Products that last forever
Dec 13, 2011 at 5:03 AM Post #46 of 171
Gold. Doesn't oxides and is unbreakable. Statues found in egyptian pyramids stolen by buglers still look exactly like it did 4000 years ago even though it has passed many hands and probably rough handling when transported by ships.
 
Dec 13, 2011 at 6:03 AM Post #47 of 171
Light bulbs could last forever, if they filled the insides with 100% pure inert gas instead of filling it with a little oxygen so that it dies out after a couple of months. 
 
Dec 13, 2011 at 6:26 AM Post #48 of 171
I still use my father's Solingen folding scissors which I can't imagine how many decades old they are.  My father wore the same shoes for half a century and used the same container of talc powder for a couple of decades. The heaters in our home were old-school things that had no parts that would wear out at all, except a light-bulb in the back to give the "warm glow" effect as the elements were not visible.
 
For now, I own two pairs of Danner shoes, a bunch of Letherman tools and Victorinox Swiss Army knives. I still use quite a bit of clothing I bought around two decades ago at the Australian Kathmandu outdoor adventure store. I recently had some decades-old jackets and leather satchel belonging to my father repaired and continue to use them. I recently purchased a coupe of RedOxx bags as they are built to never die. My other travel bags are Eagle Creek which are similarly over-built. I've been using the same Explorer brand winter socks for the last 15-odd years, which can be bought cheaply in Australian supermarkets and I've never had a pair fade or wear out.
 
I'm sure there is stuff lurking in my drawers that I could add to the list, but this is all I can think of at the moment.
 
Dec 13, 2011 at 10:45 AM Post #49 of 171
Quote:
Old Craftsman tools, actually lots of hand tools, will last forever.


I compare my Craftsman box wrenches to my dad's, and the main difference is mine are shinier and because I only got 'em about a dozen years ago, while his are about fifty years old. I'm more worried about them being lost than broken, since I move house frequently.
 
Some of my audio gear is forty or fifty years old and keeps up perfectly well with modern equipment. Only things that have had to be replaced so far have been the components with known lifespans, like tubes and capacitors (on the amps) and elastics (on the AKG Sextetts).
 
Dec 13, 2011 at 3:48 PM Post #50 of 171
I still use my father's Solingen folding scissors which I can't imagine how many decades old they are.  My father wore the same shoes for half a century and used the same container of talc powder for a couple of decades. The heaters in our home were old-school things that had no parts that would wear out at all, except a light-bulb in the back to give the "warm glow" effect as the elements were not visible.

For now, I own two pairs of Danner shoes, a bunch of Letherman tools and Victorinox Swiss Army knives. I still use quite a bit of clothing I bought around two decades ago at the Australian Kathmandu outdoor adventure store. I recently had some decades-old jackets and leather satchel belonging to my father repaired and continue to use them. I recently purchased a coupe of RedOxx bags as they are built to never die. My other travel bags are Eagle Creek which are similarly over-built. I've been using the same Explorer brand winter socks for the last 15-odd years, which can be bought cheaply in Australian supermarkets and I've never had a pair fade or wear out.

I'm sure there is stuff lurking in my drawers that I could add to the list, but this is all I can think of at the moment.


It's amazing how clothing used to be made to last. A friend of mine worked for this rich guy in NYC, years ago, who was still using linen boxer shorts his grandfather had bought.
 
Dec 13, 2011 at 6:51 PM Post #51 of 171
Fruitcakes.  Books.  Manual typewriters.  Drafting/drawing tools.  Good optics - microscopes and telescopes.  
 
Dec 14, 2011 at 4:33 AM Post #52 of 171
Personally, I think that forever lasting products also encompass design that is utilitarian, natural, but not austere or anodyne. Case in point, I am trying this on a Nokia N9, which was of course canned on arrival, but the design and paradigm behind it is quite brilliant. It uses a natural swipe gesture to be used, it just feels natural in day-to-day usage..
 
Dec 14, 2011 at 5:36 AM Post #53 of 171


Quote:
Fruitcakes.  Books.  Manual typewriters.  Drafting/drawing tools.  Good optics - microscopes and telescopes.  


Early this year I gave away an old, Zeiss microscope and a heap of parts that had belonged to my father. Turned out a botanist at my university had been hunting for spares. Must have been all his Christmases coming at once!
 
Dec 14, 2011 at 5:43 AM Post #54 of 171


Quote:
A rock. They're pretty durable.


Depends.  Heard of pumice?  Besides, all rocks pale in comparison to Depleted Uranium or Tungsten (for those eco/greenies out there).
 
Dec 14, 2011 at 5:46 AM Post #55 of 171


Quote:
I still use my father's Solingen folding scissors which I can't imagine how many decades old they are.  My father wore the same shoes for half a century and used the same container of talc powder for a couple of decades. The heaters in our home were old-school things that had no parts that would wear out at all, except a light-bulb in the back to give the "warm glow" effect as the elements were not visible.
 
For now, I own two pairs of Danner shoes, a bunch of Letherman tools and Victorinox Swiss Army knives. I still use quite a bit of clothing I bought around two decades ago at the Australian Kathmandu outdoor adventure store. I recently had some decades-old jackets and leather satchel belonging to my father repaired and continue to use them. I recently purchased a coupe of RedOxx bags as they are built to never die. My other travel bags are Eagle Creek which are similarly over-built. I've been using the same Explorer brand winter socks for the last 15-odd years, which can be bought cheaply in Australian supermarkets and I've never had a pair fade or wear out.
 
I'm sure there is stuff lurking in my drawers that I could add to the list, but this is all I can think of at the moment.


That reminds me, I've got an Aussie Kangaroo hat.  That thing is going in my will.
 
 
Dec 14, 2011 at 1:28 PM Post #56 of 171
Birth Control Glasses issued at all US military basic training facilities.
 
Step on 'em, throw 'em against a concrete wall, run 'em over with a truck...
 
At least in the olden days that was the case. 
 
 
 
Dec 14, 2011 at 9:06 PM Post #57 of 171


Quote:
Birth Control Glasses issued at all US military basic training facilities.
 
Step on 'em, throw 'em against a concrete wall, run 'em over with a truck...
 
At least in the olden days that was the case. 
 
 


They don't respond well to ticked off squid. Snapped mine in half the moment Sid Slid back in '92.
frown.gif

 
 
Dec 14, 2011 at 10:12 PM Post #58 of 171
My dad has a super vintage Brietling that he got from his dad who got it from his dad who got it from his dad.... maybe I'll get it one day :)
Also, my piano teacher has a 1912 Steinway Concert-D Grand Piano in his basement... I have no clue how it got in there, but I don't think it's going anywhere for a long time.
 
Dec 14, 2011 at 11:00 PM Post #59 of 171
Quote:
My dad has a super vintage Brietling that he got from his dad who got it from his dad who got it from his dad.... maybe I'll get it one day :)
Also, my piano teacher has a 1912 Steinway Concert-D Grand Piano in his basement... I have no clue how it got in there, but I don't think it's going anywhere for a long time.


Wow, both great products. If you could, id love to see a picture of that vintage Breitling in the Watch-Fi forum, and id love a picture of the Steinway, but i understand it'd be weird asking your teacher for a pictre...lol.
 
 
Dec 14, 2011 at 11:25 PM Post #60 of 171
lol ok. I don't own a camera... so it might take some time for those pictures to materialize. Next closest thing I have that takes pictures is my Motorola Razr (speaking of old things that last....) but the camera is like 2MP and makes noise over the entire picture so it's comparable to taking a picture with a potato.
 
 

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