Eggbeater pedals

Meridian Amplifier.

Honey (unless you eat it)

Not sure about Brooks though, mine seems to be requiring a lot of tightening. That said you can get them re-covered when hthe leather wears out, which is half the same thing.

tins of Engineers Blue.

As an aside,

Is it just me, or is it actually really difficult to buy quality these days?

Time was, throwing a bit of money at something would guarantee that you get a high quality item which would last a long time. But it doesn’t seem to work like that any more, you can pay a premium for something and still have it die in twelve months.

There’s stuff in this house that’s as old or older than I am. I have Moses’ old fridge, used to belong to my grandparents. It’s on its last legs now and due for replacing, but it’s thirty years old if it’s a day, probably nearer forty. I’ve got my gran’s old potato peeler, a ‘Lancashire peeler’ with a string-wound handle made from something unidentifiable that isn’t plastic; she’d used it to death and was going to toss it out, I snagged it because I’m left handed – for her it’s blunt to the point of uselessness, for me it’s a brand new blade. That’s served me for at least twenty years after she’d worn it out, gods only know how long she’d had it.

Today, you want a TV or a washing machine or something, it’s a minefield. Even paying a premium for a ‘quality’ brand is often meaningless.

Got a set of Pyrex cookware as a wedding present in 1990, some of it is used daily and still going strong

Not changed in that time

Bought a gallon of Jizer in 1987 when I first bought a mountain bike, still got more than half of it left.

Today, you want a TV or a washing machine or something, it’s a minefield. Even paying a premium for a ‘quality’ brand is often meaningless.

I agree, less complex things like the spud peeler are a bit easier though

Not Marmite.

Head full of cold, I dropped and broke a large full jar this morning 🙁

derek_starship – Member

Your heart.nah you can get a new one of those, brain might be more what you’re on about, altho with alzheimers maybe not….
brainstem?

Pyrex cookware

only if you’re not fumblefingered, I know someone who didn’t even manage to a pyrex jug home from the shop.

Time was, throwing a bit of money at something would guarantee that you get a high quality item which would last a long time. But it doesn’t seem to work like that any more, you can pay a premium for something and still have it die in twelve months.

This is my big problem. I can look at clad pots and pans and be 100% sure they’ll last forever. And stuff like my Weber BBQ comes with a 25 year warranty. But other than that, there’s not a lot of stuff you can be sure that will last anymore.

Strangely enough, the best tools I have are a set of no-name allen keys I got from Costco. Go figure.

Got a 1944 zippo lighter ,been to Berlin and back (gramps had the traveling bug).and still in use everyday.
Also divan base for bed,which i was born on ,and still very comfy(different matress) 42 years old.

Children.

Is it just me, or is it actually really difficult to buy quality these days?

Time was, throwing a bit of money at something would guarantee that you get a high quality item which would last a long time. But it doesn’t seem to work like that any more, you can pay a premium for something and still have it die in twelve months.

Totally agree – IMO it’s the cult of the marketeer 🙁

In the mid 80s I had a major argument with my cousin. She was just starting a marketing degree, and was soon coming back from college spouting all sorts of marketing BS – which is now just standard business gospel.

My view was that the cost of something was built from the bottom up – design, materials, production, distribution, mark-up etc… so higher price normally equates to better design, materials, production etc.

Ohh NO. Apparently that was the root cause of the failure of British Industry. Marketing BS dictates that the cost in the shops has nothing to do with all of those basics (except to set the minimum)

Apparently the cost has to do with desirability and what you will get some mug to pay for it 🙁

Whilst this logic might work for designer frocks, applied to everything else in the real world and all gets turned upside down

Pyrex isn’t what it used to be thanks to crack dealers. Kitchen stuff is now tempered soda lime not borosilicate. Lab stuff’s still the real thing – apparently lab break ins to steal the glassware now happen!

I like stuff that looks better as it gets used over a long period

Tilley hat, 5 years on and almost there
Drizabone stockman, after an incident with some spilled petrol needed a rewax, done by me, made a hash of it, did it again, starting to look ok now
Brooks B-17, sadly it had to be black so won’t age as gracefully as the brown, but after 250 miles of arse agony it’s properly broken in (my backside that is, I doubt the saddle will ever be)

Dawes Super Galaxy, about 20 years on and was got second hand, still goes, keep meaning to sell it, but just can’t
MkIII sten, decommisioned but would pronbably still work if it could be pressed back into service
and finally, my house. 1853 so has lasted several lifetimes and just needs some TLC

Totally agree – IMO it’s the cult of the marketeer

Not just – if you build something that never needs replaced, what will you be selling in 10 years. Built in obsolescence = repeat buys

I’m glad that Mk 3 Cortinas became obsolete. Mondeos are far better cars in all sorts of ways. For a start it’s now the norm to get 100,000 miles and 10 years out of a car.

Interestingly the people that brought you PYREX back in 1915 now make the glass screen for your iPhone. Bet they won’t last a lifetime!

The awesomeness of Surf Matt.

Had mine for around 15 years.

Things that last forever?
This.

Sorry Mackem (and everyone else who thought it had died)

Cycling things:
Sidi cycling shoes
Avocet cycle computers
Look pedals

Others:
Tupperware!

Tojiro Chinese cleaver and several other carbon steel cleavers/knives.

Stainless steel whistling kettle I bought from John Lewis. Hope this will last me a while … in fact I bought two at discount.

Got several of those cast iron pot le creuset.

Plenty of Gillette DE Safety Razor … will be getting a Feather stainless steel in few months times.

arrghh … anything stainless steel with minimum moving parts I like.

So anything steel I like.

Seagull Outboards.

My grandad bought one in 1959, my dad has it now. It once sat unused for 10 years, still started first pull.

Brilliant basic british engineering. Just got to be careful not to rest your elbow against the flywheel.

old merc estates… there’s one of these on my drive 😀

supersessions9-2 – Member

Seagull Outboards.

My grandad bought one in 1959, my dad has it now. It once sat unused for 10 years, still started first pull.

Brilliant basic british engineering. Just got to be careful not to rest your elbow against the flywheel.

Jesus, that drought down south is worse than I thought.

RS – Very good

Seagull Outboards.

My father had one of those (circa 1979) and that part of my childhood was lived to the background noise of him swearing at the hateful thing. It had a habit of refusing to start in the absolute worst possible situations.

Is it just me, or is it actually really difficult to buy quality these days?

Time was, throwing a bit of money at something would guarantee that you get a high quality item which would last a long time. But it doesn’t seem to work like that any more, you can pay a premium for something and still have it die in twelve months.

We can blame the marketers and companies looking for built in obsolescence but I think we can look at ourselves the consumer too. So much of the time the “high end” alternative most people want (so is the one they make) is the one with more features or that works better by being bigger/smaller/prettier etc. etc. Very rarely does better built or more serviceable get high up on the consumer want list when looking to buy a better-than-base-model version of something.

[Painfully middle class]My nominations – my La Pavoni espresso maker that is utterly simple in operation and a pleasure to take apart and service whilst being made of great hunks of chromed brass. And my merkur razor – same qualities. [/painfully middle class]

10 years so far from my slippers Drapers of Glastonbury
You may laugh but wait ’til you have small children leaving Lego all over the floor.
Stonehenge.

Going to be a while before the scaffold poles on my 456 rust through.

Might be a while before the scaffold poles on this thing rust through too:

567 with just a thin coat of matt lacquer. Top tube/down tube are the same size, btw.

Victorinox swiss army knife – I’ve had mine coming up 30 years
Dualit toaster – 13 years so far

My big Le Creuset pan de-enamelled a few months back, quite explosively. It was only about 15 years old.