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Buy it for life: Durable, Quality, Practical

buyforlife.com

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Re: Buy it for life: Durable, Quality, Practical

#91

Post by faeriechangling »

rolleiflex wrote: post #28
bushbaba wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s always amazed me that high carbon steel / cast iron / stainless steel pans aren’t more commonly used. You literally are buying it for life. They cook the food way better. And a small amount of oil is all that’s needed for eggs and other non stick applications

I’ve bought into the cast iron hype a few years ago, and I have found it a little overhyped. There are several reasons why cast iron is not a common component of the average kitchen today. Here are mine: - The non-stickiness of cast iron has probably been best in class in its age. Today, we have Teflon. Teflon is so non-stick we have trouble having it stick to the pan when making pans. My understanding is that nothin…

I find it has massive merit on account of the underpowered ranges most home cooks have. You simply can keep a cast iron pan hotter than you can other types of pan. This makes it ideal for high temperature cooking like when searing.

Keep in mind that carbonized and polymerized layer is getting scorched every time you cook with cast iron so it's not the most hospitable environment for bacteria.

Re: Buy it for life: Durable, Quality, Practical

#92

Post by lelanthran »

orwin wrote: post #72
modeless wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I've gone in the other direction. Quality for its own sake is not a virtue; all that matters is whether the item meets the needs you have. An item that breaks and needs replacement is waste, but an item that is overbuilt and never used to its potential is a different kind of waste. I don't need the best tools in the world for my home toolbox. I use each tool maybe a couple of times a year and even the cheap…

I disagree so much with this. I don't pay 250 to 1000 euros for each of my tools because i use them a lot (even though during the lockdowns i did). I got them because professional tools are: - easier to store - easier to use - pack more power (thus less time spend) - more precise (i'm annoyed if my angles are one millimeter off) - less brittle (its not that cheap ones are breaking, its that even a small, almost invis…

> I disagree so much with this. I don't pay 250 to 1000 euros for each of my tools because i use them a lot (even though during the lockdowns i did). I got them because professional tools are:

I've got both professional tools and el-cheapos so I'm familiar with all your plus points, but I still think that parent has a point.

IME, "buying cheap" does not mean "a tool that breaks on the second use", or "makes your life harder". It means "I don't use this tool frequently enough to care enough to pay more".

I've got a cheapo cordless screwdriver that works well enough to do battery replacement on children's toys and similar. When I want to drive self-tappers into wood I use an expensive driver in the garage.

Re: Buy it for life: Durable, Quality, Practical

#93

Post by nicbou »

zmmmmm wrote: post #25

It's been an interesting evolution as I have aged to observe myself going from one end of the spectrum to the other (mainly, as I've accumulated more wealth). I'm now at the point where I crave quality at just about any cost because it's abundantly clear to me that buying crap is bad value. Many of the few high quality things I bought early on in life are still with me and I love them. But so is a huge amount of the…

Is it maybe just the result of aging?

My hobbies and interests are more established. I know which tools I use a lot, how I use them, and where spending more makes a difference. I've owned and outgrown my entry level gear.

That, and I have more disposable income. I can afford long term investments because they don't incur short term deprivation.

On the other hand, when trying something new, I still go with the cheaper option until I can appreciate what a better tool would do. In most cases, I find that the cheap tool is enough.

Re: Buy it for life: Durable, Quality, Practical

#94

Post by threatofrain »

desine wrote: post #14
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #2

One thing I have found, is that buying stuff that is supposed to last for life, ends up making the possessions own me, instead of me own the possessions. Especially with kids, when I have disposable objects, I don't have to worry if they trash it, or get it dirty. I don't have to worry about losing it(I can order a replacement on Amazon that will be here in 2 days). With long-lasting products that are for life, I fin…

With no disrespect (especially with children, I know their destructive tendencies well enough), this sounds like a shunning of responsibility, and irks me. Our cheap, disposable consumer goods are ending up in landfills, our plastic waste has permeated every square inch of the earth, and we continue to justify these destructive habits. If you need something, you should care for it, you should maintain it, and you sho…

Also if we more carefully priced externalities, this strategy of buying cheap might not be so cheap.

Re: Buy it for life: Durable, Quality, Practical

#95

Post by threatofrain »

heleninboodler wrote: post #63
JohnCohorn wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It hurts me a little to see “50-60 bucks” for jeans referred to as nothing. I now grudgingly buy similar $50-60 Levis or Eddie Bauers because my wife likes them better than jeans that cost half as much. Looks some common basic jeans at Walmart are still ~$15 which is amazing since that’s what I remember paying for them like 15 years ago.

In my experience, Levi's and other "quality" jeans last long enough to go out of style (5+ years, much to my wife's chagrin), whereas cheap jeans fail in the crotch and/or pockets in under a year. For a few years I switched to cheap jeans and just repaired them when they ripped, but you can only sew up a pocket so many times on really cheap fabric before they are so thin they won't even hold a stitch.

If any jeans don't last 5 years, cheap or not, that's just absurd to me.

Re: Buy it for life: Durable, Quality, Practical

#96

Post by rolleiflex »

faeriechangling wrote: post #91
rolleiflex wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve bought into the cast iron hype a few years ago, and I have found it a little overhyped. There are several reasons why cast iron is not a common component of the average kitchen today. Here are mine: - The non-stickiness of cast iron has probably been best in class in its age. Today, we have Teflon. Teflon is so non-stick we have trouble having it stick to the pan when making pans. My understanding is that nothin…

I find it has massive merit on account of the underpowered ranges most home cooks have. You simply can keep a cast iron pan hotter than you can other types of pan. This makes it ideal for high temperature cooking like when searing. Keep in mind that carbonized and polymerized layer is getting scorched every time you cook with cast iron so it's not the most hospitable environment for bacteria.

My concern was less about hospitability to pathogens (indeed, half the point of cooking is to render things safe to eat), and more about the fact that neither polymerised fat nor carbonised food is good for you in terms of free radicals. It’s essentially burnt oil stuck to the pan, that is not a good thing to eat even in trace quantities.

I do realise that polymerisation is conversion of burnt oil into polymer at which point it is largely inert, but it’s very hard to get an oil to fully polymerise 100% outside of lab conditions.

Re: Buy it for life: Durable, Quality, Practical

#97

Post by hutrdvnj »

steverb wrote: post #80
modeless wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I've gone in the other direction. Quality for its own sake is not a virtue; all that matters is whether the item meets the needs you have. An item that breaks and needs replacement is waste, but an item that is overbuilt and never used to its potential is a different kind of waste. I don't need the best tools in the world for my home toolbox. I use each tool maybe a couple of times a year and even the cheap…

I have a rule for buying tools. The first one I buy, I buy the cheaper version (Harbor Freight house brand for instance). If I use it enough to break it within3 years, or become frustrated with its shortcomings, then I go buy a "pro" version. Yes, it does mean I have spent more money than absolutely necessary, but on the other hand I have a lot of cheap tools that are perfectly serviceable for the two times a year I…

Yeah, I think that is the best approach especially if the price difference is like tenfold for the high quality product.

However there are some exceptions to the rule, for example I would never buy a low quality notebook or a low quality car.

If the price of the high quality product is too high for me, then I don't try to look for a cheaper model immediately, but try to go second hand first.

Re: Buy it for life: Durable, Quality, Practical

#99

Post by steverb »

hutrdvnj wrote: post #97
steverb wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a rule for buying tools. The first one I buy, I buy the cheaper version (Harbor Freight house brand for instance). If I use it enough to break it within3 years, or become frustrated with its shortcomings, then I go buy a "pro" version. Yes, it does mean I have spent more money than absolutely necessary, but on the other hand I have a lot of cheap tools that are perfectly serviceable for the two times a year I…

Yeah, I think that is the best approach especially if the price difference is like tenfold for the high quality product. However there are some exceptions to the rule, for example I would never buy a low quality notebook or a low quality car. If the price of the high quality product is too high for me, then I don't try to look for a cheaper model immediately, but try to go second hand first.

Oh yeah, there are certain things that I know I am going to really care about the quality of.

Never ever buy cheap jack stands for instance. The extra money you spend on the good ones is just life insurance.

Re: Buy it for life: Durable, Quality, Practical

#100

Post by avalexandrov »

zmmmmm wrote: post #25

It's been an interesting evolution as I have aged to observe myself going from one end of the spectrum to the other (mainly, as I've accumulated more wealth). I'm now at the point where I crave quality at just about any cost because it's abundantly clear to me that buying crap is bad value. Many of the few high quality things I bought early on in life are still with me and I love them. But so is a huge amount of the…

I have been feeling exactly like you for the past couple of years but I've noticed that sometimes items that are known to be "buy it for life" kind of quality level have disappointed me a bit. My most recent example of that is the Herman Miller Embody chair I got just two months ago. Sure, it's very comfy and it worked really well during the first month. And then came the second month and it started to creak, squeak, pop and all kinds of other weird noises. I've researched the issue online and it turns out Herman Miller consider this perfectly normal because apparently it's a "complex product with a lot of parts". I'm not sure how that makes any sense for a product that costs this much. My IKEA Markus is 5 years old by now - it makes zero noise, it has 80% of the comfort of the Embody and it cost literally 1/10th of the price.

So yes, I also want the best of the best and "buy it for life" but I'm starting to think that sometimes this classification is a bit overrated and you need to find a very good balance between price and quality.

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