C. The best RPN calculator ever created. Mine is over 20 years old and still going strong. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-12C

Trangia cooking stove.

It will be something to pass on to your kids if you like camping.

I have a version of the doussal they dont sell anymore which is one of these https://shop.trangia.se/en/trangia-stove/trangia-stove-25-la...

a kettle https://shop.trangia.se/en/kettles/200325.html a green cutting board/strainer https://shop.trangia.se/en/accessories/multi-disc-md25.html and I got a 1Litre fuel bottle as an extra https://shop.trangia.se/en/accessories/fuel-bottle-1-0l.html

The kettle and green cutting board fit inside the main setup (pots) so it takes up no extra space and you can stuff a couple of knives, forks and spoons inside the setup as well.

You can comfortably cook for two with this so its weight between two backpackers with other equipment like tent is not that heavy!

All you need to clean it is hot water and a metal scourer like one of these https://www.diy.com/departments/stainless-steel-scourer-pack... which fits nicely inside the kettle.

I got the Stainless Ally combo because you need to clean it and stainless cleans easily with a simple metal scourer, you can even get black soot off it easily so you cant ruin it like you can with non-stick coated camping stoves.

You can run it on pure alcohol, methylated spirits, petrol (gasoline) and other flammable liquids, although Meths is recommended and with a push even small twigs, branches and kindling if you run out of flammable liquids.

You can also get a pressurised gas burner for it as well which I dont have so cant comment on.

I've cooked for 2 near Ben Macdui wild camping on the Cairngorm plateau in a few feet of snow one Easter when the UK was getting hit with plenty of snow, a Met Office amber alert gale force storm not far from The Devils kitchen, Snowdonia another time I like to test things to destruction and this is one tool which gets my recommendation!

Plenty of decent evening meals, none of this freeze dried just add water nonsense and a decent cooked breakfast in the mornings, namely sausages, bacon, hash browns, baked beans, black pudding and eggs with HP Brown Sauce. Most of the weight in my rucksack when I go wild camping is good food!

The two pots are slightly different sizes so they fit inside each other russian doll like one way but the other way they stack on top of each other so with the green cutting board for a pot lid, you can keep cooked food warm/hot whilst cooking the rest of a meal up. Yes you may be swapping two stacked pots with the frying pan periodically if you want to do a fryup for breakfast or steak, mash and veg for an evening meal, but if you like cooking thats part of the challenge of having decent food in the most remote inhospitable parts of the world.

Its very bash proof as well, I've seen state of the pressurised gas burners break out of the box on expeditions whilst being pumped where as the Trangia has no moving parts to break, its the best designed product for me because of its simplicity and ruggedness. You could chuck your rucksac down the side of a mountain and it would still work!

A little tip, if you like a Full English breakfast dont take a bottle of cooking oil, take some hard solid blocks of pure saturated fat aka beef dripping. It doesnt melt except in the hottest of environments so its still solid during a British summer and you wont risk a flimsy bottle of cooking oil splitting inside your rucksack and you dont have to have the weight of a ruggedised bottle to store cooking oil inside your rucksack. Every good chef knows, is where the flavour comes from whilst giving you the calories to do some very nice expeditions.

When camping in the snow when its below freezing, take a couple of fuel bottles as you will burn through more fuel especially if the only water around you is melting snow.

All in all it gets my top marks, best designed, could not recommend it enough prize, design award, etc etc every time.

A few things that jump out to me: Toyota LandCruiser 100, Casper Glow Light, MacBook Air and Design With In Reach Theater Sofa.

Unfortunately Craigslist got loaded down with scammers and they never figured out a good way to get rid of them. Facebook has an edge since you can not only look at the seller's profile but you can also see how long they've been a member of Facebook. I'm sure zombie accounts or scraped accounts happen but it doesn't seem to be common, especially if you stick to buying from people in your community. Not sure how well it works for sellers.