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Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

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Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#691

Post by elric »

danShumway wrote: post #674
hairofadog wrote: post #154

* Shoes: VivoBarefoot Magna Trail II FG ( https://www.vivobarefoot.com/us/magna-trail-ii-fg-mens ). If you enjoy barefoot shoes, these things are fantastic. * For the table saw, this sawdust bag ( https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bosch-Table-Saw-Dust-Collector-S... ) does a surprisingly good job for $11, and this set of Dado blades ( https://www.homedepot.com/p/DIABLO-8-in-x-12-Teeth-Stacked-D... ) has saved me a ton of t…

I'm always very hesitant to recommend "barefoot" shoes since everyone's feet are different and I know some people who have had horrible experiences with them. They definitely are not a magic solution for everyone, and for some people they'll be actively harmful. But for whatever it's worth, switching to VivoBarefoot (Primus Lite) resulted in a massive decrease in foot pain for me. My shin splints basically vanished.…

I think that for walking, you won't find many people who experience negative effects. But if you're a runner, and you go straight from big cushy shoes to barefoot, you might be in for a world of hurt for a while. Easing into it tends to be good advice.

I've been a bit disappointed with the newer VivoBarefoot models, the toe boxes seem to be getting progressively narrower (going for a more mainstream look, I guess?), which was one of the main reasons why I switched to them back when they were still called Terra Plana.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#692

Post by richx »

My Ampler electric bicycle: https://amplerbikes.com/

It’s such a great vehicle, I smile every time I can ride it. It also helped me to use the car less.

Im also pretty happy with my Plumelabs Flow, a small device that constantly measures air pollution. We used it to find a new and better home:

https://plumelabs.com/en/flow/

I also replaced my Android HTC U11 with an IPhone XS. I was always an Android user, but to be honest, I think IPhones are much better.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#693

Post by amerkhalid »

farrisbris wrote: post #196

Plants. I didn't have many before covid/wfh, but they really make the place more liveable/ejoyable by just being there and this became increasingly important as i spent so much more time at home

Recently, I did too. Being trapped at home during Covid, I wanted to pick up a new hobby. I was looking at fish tank, because while beautiful, they are also very geeky, researching plants and fishes. All those gadgets that go in the aquarium to maintain equilibrium sounded to me like setting up servers and loadbalancers. But margin of error is very small in fish tanks and upfront cost is huge.

So we decided to buy one plant per month instead. Plants are great, they look nice, can turn any boring room into a cozy space, and there is also a lot of geek factor when researching plants, maintaining proper watering and feeding routines but unlike fish tank, plants can survive when you are on vacation or accidentally over-water.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#694

Post by agent86 »

This is a bit outside the HN box, but I love our Kindling Cracker[1].

We made a little outdoor seating area with a fire pit and then realized we needed to figure out how we were going to fuel it. Plenty of downed trees around us, but we came to realize that logs didn't burn well unless they were split. I did not trust myself to start swinging an axe around and went looking for alternatives. I found this and gave it a shot.

We got the King/XL model which can accept a 9" piece of wood which is most of the pieces we would want to use in a fire pit anyway. It is an incredibly simple setup, basically a solid cast iron rig. You place the log standing vertically in it with the end on the wedge. Whack the other side with a hammer until it splits.

The thing is actually a bunch of fun to use, and they're not kidding when they show kids doing it. My little one loves to whack the log with the hammer once I get it started and stable, and she is capable of really splitting it on her own power. She won't crack a full on log, but anything smaller succumbs to her mini-might :-)

[1] https://www.kindlingcracker.com/

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#695

Post by Matthias247 »

silicon2401 wrote: post #112

A gravel bike. Being able to get serious but low-impact cardio, anywhere from sprints to long rides, is huge. Not only is it good for my physical health, it's a great boost to mental health. Exploring the areas around me on a bike is much more fun, environmentally friendly, and healthy than a car. It's also a great way to disconnect and give my eyes a break by spending some time looking at things that are far away. $…

Gravel bike was my favorite purchase in the last year too.

I was already mountain-biking for the last 15 years. Things got more and more gravity oriented, where rides mostly had been one long uphill and technical trails down. While this is pretty cool it got a bit monotonic over time.

With the Gravel bike I enjoy doing far longer rides and checking out places I hadn't been before. 70km flat on an enduro mountain-bike are rather cumbersome, but fun on the faster gravel bike.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#697

Post by pivo »

neom wrote: post #461
sudosteph wrote: post #190

Cafelat Robot - a manual espresso maker (despite the name "robot", it's not electronic at all, it just uses pressure). It makes awesome shots, it's super easy to clean, and it's just really fun to feel the tactile feedback you can get when you're brewing a shot manually, because you can re-adjust your pressure on the fly to make the shot come out how you want it. My husband must have watched every James Hoffman video…

Got I hate my Cafelat Robot. I never use it. I feel like you really have to be a hobbyist coffee drinker to appreciate this thing... Not only did I need to buy a gazillion dollar grinder to get it to work, I almost always spill the water trying to jigger that pot thing into the bottom of it. Each to their own I suppose. :D

> I feel like you really have to be a hobbyist coffee drinker to appreciate this thing...

That's the lesson I've learned years of trying to improve my brewing skills and watching James Hoffman videos. I just want a decent espresso or regular coffee. I do not want another hobby, especially one I'd have to do before my morning coffee.

It took a long time, any many expensive espresso related products, but come to the realization that I can be happy with the kind of coffee I can make with a minimum of fuss, and that feels good.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#698

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #654

My Oculus Quest and prescription lenses for it. I wish I had gotten the lenses sooner, not having to wear glasses is a total game changer (plus my glasses rubbed up against and damaged the Quest's lenses). The Quest really felt like a magical piece of technology, and it's really sad to see what FB is doing to the platform. I'm not sure what I'll do in the future. Kindle: E-ink is a total gamechanger for reading. I li…

Oh yeah, I got prescription lenses for my Valve Index and it was an absolute game changer.

Extremely cheap, too. You can get the lenses for as little as $7 + shipping from Zenni Optical, though I opted for ones with an oleophobic coating to prevent fingerprints when I'm taking them in and pulling them out for when other people use my headset. Then, just a 3D printed lens adapter (Basically free if you already have a 3D printer, or about $4 + shipping if you use a 3D printing service).

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#699

Post by hawski »

gjstein wrote: post #116

Philips Hue lights. I had wanted them for a little while for the novelty of it, but upon buying a couple my wife and I converted nearly all of our small apartment (except the bathrooms) to use their color-changing bulbs. Being able to change the light color and temperature has been surprisingly nice and has made our home much "cozier" under quarantine. We change the lights to dim reds and blues during movie nights or…

In shops near me I can buy now pretty cheap led ceiling/wall lamps that come with a remote. You can change intensity and light temperature, but there are also full RGB models. I like it that it's dumb otherwise.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#700

Post by gaws »

princevegeta89 wrote: post #603

Hardware: I bought a pair of Kef LS50 bookshelf studio monitors for my desk. I can't live without these. Beyerdynamic DT 770 pro 250 ohm. Another legendary pair of headphones which I use everyday. Also bought a Samsung 32 inch 4K monitor that made a huge difference in my life in terms of productivity

> Also bought a Samsung 32 inch 4K monitor that made a huge difference in my life in terms of productivity

How?

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