BuyItForLife is a popular idea, what items do you have that will probably really last your whole life?

26 comments

That boardgame on my shelf that's still wrapped in plastic, 3 years after I bought it.
- Kitchen stuff. I've got a one-piece stainless steel potato masher and a ladle (no handles to crack or fall off). Also a cast iron casserole, which should see me out if I don't drop it on my foot.
  
  Assuming it hits your foot and not the floor, it'll still be BIFL

The older you get, the more of your belongings fall into this category. But my favorite ones are the wool blankets I've knitted. There's one I've been wrapping up in for about six years, and I kinda hope they bury me in it when I croak.

I’m a bit of a pen person, and I have some that are made of titanium. Assuming I don’t lose them (and I don’t lose my pens), they will outlast me. I just put a fresh refill in and keep rocking.

Before I was born my parents bought several large boxes of matchboxes from a fancy restaurant that was going out of business. (The kind of thing that had been given away at the door and had the name and phone number of the place)
Growing up, the igniter on our gas stove didn't work so we often used several matches per day for years.
I still have several 'rolls' of maybe a dozen matchboxes each and a full unopened box of the rolls. It's going to last me and my family at least my own lifetime. Now they mostly get used for candles.
- That’s such an interest family heirloom story.

AKAI S-1100 sampler. 35 years old now and still works and sounds like it came out (1989). Had to change the LCD a couple of years ago because it was fading, but everything else is original. I think it is still the best sampler ever released.
- Oh, it's audio equipment. My first thought was some kind of pipetting machine.

My kitchen knives, definitely. Just came back from Japan with an expensive one, so it better last my whole life. Also, if I move countries, it isn't something I have to buy again because of different outlet plugs and stuff, and it's not heavy either.

I got a solid copper zippo. I use it multiple times a day, every day. There are still some kicking around from the 40s or even earlier, so I'm sure mine will at least last my whole life
- You start fires multiple times a day?
  
  If they smoke, technically yes, yes they do.

If you're careful - good teaware. Bought a couple of sets myself, as long as you don't drop / break them - they'll last!
And even if you do break it: get it to someone who knows kintsugi and enjoy it for the next crapton of years 😃

I think my bed frame will last my whole life (in my 30s now). I got a Thuma bed frame. It was expensive but it’s so solid and easy to assemble and take apart. Maybe the slats will need to be replaced one day. This thing a toe stubbing monster though (legs flare out)!
- Nice!

I recently bought an Old Mate Aroma 3 grinder. Its made of steel and built like a tank.
- This is a thing of beauty! I didn’t know grinders could be such high quality. Threadless and no metal grinding contact is huge.
  It hurts me when I see people grinding up herb in those cheap plastic grinders. I’d rather break it up by hand if that’s the only option.

I’m using my great-grandparents’ drawer that has been around for a hundred years already, can’t see why it wouldn’t last for a few more decades. Books and cast iron/carbon steel kitchenwares should last too.

Most of my pots and pans should last a long time! I don't have cast iron, but it's still built solidly!

Just bought a way-too-expensive flat pan with several layer of stainless steel, it better last till my grandchildren are dead.

Hopefully my Ankarsrum, my knives and most of my good pots and pans if I take good care of them.

26 comments