Good “Buy for Life” Brands
Some that come to mind are:
Benchmade - knives Darn Tough - socks Carhartt - good work gear Doc martens - footwear
What are some good reputable brands that you have had for 5 years + with little to no issues or with a lifetime warranty.
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Speed queen washers and dryers. LGs and Samsung's drop like flies in comparison. They are expensive but they are made in the United States and last donkeys years. I've heard of people moving out after 10 years, and taking their speed queen dryer with them.
Also, in general, hand made Japanese knives. Any knife will keep cutting if sharpened but most of "sharpness" is thinness of the blade. That's why we don't use meat cleavers for daily prep. Japanese knives are made to be thinned and polished, as the edge will become thicker with repeated sharpenings. Other knives will get thicker and thicker and become complete carrot crunchers. These can be thinned too but it's much more difficult with only sharpening stones.
Additionally the handles are easily replaceable by anyone, western style handles require destructive disassembly of the existing scales and rivets.
Japanese knives are great if that’s your preference but that excludes a lot of other BIFL knives worth considering.
Wusthof in particular should be on the list as well as Global. In general kitchen knives are more forgiving in the BIFL category because a lot of it is just properly caring for what you have.
I worked in kitchens for a long time. I can't get a grip on Japanese knives. Give me good old German steel.
I've had a set of Zwilling knives for almost two decades now, still in pretty good shape
I've had wusthof handles break on me and they are a pain to replace. You have to drill the rivets, remove the scales, glue new ones, drill new rivet holes, hammer new rivets and then shape them. With Japanese knives you tap the handle off and put in a whole new one.
Another issue with wusthof is that the bolsters on their chef knives are way too large. They weigh the know down and makes it annoying to sharpen. Over time it will develop a recurve and won't contact the cutting board. Your only option is to grind it down, which is a big endeavor because they're so damn big nowadays.
They're still great knives but because of those issues that Japanese knives don't have, they aren't the best BIFL option for me.
I get that everybody has their own preference but BIFL is more about quality of materials, durability, reputation of the company etc.
I've had wusthof handles break on me and they are a pain to replace.
How so? You just send it to Wusthof and they replace or repair it. Seems pretty BIFL
Another issue with wusthof is that the bolsters on their chef knives are way too large.
My Wusthof Ikons have no more bolster than my brothers Japanese set. I assume you’re talking about the Classic line of Wusthof?
You raise issues based on your preference but that doesn’t impact them being BIFL. They’re well made, hold an edge and Wusthof stands behind them 100%.
I dropped my utility knife once and it bent the tip. I shipped it to Wusthof and they took care of it, only cost me shipping. I also had a knife block that split, for that they wanted a picture, then they shipped me a replacement and asked me to destroy the old one. I used it in a campfire. Seems pretty BIFL to me.
Speed queen washers and dryers.
This is the one to pay attention to. Speed Queen is what every laundromat uses, because they’re fucking rock solid and don’t need a lot of maintenance. They don’t have as many bells and whistles as a Samsung, but they’ll outlast two or three Samsungs and still be cleaning just as well as the day you bought it.
They also cost as much as 3 samsungs. I am all for buy-it-for-life, but when I can buy a nice Samsung with bells and whistles, have a better wash, lower energy use, and more flexible options on how the clothing is being washed- then why would I not buy the Samsung? My Samsung washer was 800 and the dryer was 600. A speed queen starts at 2400 each. I could buy 3 washers and then 4 dryers for that. Plus I save money on the energy cost with my Samsung eco settings.
I have a house filled with buy it for life where I can and where it makes sense. And when I bought the washer and dryers I looked into speedqueen. It didn't make sense. And before people start saying things like "good luck replacing them in 3 years" they are already 5 years old. My 1400$ is 5 years in and doing just fine.they could break today and need to both be replaced, and I am still ahead. I think speed queen is one of the few BIFL brands that I disagree with.
They outlast BEACAUSE they don't have that many bells and whistles.
Give me an old whirlpool from 15-20 years ago, those things where tanks before they started making them "Smart"