At this point, I don’t generally give trust to brands but products. Too many companies that used to be a name to trust have decided to monetize that trust (or get acquired by another company that doesn’t see the value in maintaining that trust), but they might still have good quality products in their lineup along with the cheap ones.
Though I’ve also done well with the “just buy one to see how important it is to have quality in this particular thing”. I just sold my old cordless drill after owning it for about a decade. It was weak but I didn’t even really notice that until I wanted to drill a hole through a stone counter top. A bought another cheap corded drill for that, but have since also bought a quality cordless drill set that might even allow me to sell the corded drill.
And if you need quality, look for stuff marketed to professionals. People who use their drill every single day aren’t going to be using the ones that can’t hold a charge or break after 20 hours of usage. Booster Juice doesn’t have shitty blenders where the connection between the motor and blade wears down with each use such that the motor spins but the blades do not before 3 digit uses, or even 4.
I think it’s good to know the histories of companies that are reputable though, then you can get an idea of what you’re getting when looking at thrift stores
Looking around my immediate environment, I see very few things that aren’t
A. already 30 years old made by companies that are essentially defunct and if the brand does even still exist it’s transitioned to another parent company as a zombie brand that produces identical temporary garbage to the rest of the industry, like my Kenmore 80 series washer and dryer.
B. Modern shit with a single-digit year life expectancy, like any computer hardware I have, my cell phone, my printer, etc.
C. Isn’t from a company that has completely pissed me off glares at my very, very last Dell products
D. I didn’t make myself from scratch, like an increasing amount of my furniture.
The only item that falls in my eye line that I can say “buy it now and your grandchildren will actually want it” is my Revere stainless steel frying pan. It’s not as ragnarok proof as cast iron but it also won’t cave in my glass cooktop. I think my grandmother bought mine in the 80’s, you can still buy them today.
I do want to mention my Kitchenaid mixer. The unit itself is well made, I’ve made at least one pizza a week with it for the past…six years? It’s a quality power tool. I dislike the company and their product range. They have a tendency to discontinue attachments in favor of incompatible and worse ones. For example, I’m aware of three different meat grinder attachments, one metal one and two plastic ones only one of which the food mill attachment is compatible with, and they did their best to prevent people from learning that, because the difference between the plastic one you probably already have, that was possibly packed in with your mixer, and the one that’s compatible with the food mill, is like, a few millimeters in diameter here and there. If I show you their marketing pictures (of white plastic on that White Marketing Void background) you couldn’t tell them apart, and the model numbers are very similar. That has rubbed me the wrong way in a bad place.
For printers, I’d like to suggest picking up a brother laser scanner/copier/printer off Craigslist.
They can usually be had for ~$100 if you just get black and they’ll last for a stupidly long time. Toner is expensive but you’ll easily get 1500+ pages out of one cartridge and it never dries out.
If you want color, look around for an HP laserjet pro. They’re usually commercial grade and while you’ll probably pay a fair bit more, I see them on Craigslist regularly for ~$150-250 depending on the model. I have one in my office and I’ve gotten several thousand pages through it with zero problems.
I just get the toner refill and old cartridge exchange from whatever local print shop. My current area doesn’t have one sadly but I still have 2 left as I normally do 5 at a time. For anyone looking for printers I recommend checking openprinting.org and grabbing one categorized under “perfectly” even if you don’t use Linux. The driverless printers will work with phones and such too.
Red Wing boots (only the classic ones). I’ve had my Iron Rangers for 6 years edit: 7 years now as my primary pair of non-athletic footwear. Occasional brush with a bit of conditioner and they look and feel amazing with no signs of slowing down. Will be replacing the sole when it eventually wears out but the original minilug is still going strong
Timberland boots also last. Docs have gone down in quality
I doubt it matters much, but I’ve had the same cloak from Cloak and Dagger for close to a decade now. The only issue was that the clasp detached, but it was an easy fix.
A bit off the rails, since it’s not a particular brand. But anything leather (wallets, belts, pouches, etc). I’ve had my leather wallet for nearly 7 years, maybe more. I haven’t really taken care of it (though I should). It’s been through a lot, and it has held up so well. Leather also ages very well. Whether it’s scuffed or dented, it’ll still look good with added character. As long as you don’t lose it or cut it (and craftsmanship is good), you’ll probably have it for a very long time.
While this is definitely true, it’s important to get quality leather goods in order to have them last. For instance, “genuine leather” is actually the worst grade of leather, and can flake and fall apart in a few years.
I just bought a Schott NYC bison hide jacket that I’m hoping lasts me for the rest of my life, and I bought a saddleback leather wallet (which comes with a 100 year warranty on it) around three years ago and it still looks great: saddlebackleather.com
Quality leather jackets are a bit hard to find. Lambskin leather is light and easier to wear (and is what most people purchase), but (especially if it’s a highly-processed lambskin) may only last a few years before starting to fall apart.
EDIT: For purses, there is a guy who was making the rounds in the national media due to going viral for cutting up luxury purses to see what the quality is of them (he goes by “Tanner Leatherstein”) and he evaluates the quality of purses. I bought my wife a Dooney & Bourke purse at www.dooney.com that has lasted longer than a lot of the cheaper crap she’s used and it still looks very good at 5 years old. “Tanner Leatherstein” says that Coach bags are generally pretty decent quality, and also runs his own shop here which I cannot personally attest to but may buy a gift from for my wife: www.pegai.com
“genuine leather” is actually the worst grade of leather,
I really wish those shenanigans were illegal, where they use words that are normally positive adjectives to mean low tier garbage.
Or even just adjectives at all; like the USDA has multiple grades for beef, two of which are Choice and Select. Those are fucking synonyms you dusty dry twats!
The USPS is similarly convoluted. “First-Class mail.” That’s for the normal “it goes in the normal bag with the rest of the letters” service, but the phrase “First Class” usually means top tier service.
Doc Martens are not a good buy for a while now. Standards of quality have dropped loads and my nephew has had two pairs fall apart from the DM store in the last 8 months. Red Wing, Thorogood, Solovair among others, but avoid Doc Martens when buying for life.
Merrell, Doc Martin, L. L. Bean, The North Face, Fjällräven for clothing and accessories.
Bullhidebelts makes some really nice authentic leather belts that actually last because they aren’t those synthetic belts with leather veneer like Gucci, Luis Vutton, or others push for stupid high prices.
Logitech makes some good quality pc peripherals that have exceptional battery life.
Invicta has also impressed me in recent years with their watches. I was gifted a clone of the Rolex Submariner and it’s a very good copy without the high price of a Rolex. It’s been so good that most Rolex owners I’ve met buy an Invicta watch as a daily driver.
Edit: Seeing the comments a bunch mentioned Doc Martin as junk now, so I checked and they did get bought by a Chinese company, so maybe not those any more.
I bought a Logitech Pebble M350 a year ago, and I have proceeded to basically buy exclusively Logitech peripherals ever since.
Been so happy with their products, as long as you avoid the cheap sub $20 stuff (I’ve always wondered why they don’t put their cheaper items under a different name), you certainly get your money’s worth.
This maybe a bit of a niche thing but I am using Sandisk Clip Sport mp3 player (although it has lossless FLAC support too) for something like 10+ years of nearly everyday use with no problem, which is crazy.
Also another weird thing is this cheap wireless mouse from A4Tech that lasts still for now like 8-6 years with no single issue. I maybe just rolled natural 20s on random cheap Chinese crap and got a perfect specimen or maybe it’s actually good. I have no idea.
Unfortunately they’ve outsourced to Vietnam. I can attest I have several USA made go ruck packs … and they do still sell a few like that. But they’ve mostly outsourced; YMMV.
It might actually outlast your Model M. The membranes on the Model M seems to be the thing that has died for me (after like 20+ years mind you). I frequently still use my Leopold from 2009 and its rock solid.
Is that an IBM Model M, or a Lexmark Model M? Earlier Model Ms were entirely mechanical, later ones made by Lexmark used the buckling-spring-over-membrane design.
And in the case of a membrane Model M, I wonder if you can get a replacement from…whatever that company is that bought the molds and still makes them to this day.
Don’t think I saw this one yet, but Briggs & Riley luggage. Lifetime no-questions-asked repairs for all functional damage, even if intentionally inflicted.
They’re also just very good. The BIFLness is cool but I’d have gone with another if it weren’t also the best in general. Super practical design.
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