This is not a conversation about guns. This is a conversation about items that have withstood abuse that are near unbreakable.
Some items I have heard referenced as AK47 of:
Gerber MP600: It’s a multi tool
Old Thinkpad Laptops
Mag lights
Toyota Hilux
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Swiss army knives. You’ll find at least one in everyone’s bedside drawer or junk drawer.
Ive found them dull all the time, but never broken
The TSA confiscates tens of thousands of these things
Ive found them dull all the time, but never broken
Victorinox uses a steel that favours corrosion resistance over hardness. They’re easy to sharpen though, I’ve even used the underside of a ceramic coffee cup.
I’ve been interested in this subject for a while and have a few recommendations.
Stanley Thermos. It could get hit by a fucking train and would still outlive you. Don’t recommend putting cofee/milk products etc in them though because it will make the gasket smell. Excellent water container though.
Double edged straight razor. The handle piece is virtually indestructible. I bought a package of like 500 blades for like 30 dollars and haven’t had to buy new ones for actual years. Fun fact as well, once you learn to use one it’s better for sensitive skin because you’re only dragging one razor across your skin per stroke instead of 5 or 7 or whatever the fuck the “better” ones have. Can confirm the “more blades = better” shit is just pure predatory marketing.
Buck knife. Multi tools are cool but if you tend to use the knife often, invest in a higher quality knife and stones to sharpen it. Sharpening stones (not the crap ceramic stuff they try to sell) will last a lifetime and will also keep all your kitchen knives beautiful for years. While you’re up to it, get a piece of raw leather, like the back of of an old belt, and use it as a strop to polish off the blade when you’re done sharpening, it really does make the cut smoother.
People say Mag light, but I’d personally recommend Olight as well for flashlights. The Olight Baton 4 is a ~600 lumen adjustable brightness flashlight with strobe which will blind you if you aren’t careful and its smaller than a pill bottle and comes with a reversible clip and inset magnet in case you need to stick it somewhere to keep the light steady.
A graphite metal “magic” pencil. Instead of using normal graphite, these metal bodied pencils have end pieces you screw in as a tip, are erasable, and one nib takes forever to run out, something like 5 pencils. They dont draw as dark as a regular pencil due to the hardness but for general usage they are handy.
Mighty plugs ear plugs. Want to know what it’s like to be deaf? Buy these. They aren’t too costly, completely seal the ear, and I only have to get a new package once every few years. They’re so effective I had to purchase an alarm clock built for deaf people which shakes my mattress instead of making a sound because I couldn’t hear any normal alarm clock after I started using these. This combination is unbeatable if you have awful neighbors or live on a busy street with night traffic.
Any self winding watch. Stop fucking around with button cell batteries and evolve. If it’s cheap, that’s probably better, if it gets scratched you don’t have to care. Seiko is a good brand in my experience.
If you’re into camping get a decent mid sized carving hatchet. I have a mid sized Hultafors swedish steel one. People like splitting axes because they do what they’re advertised to do, but theyre huge, heavy, and you cant carve or skin with them. A lighter smaller carving axe will do the same job splitting a log if you baton it with a medium sized stick. If you need something bigger to cut down a tree, go for a curved folding saw to bring with the hatchet. The Silky Saw Big Boy is great for that. Also buy a wool blanket. That shit will keep you warm in -35 C if you use it correctly. Also tents are neat but cumbersome, instead invest in a tarp and learn to make a lean to/other tarp configurations in combination with a ground sheet. If you expect you’ll be facing inclement or extremely wet weather, get an oilskin tarp (or make one yourself its literally just a cotton sheet which you have ran through a few dryer cycles as hot as possible, and then soaked through in a 50/50 mix of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits and hung outside until completely dry. Don’t put an open flame near it at any point in that process).
I probably have a bunch more, but can’t think of them off the top of my head.
Wait, you’re saying not to use coffee in a Stanley thermos?? Even if I don’t have milk in it too? What’s it for then, only soup?
I’m totally fed up with the usual 5-bladed razor crap from Gillette and especially Wilkinson. But I’ve always been to afraid to use an old school double-edged razor because I only, blindly, shave my head with it and maybe my pubes. Seems more risky. Any advice / recommendations?
I’ve been shaving my head and my balls with safety razors for like 15 years. Get some nice soap like sandalwood, cedar, lavender, frankincense, sasquatch or whatever name they’re calling it these days and make a lather on your body in the shower. A lather from actual soap is critical to avoiding nicks, cuts, and especially razor burn. Use a new blade and gently drag the razor across your skin. Use short strokes, not long passes. Clean the razor. Add more lather when needed. Don’t press hard or move the razor sideways or diagonally. That’s how you cut yourself. Watch out and take care for any bumps and rounded corners, like warts, the back of your jaw, or any sagittal crest you may have. Hold the razor with one hand and use the other to feel for hair and smoothness. Make a pass with the grain and another against the grain. Reapply lather between passes.
Maybe before you begin, shave a little hair off your arm or leg to test the angle you hold the razor. The sensation of individual hairs being cut will be tactile and satisfying. When it’s right, it’ll feel right.
Get a sharps container for used blades. It’ll take a lifetime to fill. Blades only cost like a dime, so just treat yourself and use a new one every time.
It ain’t too difficult. Just be gentle, take short and slow strokes, feel your way around, and don’t shave dry skin. You may be surprised how easy it is. They’re called safety razors for a reason.
Concept2 rowing machines. Even if they break, you can still buy spare parts at reasonable rates even for the very first model, which is decades old and only sold a few copies. Fantastic engineering.
Can confirm with the old thinkpads. They’re not great for gaming, but the keyboard, track pack, and eraser head are solid for writing and other office-like work.
My Yamaha f310 guitar. It’s supposed to be a beginner model, but I never felt the need for anything else. Took it with me traveling and after some 15000km on the road still sounds as on its first day.
Quartz watches: Casio F-91w
Mechanical watches: Seiko 5I have an old clock in my cottage. I got it years ago from a previous cottage I renovated. When I found it, the glass had broken so I just treated it as a piece of junk. I renovated that first cottage over a winter and left the clock there to freeze. I put in an AA battery and forgot about it. It kept time great and didn’t lose time … for about two years on the same battery!
The dammed thing outlasted every other wall clock I owned. So I kept it, removed the broken glass and just left it like that.
After about 15 years I still have it in my cottage and it freezes and thaws with the northern Canadian weather. And I’ve only ever changed the battery with the same basic energizer alkaline battery maybe four times!
I’ve never found a comparable clock anywhere. Every new clock I’ve ever bought either fail prematurely or I am constantly changing batteries every two or three months.
So far I’ve junked about a dozen new clocks because they stopped working while this old cottage clock just keeps ticking reliably.
I’m never getting rid of my cottage clock.
Bodum French Press
Dynavap DHV
Buffalo Bicycles
Vitamix Blender
I can’t find “DHV”, I guess that’s an old model? What would you recommend for something modern that “just works”?
DHV = dry herb vape.
All the dynavaps share the same rip so pick any one you like. I just use the basic stainless one.
If I were to get a new one today I would likely get the TinyMight v2. However I cannot speak for its reliability as I don’t have one.
Damn that’s a pricy toy! Anything more entry level but still good? I think I might be down for a manual one with a torch.
Yeah… That’s why I haven’t gotten one yet. But I heard it rips.
If you’re fine with a torch you won’t be disappointed with the dynavap.
I got an 18mm adapter and run it through a waterpipe. It rips harder than the plain bowl if you gave good flower imo
Hey hey, I’ve made the switch to the M7XL like 2 weeks back and it’s great, bit of a learning curve but once I got it, it’s perfect! I use maybe 1/3rd the stuff I used to and really enjoying it. Thanks for the tip!
