As a fairly new subscriber; I can tell you what I was looking for when I joined a few weeks ago.
I am an avid outdoorsman and ex-military. Durable is a word we prize but also, if something breaks we tend to just replace it. So I was looking for a new pocket knife (Swiss Army style) and I headed on over to the 1980's Macgyver page to see what models previously featured in the TV series. (stay with me!) Mostly it was the Tinker but I wanted a Climber.
This led to some browsing around the web about the history of Victorinox and I wondered what other products had lifetime warranties and my mind settled on jeans. Which jeans last for life with the stitching?
I googled...and lo and behold the top post here was a pair of Levi's.
Use Cases
Now onto what I, as a user, expected here.
- Which brands were formerly BIFL but have had a demonstrable and documented decrease in quality
- Which brands and products are designed with BIFL as a core tenet of their engineering
- Which products have lifetime warranties (Eastpak have a 30 year warranty for instance)
- Which products are suitable to pass down to my children (the marketing message of Saddleback)
- How do I find vintage BIFL items in thrift stores
Those were my five key use cases. I don't give a fuck about calculators. I never met a calculator that broke, ever. You have to try pretty fucking hard to stop a calculator working.
Suggestions
- An authoritative list of warranties lasting longer than 10 years and documented examples of them being used
- Experts Corner or AMA (I don't give a fuck about some guy who once bought a Honda now saying well they are not what they used to be. I will however jump up and take notice of an actual automotive engineer that can minutely describe why one type of engine is inferior to another. Where are the
- Furniture makers / Tailors / Fishermen / Farmers / Engineers
- Expedition Kit Reports (over on WalkHighlands it is now common for guys to talk about an event and then post a detailed report about how well the kit lasted). Did you just walk about St. Helens? What worked?
- Anti-BIFL (negative testing should be a thing) What has broken consistently? What do you know to be inferior because you worked in the factory. List that shit.
- Insider Reports: where do you work and is the stuff BIFL? If not, why not?
- BIFL Stage List
- A list of BIFL items you should consider at various stages of your life
- Teenager: BIFL pens, mechanical pencils, backpacks
- College: Luggage, Wallets, Bags, First Car, Beds etc
- House ownership: Washing machines, dryers, mixers, sofa's etc
- Outdoors: Boots, Packs, Sleeping Bags, Flasks etc
- Parenting: Buggies, Cots, MPVs
- Would this be contentious? Sure. But start small. Start with just crowdsourcing the type of items you might want to consider for that stage of your life. Fill in the brands and products later.
- A list of BIFL items you should consider at various stages of your life
Just my two-pence worth as someone that helps businesses go to market. This sub seems to have exhausted it's mission statement. Add more value.
Submitted August 25, 2018 at 05:31AM by The_Real_SF https://ift.tt/2LpbAk2
