Products that last forever

[reisner]

Lovely thread.
Pocketknives: currentlly Benchmade North Fork, Lion Steel small Opera (love tool steel), Great Eastern Cutlery Bird Dog.
Fountain pens: Pelikan M800, but after 30 years it began unscrewing itself in my pocket, and so now a Pilot 823.
My Mauser 98 in 7X57, made in Berlin in 1908 and sporterized. Alas, soon to be sold for lack of use.
Books: the Odyssey, Lolita, Madame Bovary, Robert Frost.
Almost anything made by Patagonia.
Gransfors Bruks axes and hatchets, which put Estwing to shame.

[capsaicinguy]

KitchenAid mixer.

So long as you only make 1 loaf of bread per year or it was purchased a couple decades ago.

It was purchased many years ago - late 80's. And we use it about twice a week. Why - has the quality changed?

Yep, early kitchen aids were rebranded Hobarts and very good. At least by the 2000's once everyone wanted a kitchenaid mixer as a kitchen fashion accessory, they became cheap and would overheat or break if you did anything more difficult than mix cake batter or maybe do a single loaf of bread, even in the bigger more powerful bowl lift model.

My grandfather burned up many a modern KitchenAid mixer making bread dough. Even the "good" new ones have plastic gearboxes compared to the metals ones from the Hobart era mixers from what I've heard and is the main mode of failure.

[Windylotus]

Leatherman

I broke the pliers on two sets of Leathermans. Good warranty, they sent me a new one both times.
Hardly a last forever product IMO.

[neilpilot]

Leatherman

I broke the pliers on two sets of Leathermans. Good warranty, they sent me a new one both times.
Hardly a last forever product IMO.

Doesn’t that warranty mean they DO last forever?

[Cubicle]

I have had good luck with exercise equipment. Every contraption I have ever purchased is as good as new and appears unused.

Underrated comment. ✓

[littlebird]

KitchenAid mixer.

Not in my experience, although my mother-in-laws, bought in the 60’s did last about 50 years. Mine lasted about 5 years. Since there is no reasonably -priced substitute, I bought another.

[littlebird]

Wrought iron kitchen sets. Unfortunately, they don’t make them any more. Oil paintings. Hand loomed carpets. Good heavy crystal. All are on their 59th year in my house.

[Luckywon]

Burial vaults have a lifetime warranty.

I got a lifetime service contract to remove stains or replace fabric on some sofas I purchased. Unfortunately, it turned out to be for the lifetime of the company selling it because when I tried to claim, it was no longer in business!

[finite_difference]

True love.

Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight.

Then it’s not true love

-Several computers lasting 10+ years, used 24/7/365. Almost forever in computer years.
-Linksys WRT54GL router (3/3 on those.)
-50” Plasma TV, Panasonic, I think. Still going strong after 10+ years and it has unbeatable black levels. Only OLED can compare, and those are only now coming down in price to be affordable.
-North Face backpack: 16 years of almost daily use and looks great.
-Under Armour heat gear shirts still look brand new after 10 years.

Books and Art last a long time.

[Mr. Rumples]

Candle extinguishers, douters - also known as snuffers. I have several from the late 18th century. They are still in use.


https://www.hampshirepewter.com/candle- ... ade-in-usa

[acegolfer]

I bought my Honda self-propelled mower in 1983 and it's still running fine. It had relatively light usage from 1995-2007, since we had a very large lawn so most of the cutting was by riding mower. Then the Honda was only used for hard-to-reach areas, but it was still run 1-2 each week during the season. It sees a new air filter about once every 6 years, a new blade every few years, and a new spark plug about once each decade. At the end of the cutting season, I run the gas dry, drain the carb bowl, change the oil and wash off the mower deck.

The only other maintenance I can remember was replacement of the drive wheels after they wore out, a new pull start string and some wire to hold the old grass catcher bag together.

May not last forever but the engine usually starts on the first pull, even after 37 years. Sometimes I wish it would quit.

I still use my 17-yr old Toro Recycler every other week. Early in its use, carburator got clogged and required a repair. Since then I've added oil stabilizer, which prevented clogging for my engine. (The same stabilizer didn't work on my pressure washer Honda GCV160 engine, though).

[UncleBen]

My 36 year old Maytag washer and dryer and 37 year old Electrolux canister vacuum.

[tennisplyr]

I have some small NY Knicks hand towels that they gave out at the 1998 conference championships...still use them.

[Windylotus]

Leatherman

I broke the pliers on two sets of Leathermans. Good warranty, they sent me a new one both times.
Hardly a last forever product IMO.

Doesn’t that warranty mean they DO last forever?

Nope, 25 year warranty

[Nicolas]

Leatherman

I broke the pliers on two sets of Leathermans. Good warranty, they sent me a new one both times.
Hardly a last forever product IMO.

Doesn’t that warranty mean they DO last forever?

Nope, 25 year warranty

But the 25 years isn’t enforced from what I’ve read on the multi tool forums. And they don’t ask for any proof of purchase, so how would they know?

[ADAMNOGGI]

Hi All,

I thought it might be a fun/informative thread for people to share the products that "last forever". Some notes:

• My intent by using "forever" is a bit flexible, but something like that the life of the product is not limited by its performance degrading
• Please only share items which you are very familiar with
• If there is some use-case that would inform the audience's understanding of forever, please share. For example, a tool that lasts forever in residential use may not in professional use
• I can think of two types of "forever" (and these should probably be specified if possible):
  • Type 1 - product never degrades itself
  • Type 2 - product that with reasonable maintenance/access to support continues to be useful for a massive amount of time

My personal list:

• Type 1 - Residential use of wusthof kitchen knives
• Type 1 - Residential use of benchmade straight blade knives
• Type 2 - vehicles with an enthusiast hobby crowd that ensures aftermarket support even beyond manufacturing from the original manufacturing. My nearly 20 year abused old jeep still has plenty of support. Jeep may stretch the term "reasonable maintenance" for some...haha

Depending on other people's lists, I might have to go out and get some.

Males' Coach wallet. Since 1970. Daily use. Still great.

[Nicolas Perrault]

When I was a kid in the 1990s we had a country house that had been in our family for almost a hundred years. We still had and used a fridge there that my great-great grandfather had installed in the 1910s, one of the very earliest fridges for home use. We had it working for 80 years and it never broke. No idea why we got rid of it for one of those new ones that you have to change every decade or so.

[Nowizard]

Numerous tools such as hammers and hand drills. Also, in our case, a half-filled, glass, half-pint whiskey bottle with a cork stopper containing Needsfoot oil used more than 70 years ago to soften new, baseball gloves of mine and 30+ years ago to soften the gloves of our children. It was purchased for $.15 at a local cobbler's business. It will soon be used with grandsons.

Tim

[Halicar]

When I was a kid in the 1990s we had a country house that had been in our family for almost a hundred years. We still had and used a fridge there that my great-great grandfather had installed in the 1910s, one of the very earliest fridges for home use. We had it working for 80 years and it never broke. No idea why we got rid of it for one of those new ones that you have to change every decade or so.

The problem with old refrigerators is that they use so much electricity that you probably end up spending more money than if you replace them every decade.

[ClevrChico]

Numerous tools such as hammers and hand drills. Also, in our case, a half-filled, glass, half-pint whiskey bottle with a cork stopper containing Needsfoot oil used more than 70 years ago to soften new, baseball gloves of mine and 30+ years ago to soften the gloves of our children. It was purchased for $.15 at a local cobbler's business. It will soon be used with grandsons.

Tim

That is amazing!

I'd have to also say hand tools for me. Some of them now being used by generation three. The scars on them bring back memories of mis-using them as a kid 35 years ago. My kids will have no idea why some say Montgomery Ward on them.

[jrbdmb]

Pet rock.

Ha! That's the first thing I thought of as well.

[wander]

GE range that we have, installed in the early 80s, still works fine, makes French breads often. Ruud water heater, installed more than 30 years ago, still works great.

[Nicolas]

True love.

Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight.

Then it’s not true love

I was quoting John Lennon.

[hudson]

Good stuff that didn't last for me:

I love Casio watches but they don't like me. My last 3 or 4 didn't make it 12 months. The plastic cases broke at a corner...the part of the case that holds the watch band pin. The watches still work fine, but I can't wear them.

Nalgene water bottles: I dropped one on a rock in cold weather...gone.

Good stuff that passed the test.

US Army model 1917 Smith and Wesson revolver 45 ACP....hand me down....US Property...filed off...not worth much. According to the internet, it was made in 1918. The bluing is gone but it likely still works.

2000 Toyota Tacoma: I sold it in 2018; it was running like new; it had never been back to the dealer.

MSR Whisperlite white gas stove: It's been cooking in harsh winter conditions for over 20 years.

Blacksmith made old farm chain that I got from my grandfather's shed. It's gnarly, rusty, heavy and ugly, but it helped me pull my mower out of the mud.

[Sandtrap]

Quality high end Ping and Titleist Irons (golf clubs).

Unless you're a pro and wear out the grooves.
Unless an iron somehow ends up in a forced carry water hazard along with the ball.
Unless a short iron or wedge somehow get's left greenside.
Unless your set is stolen off the back of a golf cart during a lunch break. (happens)
Unless a friend or family member "borrows" a spare set and that set somehow ends up in a pawn shop and gone forever.

Definitely if your sets get handed down to sons and daughters that also play golf and will hand them down as keepsakes.
(Goof to Goof to Goof)
j

[Sandtrap]

Quality Musical Instruments (if well cared for):

Martin/Taylor/Guild acoustic guitars
Ukulele's
etc.

j

[mslaw]

Toyoya Landcruiser and my Boston Whaler..I swear both are built to last forever.

Our pre Sea Ray Whaler, 19 years in use.

[mslaw]

Deleted

[mslaw]

Toyoya Landcruiser and my Boston Whaler..I swear both are built to last forever.

Our pre Sea Ray Whaler, 19 years in use.

But currently boat shopping small boat for next generation, totally open to suggestions on current quality boat builders for an under 24 foot. And I boat shopping.

[sean.mcgrath]

But currently boat shopping small boat for next generation, totally open to suggestions on current quality boat builders for an under 24 foot. And I boat shopping.

Pretty much any non-wood 20' sailboat. Ours (below) is from the 70s, and has been through an infinite number of owners, I believe.

[ScubaHogg]

Home gym consisting of steel power rack, plates, and barbell.

Just ordered a Rogue Squat rack. Now gotta wait till I can find a decent bar and plates in stock.

[jebmke]

Quality high end Ping and Titleist Irons (golf clubs).

Unless you're a pro and wear out the grooves.
Unless an iron somehow ends up in a forced carry water hazard along with the ball.
Unless a short iron or wedge somehow get's left greenside.
Unless your set is stolen off the back of a golf cart during a lunch break. (happens)
Unless a friend or family member "borrows" a spare set and that set somehow ends up in a pawn shop and gone forever.

Definitely if your sets get handed down to sons and daughters that also play golf and will hand them down as keepsakes.
(Goof to Goof to Goof)
j

I have an old 2-iron that will last forever. It is under my bed in case someone breaks in. Never could hit that club. No loft. Actually killed a goose once when the ball took off about a foot off the ground at the wrong angle and flew into a group of geese minding their own business over by a pond.

[ScubaHogg]

I don't have one, but I'd imagine that the $50 Yeti bottle opener could be passed down for about 10 generations

Whoa...$50 for a bottle opener?

$5 for the bottle opener. $45 for it to say “Yeti” on the side.

[finite_difference]

True love.

Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight.

Then it’s not true love

I was quoting John Lennon.

And you don’t agree that was the master’s point?

Because I generally wouldn’t want to overrule Lennon.

[hudson]

Pretty much any non-wood 20' sailboat. Ours (below) is from the 70s, and has been through an infinite number of owners, I believe.

Around 1963, a local man donated an Old Town War Canoe to our explorer post. A year or so ago, I saw the same canoe for sale on Ebay. Several of us talked about buying it, but no one wanted to store it....or lift it.

I've still got a maybe 1990 Blue Hole Prowler 16 foot canoe. I haven't used it in years. It's stored out of the sun, so it's likely good as new.

[hudson]

Pretty much any non-wood 20' sailboat. Ours (below) is from the 70s, and has been through an infinite number of owners, I believe.

HUDSON WROTE:
Around 1963, a local man donated an Old Town War Canoe to our explorer post. A year or so ago, I saw the same canoe for sale on Ebay. Several of us talked about buying it, but no one wanted to store it....or lift it.

I've still got a maybe 1990 Blue Hole Prowler 16 foot canoe....made of a plastic Royalex? I haven't used it in years. It's stored out of the sun, so it's likely good as new.

[abuss368]

Easy - a total market index fund!

[Slacker]

26 Years:

• Harmon Kardon A/V Receiver AVR 25 II from 1994
  Klipsch floor standing speakers from 1994

App 80-100 Years
Wood Smoother (not sure the proper technical name), from grandfather in Italy, possibly made sometime in between WWI & II

My Harmon Kardon AVR 235 has been going strong for 15 years now.

Peavey Envoy 110 practice amp going strong for almost 30years now.

Awesome!
Are you planning on keeping your HK for the duration?

I am; I've used cable adaptors and other accessories to keep it connected to new tech.

I just wish HK made the same look and type of A/Vs as they used to. If mine gives up the ghost, won't be going HK again.

Absolutely! I am using an HDMI box that strips out the surround sound signals to feed into the HK for surround sound off my Chromecast, Video Games, BluRay player and DVD player since my HK was released before HDMI was a popular A/V format (the box has SPDIF optical output that goes into the HK).

I suppose I forgot that I also have Infinity surround sound speakers and bookshelf speakers that are also 15 years old now. Of course, just like the Peavey, I'd be hard pressed to know if the speaker cones have degraded as a slow degradation would likely be something I've just become accustomed to over time. I may have to listen to some brand new (but broken in) mid-range speakers for comparison.

[quantAndHold]

Patagonia jacket. After 20 years of heavy use, an airport baggage carousel ripped the zipper off. The jacket still looked basically new, so I sent it to Patagonia and they replaced the zipper for free. After another 20 years, it was still in good shape, but it was so out of style that I finally gave up and donated it.

La Pavoni espresso machine. It was 20 years old when we bought it a few years ago. With some basic maintenance, it’ll last longer than I do.

The power rack has followed me through multiple moves, indoors and out. The weights got sold and repurchased every time we moved, though.

The real winner, though, is our 90 year old house. Amazing construction. They don’t make them like this anymore.

[Nicolas Perrault]

This 372-year-old half-dead water bond: https://news.yale.edu/2015/09/22/living ... s-interest

In 1648, some town in Holland decided to finance the construction of a bridge by issuing a bond that would pay 5% "in perpetuity". Later in the 1600s the bond issuers figured that 5% was a bit high --- or that perpetuity was a bit long --- so they reduced the payouts from 5% to 2.5% of par-value (which, in the mathematics of perpetual bonds, is like a 50% haircut).

Although half the bond was thus killed more than 300 years ago, its over half lives on. Too bad it's not inflation-protected.

[VinoVita]

Atomic coffee/espresso maker 50+ yrs. old,
made in Italy by Brevetti Robbiati. Truly a work of art that will last longer than I.

[abracadabra11]

TiVo DVR - installed in May 2010 with lifetime subscription. Still working perfectly, hard drive spinning ten+ years with only power outages interrupting. I had to replace the case fan once for $5. Also replaced the remote a few years ago as we dropped the original too many times.

Panasonic Viera 50” plasma TV, installed November 2010. Used almost daily and still working perfectly with no image degradation.

I have a 42" Plasma from 2006 that ran perfectly until earlier this year. So I don't know that yours will last 'forever'. But 14 years is pretty good.

[chuckb84]

BMW motorcycles.

My 1995 K75 has 50,000 miles on it, and these are known to go over 200,000 with no issues. Change the oil and that's it. When I bought it, my friend who advised my said "Put it in your will, it will outlive you", and please no snarky jokes about how riding a motorcycle lowers my life expectancy .

Same for the 2004 1150RT. Bought with 23,000 miles on it, and this 16 year old bike looks and runs like new.

Both of these will easily last beyond the point where I'm able/willing to ride.

[sean.mcgrath]

BMW motorcycles.

Reminds me of Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance: the guy who wanted "absolutely no issues" with his bike bought a BMW for that reason.

[Nicolas]

TiVo DVR - installed in May 2010 with lifetime subscription. Still working perfectly, hard drive spinning ten+ years with only power outages interrupting. I had to replace the case fan once for $5. Also replaced the remote a few years ago as we dropped the original too many times.

Panasonic Viera 50” plasma TV, installed November 2010. Used almost daily and still working perfectly with no image degradation.

I have a 42" Plasma from 2006 that ran perfectly until earlier this year. So I don't know that yours will last 'forever'. But 14 years is pretty good.

When it fails, which I know it will sometime, I’ll replace it with an OLED screen. Nothing else achieves the image quality I have now. But really, I’m hoping to hold out until the advent of microLED which promises to be even better.

[stoptothink]

Hi All,

I thought it might be a fun/informative thread for people to share the products that "last forever". Some notes:

• My intent by using "forever" is a bit flexible, but something like that the life of the product is not limited by its performance degrading
• Please only share items which you are very familiar with
• If there is some use-case that would inform the audience's understanding of forever, please share. For example, a tool that lasts forever in residential use may not in professional use
• I can think of two types of "forever" (and these should probably be specified if possible):
  • Type 1 - product never degrades itself
  • Type 2 - product that with reasonable maintenance/access to support continues to be useful for a massive amount of time

My personal list:

• Type 1 - Residential use of wusthof kitchen knives
• Type 1 - Residential use of benchmade straight blade knives
• Type 2 - vehicles with an enthusiast hobby crowd that ensures aftermarket support even beyond manufacturing from the original manufacturing. My nearly 20 year abused old jeep still has plenty of support. Jeep may stretch the term "reasonable maintenance" for some...haha

Depending on other people's lists, I might have to go out and get some.

Males' Coach wallet. Since 1970. Daily use. Still great.

I've owned a single wallet in my life. It's made by Billabong and I think it was $12 when it was purchased 27yrs ago.

[randomguy]

Patagonia jacket. After 20 years of heavy use, an airport baggage carousel ripped the zipper off. The jacket still looked basically new, so I sent it to Patagonia and they replaced the zipper for free. After another 20 years, it was still in good shape, but it was so out of style that I finally gave up and donated it.

I have yet to find any clothes (well that you use) that makes it to 1 years looking like new much less 20. Sure my 10 year old running shirts are totally usable and I am not going to replace them but as soon as you put them next a new one, the color fade is very obvious along with slight changes in the stretchiness of the fabric. Same thing happens with tons of products. I bet if you took a 15 year old plasma TV with say 5000 hours on it and placed it next to one that had never been run you would be shocked at the loss of brightness and some of the color shifts. Often we don't care (i.e. you aren't comparing your TV or shirt to a new one) about the loss of performance but you have to be pretty delusional to think it looks like new. I like to think the wear on things like my jackets adds character:)

And with a lot of products you run into the ship of Thesus issues where you have to ask is what you have the same as what you started with. If you replace your leatherman with a new one did it last forever? The leatherman didn't and ended up in a landfill. But your "purchase" did in that you still have a usable product. Depending on your goals that may or may not count as lasting forever.

[finite_difference]

TiVo DVR - installed in May 2010 with lifetime subscription. Still working perfectly, hard drive spinning ten+ years with only power outages interrupting. I had to replace the case fan once for $5. Also replaced the remote a few years ago as we dropped the original too many times.

Panasonic Viera 50” plasma TV, installed November 2010. Used almost daily and still working perfectly with no image degradation.

I have a 42" Plasma from 2006 that ran perfectly until earlier this year. So I don't know that yours will last 'forever'. But 14 years is pretty good.

When it fails, which I know it will sometime, I’ll replace it with an OLED screen. Nothing else achieves the image quality I have now. But really, I’m hoping to hold out until the advent of microLED which promises to be even better.

+1. Plasma is amazing and only OLED has wowed me in the same way, but it’s still expensive. Looks like you can get one starting at around $1200 now though.

We have a Panasonic plasma from 2009 that has no degradation and I think cost around $1200.

[reisner]

randomguy wrote: "And with a lot of products you run into the ship of Thesus issues where you have to ask is what you have the same as what you started with. If you replace your leatherman with a new one did it last forever? The leatherman didn't and ended up in a landfill. But your "purchase" did in that you still have a usable product. Depending on your goals that may or may not count as lasting forever."

Correction: Jason's ship, the Argo, not Theseus' (not Thesus).

[Nicolas]

Plasma is amazing and only OLED has wowed me in the same way, but it’s still expensive. Looks like you can get one starting at around $1200 now though.

We have a Panasonic plasma from 2009 that has no degradation and I think cost around $1200.

I would easily pay that much or more for OLED. Right now I don’t need to as our plasma is still working fine, the same as when we bought it in 2010. We paid $500 for ours. Too bad they don’t make them anymore. Also Panasonic doesn’t even make TVs anymore.

My first Panasonic purchase was a transistor radio, AM only, in 1962. It has a beautiful leather case. I paid $15, and I still have it! Great company!