Ask HN: What are some of your “buy it for life” purchases?

A Westclox Baby Ben alarm clock [1] with luminous dial, which I probably got in 1980. I haven't had any need for it in the last 15 years but before that it was my reliable backup alarm for whenever I needed to be sure my alarm would go off. Normally I just used a plug-in electric digital alarm clock, but for those occasions when alarm failure would be so annoying that I wanted to be covered even in the unlikely event of a power failure while I slept the Baby Ben made sure I'd still get an alarm.

Nowadays that function is handled by my smart phone. The one potential problem with a smart phone as an alarm is that the alarm time might be in the middle of an update but I would disable automatic updates if I were relying on the alarm.

The Baby Ben may be my oldest possession except for books.

Another "for life" purchase, and another candidate for my oldest non-book possession, is my classical guitar. It's a Hohner HG-13 purchased around 1980. I think it was $68 for the guitar and case. It was a great beginner's classical guitar.

I played pretty seriously for a couple years, then sporadically for another 20, then pretty much not at all for until maybe a year ago when I got back into it. I've improved quite a bit since then and am ready to get something better but I'm in no hurry. I've played better sounding classical guitars in music stores and while they sound better, they don't play better so the HG-13 is in no way holding me back so I'm taking my time.

I never had the HG-13 set up. It is just as it came from the store. The store wasn't even really a musical instrument store. It was a record shop that happened to have a few guitars on the wall for sale. I doubt they did any kind of set up before putting it out for sale so it is likely as it came from the factory. And that is perfect. Neck relief, nut height, saddle height, action, fret heights are all perfect.

Finally, my Swiss army knife which I've had maybe 30 years sure looks like it going to be a "for life" item. The Phillips screwdriver it has is the best screwdriver I own. Screws that other screwdrivers can't get a grip on it handles with ease. And it does this for large and small screws. Somehow they have made a "one size fits all" screwdriver that works well.

The scissors are also great. I use them all the time for maintaining my nails (which as a classical guitar player is something I do a lot). I've bought scissors that are sold specifically for nails, and they have all sucked compared to the little scissors in the knife.

[1] https://clockhistory.com/0/westclox/series/series-14-1/style...

IKEA sells a wide variety of cutlery. Some of them are flimsy, some are extremely good for the price. But overall, I’m with OP on this one: you can indeed find good looking and nice to use cutlery at IKEA for a bargain.

My marriage license. Purchased 31 years ago. The titanium wire holding my sternum together.

Ankarsrum Assistent stand mixer ($750). And the blender attachment ($130). More expensive than KitchenAid, but substantially better made. Very different design though, takes some getting used to. The bowl rotates, not the dough hook. Makes it very easy to add ingredients during mixing.

My Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS camera lens. $2000. Underpriced for how good a lens it is.

I built a 2'x8'x3' (depth/width/height) flight cage for my budgerigars. They love it! Way bigger than any commercial cage.

- a jacket made of pure leather, custom-made, from a local artisanal, spent ~$120 (quite expensive for India), wearing it for 8 years, and it keeps getting better, zero sign of wear and tear

- several fountain pens, especially Pilot Metropolitan F, Lamy Safari M; also the Platinum Preppy is really great, did not expect much from such a cheap pen; contemplated buying better fountain pens now and then, but these are so great; I write exclusively with fountain pens now

- physical books that I buy, I buy because they are worth keeping, others I just borrow from library, friends, or buy ebooks

- mechanical keyboard, a chinese-made rip-off of a famous brand, but really great, and just as same as the original

- leather notebooks (refillable), gets better with the passing of time, can refill them with notebooks from market

- as for software, I pay for/use stuff that are open, and easy to migrate from, has good support, etc. vim, ObsidianMD, git, etc. come to mind

I am a person who always looks for durable products. Because I like the ease and comfort that comes from using stuff that you are using for years. I look for durable products when I am in the market for anything.