(I’m trying to adjust my shopping habits for quality, long-lasting goods from reputable brands. This isn’t some hailcorporate thing)
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Samsonite, I’m on my 3rd backpack of theirs. I’ve been using them since I was about 11 or so, I’m 26 now.
They’re not officially water or wear proof, but they’ve always been that way in my experience regardless. Even after years of daily use,and I was a weird school going kid that liked his bag heavy.
Their zippers failed on my on both my previous bags, when they got really cold in the winter. I don’t know if it’s the less cold temperatures of today, or whether they’ve improved their zippers, but they’ve not failed on my latest bag. Which is currently about 13 years old I think? It looks as good as new still
Agreed. The zipper on My Samsonite roller case has been abused beyond belief and generally tested to breaking point over and over, and yet it resists and basically feels as good as new. Of course, I paid top dollar for that thing. You do get what you pay for.
We have a saying here “goedkoop is duurkoop” which means “to buy cheap is to buy expensive”
I would’ve ran through 10 cheap bags by the time 1 good back would fail. Making it much more expensive to buy cheap
That, but in one sentence
YKK zippers have a reputation for holding up though I’ve had one or two recently that didn’t last (you can see YKK on the handle)
YKK dominates zippers from meh quality to the best. It’s up to the downstream partner to decide which they want
Casio
Seiko
Slackware
Vibram
Shimano
Coen BrothersShimano really should have turned to shit, what with them effectively having a monopoly (in mountain biking certainly) for literally decades. I don’t know whether it’s a Japanese thing or what, but they never did. Just kept quietly putting out decent gear at a variety of price ranges.
I picked up a full set of XTR v-brakes from eBay a few years back. Those things were still as good as the day they were new, despite being old enough that I only paid £20 for the lot.
old casio products are unforgivingly reliable. I’ve literally never had one fail regardless of the ridiculous amount of abuse I put them trough.
The new ones tho… “it’s water tight not water proof” is what support told us when their “water tight” watch died after a minute of rain
Well, that technically applies to all watches. They are just water tight to a certain degree, but none are completely waterproof. Depending on the ATM rating a hot shower can be enough to kill it, whilst others can survive diving hundreds of meters deep into salt water
Merrell hiking boots.
Yeah. All my shoes are Merrels =)
Until they replaced gortex with a plastic grocery bag for water proofing. Now it feels like I’m walking in wet dog shit while making a constant crinkly noise.
I’ll second Merrell’s. I’ve worn the shit out of every pair I’ve had and they’ve lasted longer than any other shoe/boot I’ve owned.
My keen boots fit me better than Merrill.
I have a pair of Oboz that have held up for quite a while
I will never always trust a brand, there are some brands that have good trust, but I’ve seen too many brands screw people over for money.
I will say currently, Darn Tough Socks, Keen Shoes, EVGA, Milwaukee Tools, if you are in the cinema / live production world Teradek, and Yamaha.
Nah you can’t trust Keen anymore as of like 5 years ago. They switched to much cheaper shoe materials on their presidio walking shoe that was super popular, but the price didn’t drop at all. At the same time, they started inserting huge globs of rubber in the heel of their hiking shoes so you are forced to use their brand of insert that has a hole to fit said bump.
I’ll be honest, just recently bought new shoes from them haven’t gotten a chance to wear them in yet, the previous pair was pre-covid. But they look and feel exactly like my old pair did when I bought them, so maybe their work line hasn’t suffered yet.
And this is why I’ll never be loyal to a brand, as long as they’re good I’ll keep buying their product, when it’s not good I’ll stop.
You were loyal when you looked for and bought the new pair.
Now you arent anymore.I forgot it’s already bee n 5 years since Covid fuck. Keen definitely got worse way before Covid so it was probably 7 years ago. Updated. You honestly might just not know what you’re missing if you’ve only had shoes from them after the change. As I recall, almost every component of the Presidio got cheaper and it went from a nice leather walking shoe with a well padded tongue to just another synthetic sneaker with a thin tongue basically for the same $110
I went through two defective EVGA cards within the original card’s warranty period. On the second card, EVGA tried to deny my warranty.
They eventually made it right, after I shamed them on Reddit.
Darn
Why they gotta swear haha
Fuck off
You’re going down 😎
Darning is a method of mending socks. It is a nerdy pun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darning
Oh my d*rn
Watch ur mouth lol
My only complaint about Darn Tough Socks is that they never seem to wear in. I bought a half dozen pairs several years ago, and all of them are like brand new still, which is great, but they are also stiff and tight like I’ve never worn them. I wear them predominately for work, and I’m on my feet all day, so that’s a testament to their staying power, but damn, I wish they would stretch a little.
Do you have lightweights? I find those to be tighter than midweights, which also seem a bit more plush.
I use them too, but I guess I never really thought about socks “breaking in,” like shoes would. After 1-2 years of use, they are holding up like new.
Alongside darn tough, I love me some bombas.
Comet Cleanser.
Cascade Detergent.Don’t forget BonAmi
Bar Keepers friend too
Arm and Hammer, solid products that aren’t overpriced. I use their laundry soap, deodorant, toothpaste, and previously, the cat litter. Seems they’re focused on doing a few things very well.
I really like Arm and Hammer’s scentless laundry soap and their baking soda/peroxide toothpaste.
I’ve been using both for years and feel no need to change.
Church & Dwight is the conglomerate that owns Arm & Hammer, and they own some other cleaning product brands like OxiClean and OrangeGlo. They also own Trojan condoms and First Response pregnancy tests.
I use oxiclean to help clean gunky beer kegs. It actually works really well to put a scoop in, fill with hot water and let it sit overnight. By morning it’s like a new keg. I then finish sanitizing with StarSan
Are you promoting throwing those used condoms in the wash with a little oxy clean?
I know you’re joking, but no don’t do that.
has 21 babies from the same condom
NOW you tell me!
Man, oxiclean really is a life saver for me. No store brand has really been as good.
Chrome Industries backpacks. They’re marketed to bicyclists, of which I’m not one – but damn they’re perfect.
I’ve been using one for 6 or 7 years now, and it’s amazing. I got one made with Dickies Khaki material and I love the way it looks, and it’s super easy to clean.
Kirkland anything (nearly anyway)
If that’s all it takes for you to boycott, you should avoid everything. A few suffering pigs at one of Costcos suppliers is basically nothing compared to their size. It’s good it’s brought to light. But just like the article says, it’s legal to do what they did, and all they need to do is kill them faster.
It’s only a few pigs but they’re a huge company? This sounds like a rationalization.
Yes.
That is horrifying, what the fuck is wrong with these people? How hard would it be to get nitrogen?
People won’t stop eating dead animals so they don’t give a fuck.
it would be pretty tricky to eat animals alive, though.
Lands End clothing has gone way downhill in recent years, but it is still generally more durable than typical stuff you’d get at places like Target. I can typically wear their items for five years or more. My experience is with the men’s side.
Veto pro pac tool bags.
They’re meant for tradesmen, but they’re tuff AF.
I have a big Veto bag. It was a gift from one of my bosses. I’d never have bought one (though I have occidental bags and am not afraid to spend money on tools) but god damn, it is a fine piece of gear. If it ever wears out, I’d deff buy a new one.
I had ruined so many “heavy” backpacks, it paid for itself in two years.
None. All brands will sell you out of they thought they could while continuing to be profitable after you realized
3M does tape and chemicals better than most anyone.
If it’s supposed to be sticky: 3M over anything else.
How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe
https://www.propublica.org/article/3m-forever-chemicals-pfas-pfos-inside-story
I’ll just leave this here without further comment
Yeah, I’ve read it before. And bayer gave aids to foreign countries, and nestle has done deplorable things, and the banana people have hired mercenaries to kill natives for banana control, and our US government let tons of black people die and spread syphilis because they just wanted to see how it went instead of giving them the cure, cable companies stole billions and never delivered on promised infrastructure…if it’s a big entity, they’re usually pieces of shit. I’m still getting my tape from 3M.
“so what if they poisoned, are poisoning, and will continue to poison everyone in the US and abroad. So what if they single-handedly lowered the life expectancy of the planet, whilst if not causing, exacerbating every cancer. They make good tape.”
Not trying to come at you, it’s just this is where we are as a society, and it makes me sad.
The world also still let’s planes use lead gasoline. My point is you won’t be able to buy anything if you boycott every corpo that does something like this. It’d be great if you could, but you can’t.
Klein tools. They’re just really good through and through.
Stihl tools. They just fucking work.
Add to this Husqvarna, Bahco and Fiskars
DeWalt (aka default) tools. There’s a reason every building contractor is carrying around DeWalt drills and saws - they hold up to daily jobsite use, you don’t have to handle them like they’re fragile, you can get them dirty and they keep working.
Don’t buy Ryobi or Black&Decker unless you know it’s something you’re going to beat to hell for one job and then dispose of. And don’t any buy high speed rotary tools from Harbor Freight.
Would Makita be in the same category?
Makita, Milwaukee, and DeWalt seem to all be comparable.
If you can find Japanese Makita brand products (I.E., from Japan), they have actual quality.
Makita Europe has factories in the UK and Germany, and their products are better quality generally than DeWalt.
Pros use Makita or Bosch Professional
DeWalt is a kinda “poser” brand on building sites lol
What’s wrong with Black+Decker? I’ve had many of their appliances and they never let me down.
They have been a shit-tier tool for a long time after being dead solid for decades. I don’t know if they’ve moved up to “ok” recently, but I haven’t bought B&D in 15 years because they were crap.
The second part of your comment is flat out wrong for most homeowners. Ryobi tools are fine for Henry Homeowner. And specialty tools from harbor freight are fine. Buy cheap and if you use it enough to break it, then buy quality.
Also for more active hobbyists Harbor Freight can be improved to be good tools. Things like replacing a cheap drive belt with a better quality belt is all some of their tools need. Searching some tool blogs can tell you if a tool is fixable or just trash.
Their bottom shelf store brand stuff is rough but gets the job done most the time. Their upgraded in house brands are actually pretty good.
