I admire this community greatly. I read it daily. Thanks for everything.
First - a very short story: My great grandfather used to say that he isn't rich enough to buy cheap stuff. His knives from the 40s are in my kitchen, cutting beef and poultry and sharpened monthly. They weren't the most expensive when he bought them, and they have no logo or writing on them. He just always wiped them dry after cleaning them, and took them to professional sharpening.
This is just an anecdote, but here are my personal tips, which have worked for the last decades and can be applied to most things:
- Don't use something for other than its intended use. (If you are lazy or cheap about this now, you will regret it later):
Don't use your chef's knife for something that requires a serrated knife. The serrated knife is two steps from where you are standing right now, just take it.
Don't use your in ear monitors for running, the cables weren't designed for this strain and the drivers for this shock. Get a pair that's designed specifically for running, or if that's not available or too pricey just buy a few 1$per.
Don't wanna buy rugged shoes for that one field trip? Go ahead, take your Asics/Nike/Saucony/whatever, you will need a new pair of those when you return, and you still won't have your outdoor boots.
Your hammer is better than your pliers for hammering nails, but to get the hammer you need to get off the ladder first? Sure, use them pliers. They're good for at least 20 nails before the hinge bends or something. You got the point.
- Storing your things after you're finished. (Again, being lazy here does not pay off long term):
Those really expensive in ear monitors you love we talked about? Well it turns out their cable is flimsy as heck. Wrapping it up in big loops with the ends straight takes longer than just stuffing it in the carrying case, but it will keep the set alive forever. My personal example is a discontinued pair of nuforce ne-7m in ears which are terrific (and only cost 50$) but come with a seriously shitty cable and a shittier solder to the piece itself, definitely not BIFL on their own. My friend's broke in 6 months but I'm still using mine, 8 years later.
Your kitchen knives: get them some plastic sheaths or hang them if you can. The blade can chip easily if it bumps into anything. Never in the dishwasher, always dry with paper or cloth after cleaning. This will make your 30$ generic last for years and stay sharp. Cutting on end grain boards is healthier for the edge.
Laptops are also infamous today for their short lifespan, at least non-enterprise ones. Mine is a Samsung NP350 (discontinued, but that's not the point). Still going strong after 4.5 years with battery life pretty much the same. How? If you are working entire days from home or office without going out, don't even plug the battery, just the charger. You can also set in your bios or with bundled software to only charge the battery up to 80%. Not tech savvy? Ask buildapc or pcmr, they will save you time and money on the right laptop and settings. If you don't want to buy a new one, just replacing your hdd with an SSD buys 2 years of lifetime to your dated laptop. And about being lazy - don't pick your laptop up from the screen, what is wrong with you. That's like lifting a person from their head, the neck can't take it.
Your tools belong in your toolbox. I was lazy about this just once when I had most of my tools out, and only put everything away after a week. Humidity that week was 90%+ and the sun was out, had to replace half of my tools due to excessive rust.
- Not everything can, not everything should, be BIFL. I know you want that sweet whatever floats your BIFL boat product (I want it too); but consider first if maybe wear and tear is too high. Even 'BIFL' products have their limits. Drummers will tell you that no wired earpiece lasts more than a few months on live performances. While they can afford to replace it every time, you can't. If you run or climb or dance or drum with earphones, keep that in mind. It's sometimes better to keep a few cheap sets than an expensive one. Humid, near ocean areas will destroy quality appliances and electronics quicker. If you have very young children, don't even think about buying high quality BIFL furniture if you can't afford to fix or replace it. They have a way with those things.
This is my personal experience, and I will be happy to write about treating more products in the future, when I'll have more time. Feel free to bash my head in for my mistakes.
TL;DR Don't be lazy, don't be cheap, and your things could become BIFL.
Submitted July 15, 2017 at 09:23AM by Voluptuousn http://ift.tt/2voim1U
