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Buy it for Life

A place to share practical, durable and quality made products that are made to last, with an emphasis on upcycled and sustainable products!

Guidelines:

Things that are well-made and durable (even if they won’t last a lifetime) are A-Okay!

Unlike that other BIFL place, Home-made and DIY items are encouraged here, as long as some form of instruction is included in the body of the post.

Videos links are not allowed as post titles, but you may use them in a text post.

A limited amount of self-promotion is accepted, IF the item you are selling aligns with this criteria:

  1. The item must be made with sustainable or recycled materials.
  2. If electronic in some way, the item must be open-source.
  3. The item must be user-serviceable (if applicable).
  4. You cannot be a large corporation.
  5. The post must be clearly marked with a [Self Promotion] tag in your title.
72 Emner 901 Indlæg View Original
  • Reading Tablets?

    buyitforlife
    25
    46 Votes
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    1 Visninger
    mystvalkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zoneM
    I have an old Sony PRS-650. Drag and drop files, has a stylus, and you can listen to soundtracks and music on it while reading. I love it. It’s still in perfect shape after 15 years and the battery is user-replaceable, but the downside is because spare parts are slightly hard to find. I’m still holding out for a screen protector to appear on ebay. I second all the Kobo recommendations, but definitely get yourself a few backup batteries too before they upgrade to a new model or go out of business.
  • A vertical mouse that doesn't break down

    buyitforlife
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    36 Votes
    18 Indlæg
    117 Visninger
    J
    You can clean the sticky coating with dishwashing products (but only clean the housing without the electronics).
  • (E-waste) Sonicare 4100 battery access

    buyitforlife
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    27 Votes
    4 Indlæg
    34 Visninger
    J
    Phillips is terrible. I had to resolder the battery in the wireless earphones (which somehow detached from normal wear). At least I have a free pair of earphones.
  • BIFL Pen request part 2

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    12 Votes
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    39 Visninger
    J
    Yep. I used multiple for school since the third grade (I’m finishing highschool now). While the pen is great, the refils are terrible. They sometimes dry from sitting for ~2 months and become hard and scratchy (most of my multicolor ones are like this). But the Pentel EnerGel refils fit in the g2 (but not vice versa).
  • BIFL Mechanical Pencil

    buyitforlife
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    43 Votes
    21 Indlæg
    113 Visninger
    J
    Oh god, Staedler. My dad had one for 40 years and I used it for two (and somehow leads have to be put in the bottom to actually be used). After it died I got a newer Staedler one and I somehow permanently jammed it in the few months I actually used it. Maybe the shitty AliExpress leads I use harm the mechanicals of the pens or something?
  • 61 Votes
    8 Indlæg
    52 Visninger
    J
    Well my original Instinct solar’s band started falling apart after less than two years. I replaced it with an incompatible one from an AliExpress watch (The Skmei died in 6 months, as it isn’t water resistant but the build quality is fine), which feels higher quality and is also more durable than original. The Garmin watches are very high quality, relatively good for tracking, decently private and sustainable. But their bands are horrendous.
  • Durable water bottle

    buyitforlife
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    21 Votes
    9 Indlæg
    20 Visninger
    I
    +1 to the klein kanteen. over ten years of hard use and still going . Got a metal one, easy to clean.
  • Work/commuting backpack, ideally not a US company

    buyitforlife
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    67 Votes
    40 Indlæg
    214 Visninger
    A
    Fwiw, different SwissGear model, but after my kids went through cheap backpacks every year like clockwork, I picked up similar backpacks for them, and theyve lasted three years and counting
  • 54 Votes
    19 Indlæg
    119 Visninger
    I
    Fjall raven G1000 pants. Lasted me almost a decade, have been patched many times over and now the crotch is finally giving out. Started as hiking pants ended as work pants.
  • Martens or Solovair? Or an alternative?

    buyitforlife
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    1
    49 Votes
    20 Indlæg
    298 Visninger
    B
    And for us vegans https://www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk/steel_toe/10093_0c.html
  • Best water filter?

    buyitforlife
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    0 Votes
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    0 Visninger
    P
    I really like my Berkey water filter
  • Looking for a quality weighted blanket

    buyitforlife
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    49 Votes
    13 Indlæg
    0 Visninger
    F
    That’s a big part of the reason we went with it. Even if it didn’t destroy the washing machine, you just know eventually it’s gonna break open somehow and then you’re gonna be stuck cleaning up those beads. And the weight distribution on some of them just isn’t very good, more like having a pile of beanbags on you than an extra heavy blanket
  • "Dumb" projector for home use

    projector homecinema
    29
    92 Votes
    29 Indlæg
    170 Visninger
    S
    Nice of them to reuse model names
  • Why can I not see all the threads?

    buyitforlife
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    0 Votes
    3 Indlæg
    0 Visninger
    terradragon@slrpnk.netT
    I had the same issue, and was looking for a solution. Funny thing is that I wasn’t able to see this comment either because it’s marked as English. Maybe it would be useful for others facing the same issue if you could edit the comment and mark the language as ‘Undetermined’
  • Das Keyboard Model S Professional (2014)

    buyitforlife
    40
    67 Votes
    40 Indlæg
    80 Visninger
    wolfeh@lemmy.blahaj.zoneW
    n-key rollover is when you can press as many keys as you need to at the same time and they’ll all register. This can be useful in gaming situations where lots of keys need to be mashed (though I’m not much of a gamer, so I don’t use it). Most keyboards allow you to press up to 6 keys at the same time. This keyboard (using the PS/2 adapter) can register all keys being pressed independently.
  • 28 Votes
    1 Indlæg
    2 Visninger
    Ingen har svaret
  • Good work jeans

    buyitforlife
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    59 Votes
    19 Indlæg
    97 Visninger
    R
    I’ve had great luck with Levi’s. I’ve bought a couple pairs that have lasted 3+ years of heavy use and I’ve managed to thrift a few more pairs that have held up well
  • Looking for a good variable speed hand mixer in the states

    buyitforlife
    13
    37 Votes
    13 Indlæg
    70 Visninger
    G
    I’ve had the one in your post for a few years and its been good to me. No notes
  • 152 Votes
    56 Indlæg
    406 Visninger
    B
    I bought some ECCO hiking boots. Not for the wild wilderness, but definitely okay for the local woods and wintertime. Bought like 10 years ago. Still going strong. Water proof (actually plunged through the ice into some ankle deep water the other day and my socks were completely dry afterwards). You just have to take proper care of them. Clean the leather after the season, prepare it for storage. Then they come pretty dang close to BIFL, as well.
  • A repairable automatic soap dispensor in EU

    buyitforlife
    22
    35 Votes
    22 Indlæg
    126 Visninger
    M
    Cool Søstrene Grene might have it, otherwise maybe Matas, Helsam, or the like? TBH, I haven’t actually bought any in Copenhagen… we had accidentally made a large stock of it that moved with us from France, where it is rather easy to find. I can also say that, after trying maybe 4 or 5 different shampoo bars brands and formulations, we’re still on liquid.