Buy it for Life

My big winter boots I have used for the last few years got a split in them today. I use them a lot as I walk about 1km a day to and from work. I have to walk up hills and on ice at times. Which boots should I buy that will be good quality, keep my feet warm and dry, and last repeated daily use?

I'm looking for a BIFL (or at least last me for a while) music player that can play .wav files, has a lot of storage, is portable, and the parts are able to be replaced/upgraded. I've heard about using iPod classics but it seems like they're unable to play .wav files. Any reccomendations?

Had an old Wahl just die after probably a good 20+ years, kind of looks like the cable is frayed and splitting where it connects to the trimmer. Did a quick check online and the new products don't even look remotely similar.

Looking for a buy it for life option for a lantern. Will mostly be used during power outages and only occasionally otherwise. Ideally it would hold a charge well and be bright enough to allow reading/puzzles/games/etc.

I basically listen to music constantly, and when I'm on holiday or riding my bike I generally use USB-C earbuds. I've had way too many wireless buds break and I'm sick of them, but these aren't fairing much better tbh.

Because I've been eating rice more often I realized via my energy bill that cooking in a pot on an electric plate for 30 minutes consumes massive amounts of electricity. Therefore I'm currently browsing for rice cookers, but the info on energy efficiency leaves much to be desired.

Hardware far outlasts software in the smartphone world, due to aggressive chronic designed obsolescence by market abusing monopolies. So I will never buy a new smartphone - don’t want to feed those scumbags. I am however willing to buy used smartphones on the 2nd-hand market if they can be liberated. Of course it’s still only marginally BifL even if you don’t have demanding needs.

(I know its not really buy-it-for-life, but it's a 100% cotton, no-stretch jeans which usually last me a couple of years)

The things with a grid of holes and a little spinning blade that removes pills from furniture and fabric. I keep buying $10 shitty Walmart ones and they die after a few months.

I'm looking to purchase a bike (probably second hand) and I want to make sure that it'll be easily repairable in the future for at least standard maintenance stuff.

Hey all,

Ive usually bought champion ($35 ususally) and theyre decent, but theres gotta be other stuff out there. Im looking at as colour right now, because i got a hoodie at a festival from them and its super nice, but theyre $50 each unless you buy in bulk

Does anyone know of a mouse that can be used wireless, with a replaceable battery and that can be connected to the PC via USB-C to recharge the battery? Obtainable in Europe.

So I was searching for a BIFL rainjacket that can do it all (as far as thats possible ofc ;)). Of course I stumbled upon the Patagonia Torrentshell, but when I went to try it on, it felt “saggy” and a bit short on the arms. As I plan to commute by bike, I prefer longer arms.

We're looking for tower fan models/brands specifically, but you can use this post to talk about whatever :)

I was looking at my little speaker the other day and thinking to myself about how well it has done. My husband bought it for me about 10 years ago when we were just dating and had moved halfway across the world together with little money. It seemed like a big splurge at the time and we were using it to watch tv shows on our laptop without relying on the tinny laptop speakers (we didn’t have a tv). Fast forward to now and that speaker has traveled all over the place, been to the beach, been camping, been on sailing trips etc. and it still holds a charge really well and has pretty decent audio quality for its size. It even still looks good. I think ten years is pretty good for a little Bluetooth speaker, personally (maybe that's a normal amount of time?). Hopefully I can get many more years out of it. Anyway it feels strange to bring up older items and recommend them as BIFL because you never know if manufacturers have kept up their quality over the years. If these speakers are still being made with the same quality i definitely recommend them.

Hello, would anyone have experience with this brand?

My big stack of cartridge razor blades has just run out and I'd like to replace it with something less wastefull, and from what I hear a safety razor gives a better shave too.

I'm looking to change my reading and buying habits away from Amazon and need an alternate source for my ebooks. Where can I buy ebooks that won't expire or have their licence revoked and will allow me to download a copy of that ebook I can store on my own system regardless of the websites status?

I bought a Thule Crossover eight years ago and the zip on it has finally gone. Short of getting a local seamstress to fit a new zip, I think it's time for a new one, and am a bit tempted by the Thule Crossover 2 30l. Are Thule still good? Is there anything else of the same sort of size that I should be considering?

I just bought this carry-on, the 22" Essential expandable, from Briggs and Riley based solely on their lifetime warranty and the feature-set I was looking for in a bag.

I have a Mastermouse MM530 by Cooler Master at the moment, bought on the basis of its "sturdy" build, but the mouse wheel has been playing up for a while now, occasionally scrolling down when I'm in fact scrolling up.

Willing to consider alternate styles such as parkas, as long as it includes a head covering

Any recommendations for bike lights? They all seem to come with non-replaceable internal rechargable batteries these days 😢

EDIT: The consensus on the proposed rule change seems to be to remove the rule, and to re-investigate it if it ever becomes an issue. Let's see how it goes!

Am also looking for sneakers to get for the following seasons:

I'm currently looking for new (or 2nd hand) boots to get and was wondering whether anyone here had experience with Solovair in particular or could recommend other ones available in the EU.

There are now two BifL communities in the free decentralized world:

I have been walking to the nearest grocery, and have just had my foldable shopping cart break. The large plastic wheels shattered, and made for a very unpleasant time dragging the thing back home. I'm curious if anyone has suggestions for a good cart, or even one that's relatively easy to repair. Foldable is not important. Not getting stuck on every crack in the sidewalk would be a plus.

I've got a backpack that's falling apart after less than a year and was looking for a much better one that will hold up well. Specifically, the use case is dragging food home from grocery stores or dragging cards in plastic boxes/board games around at best...

Im looking for some pants. My wife has been repairing mine for a couple years now, but some of them are coming apart at the seams. I got mine really cheap. Im willing to spend if it means they are repairable and made better. Any suggestions?

Ive had a couple pairs of walking boots in the past and none of them have survived more than 6-8 3 day hikes and I'm sick of replacing them. What are some points to look for in good walking boots, where should I look to buy them from in the UK, how much should I look to be spending as a rough guide?

Any recs on a BIFL key chain? Those rings always get bent over time, looking for something sturdy. Might just be a flaw in the design because if you can bend it enough to get a key on, you can probably bend it out of shape over time.

Any buying tips? Does it need to be any more complicated than lying on a few at the showroom? Of course I know mattresses aren't lifetime purchases; my main concern is avoiding paying good money for something I'll hate in a few years.

Dear all, as the title says I am looking for some advice on durable hiking poles and microspikes/crampons.