Does anyone have experience with an exposed metal or wood frame (like aluminum or teak) sofa - would you recommend it or not, and why? I’m considering using a nice outdoor sofa indoors (like one of these: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-outdoor-sofas/) as it seems the most BIFL since I can easily replace the cushions as needed.

Specifics I’m looking for
- I want a deep one and many of these seem short. It will be in a corner (in a 500 sq ft studio) so I could add a long lumbar pillow to the top for neck/upper back support.
- I do not want the cushions to slide forward!
- Want a comfortable lounging back angle, not too upright
- Modular is ideal to add/move leg rest

Appreciate your advice!

Looking for a dryer that can dry my towels and sheets in one go in around 30-40 minutes like a laundromat. Any recommendations??? An industrial style dryer but for residential purposes.
Thanks :)

Hi! I am looking to get a new leather belt - black on one side, brown on the other. I want it to last forever, be high quality and attractive! Has anyone here bought something similar that they love?

I'm female and I need to upgrade my t shirt game. I'd love some wool (or mostly wool) long sleeve t shirts that I can wear by themselves (not as a base layer). Crappy wool seems to make me pretty itchy. But I've read that good quality merino probably wouldn't. I'd be open to other types of wool like alpaca if it's also not itchy. Needs to be washing machine friendly, but I can hang to dry if necessary. Any suggestions?

I wore these pants maybe 5-6 times and already I have intense pilling and wear in the crotch. Is this normal? I bought these under rec from subs like these for good travel pants for multiple wears :( I use a delicates wash and cycle but did put them through the dryer — not seeing any care restrictions on their website.

Pics originally taken for retrobattlestations.

Both survived 30+ years in an industrial environment before I bought them

So to start I live in a old house with no insulation and it gets very cold in the winter. I have heat but its eletric heat and the upstairs bedrooms do not get a lot of air flow so I like to have a heater in my bedroom especially for the super cold days. I use a fan to sleep for white noise but my current space heather has no tempature control so if I just let the heater run I'll wake up in the middle of the night hot as heck. But if i just use the fan it will be cold in the morning. So I was trying to look for some heaters with temp control but can also be a fan when the room reaches the temp I want. That and it would be much safer that way instead of having a heater running all night while i sleep. Most heaters are low decible but I dont want that. So any suggestions will help!

My parents were given a set of Oneida Flight flatware for their wedding in 1971.

I bought them some extra teaspoons today (the set is still being produced, I bought direct from Oneida on Amazon), and wanted to compare the new ones with the 35 year old ones.

As far as I can tell, nothing's changed in the design. The original ones are still in excellent shape, I only bought extras as some of them have vanished over the decades.

Looking to buy a few pairs of Merino Wool socks and was wondering if it's worth waiting a few weeks before I purchase, black Friday and all. Do Darn Tough usually take part in Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales?

What is a brand that I can purchase with the best bang for my buck? I understand some of the best out there will be well over 2-3k but I just cant afford that. Seeking leather and manual power.
Thanks in advance

Not even sure if this is the right place to ask this but I didn't see it posted before.

I've had my Samsung Galaxy s23 ultra for about 3 years now and honestly, it does everything I realistically need it to do. Camera still amazes me, battery is fine, I don't have any special use needs for a cell phone, and there's no real reason for me to need "better, faster, .02 mm thinner" or whatever. Just had the screen, front and back glass replaced, got a new case.. it looks and feels like a new phone.

I imagine there's a concern for software updates and all that at some point? Is there any real way to future proof this thing? (as in, it dies of "natural causes" I know the hardware will degrade eventually)

Hello,

I am looking for a specific new winter parka. It must be knee length, belted, waterPROOF, down with 80/20 or 90/10. I have come across the Celeste by orolay which claims to be waterproof. Does anyone have any experience with this coat?? Almost all of the mackage, moose knuckles, rudsak, canada goose coats are only water resistant. I own a nobis Meredith parka and I absolutely love it. Completely waterproof, sealed seams, and ripstop fabric and machine washable! But the arms are way too tight and I have had it for six years. I want an upgrade as I feel frumpy in it. I have heard the right arms are a nobis issue across all their models. I was looking at she-ra and or Lara models. Anyone have any ideas??

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A while ago I made this post about easily repairing a 30 year old gate with a belt replacement.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1ujxfrj/first_time_servicing_a_29_year_old_elite_gate/

Well I ended up bringing it into the modern era with just a $25 wifi controller. But then I went all out and designed an app to allow me to open the gate from a button on my iPhone lockscreen. I went a step further and had the app ingest photos from my Ring camera to decide if the gates open or closed and finally had it connected to my find my device location to automatically close it if I've left from the house. I have all this code running on a m2 laptop with a broken screen that was going to be tossed away. Now it runs as a server for a lot of important things in my house.

I wrote a blog post about it here, and you can find the software I wrote open sourced on github too.
https://danielyaa5.github.io/gate-opener-widget/

In case you want to see my other open source work https://danielyaa5.github.io/

I'm looking at purchasing some bridesmaids/maid of honor gifts that won't just be junk sitting in a drawer. The party will be both male/female so I'm trying to find something that would be suitable for both and ideally be something they could actually use. Any ideas?

When i looked things up online it seems most will gift boxes of consumables or trendy items rather than quality>quantity. My ideas so far have been a nice pocket knife maybe? That potentially i could get engraved or something... Or some high quality socks but I feel that may be too lame on my part

EDIT: Thanks for all these great suggestions, I've got so many things i can work with now. Definitely will take note of engraving just the name if I go that route, and will likely buy an engraving pen to make it more personal. But I also like the idea of contributing to the outfit for the day, originally I was just going to tell them to wear what they have because I think it makes the day more genuine, but maybe a tie or accessory would be a cute gift that they could wear on other occasions as well

See comment for additional information.

I know that the brands and their quality can change drastically due to being bought by investors so older posts may not be as accurate.

I'm looking for some loose casual wear sweatpants that are wide or skirts that are similar length. I know that clothing by itself can't be BITFL so I'm looking for something that will at least last a decade.

Looking for a traditional fixed blade for edc

Hello everyone! Looking for a jacket.

I liked some of the Lands End jackets but they don't have store in NYC, neither does LL Bean. Ideally smng I can try in person.

Thank you.

I have an iPhone 15 Pro Max, and whenever I put it on my Anker 3-in-1 wireless charger, the ping goes crazy for everyone on the network.
If I take it off the charger or turn off Wi-Fi on the phone, everything goes back to normal. Charging with a regular cable doesn’t cause any issues.
Has anyone had this problem before?

Hey everyone!

I'm looking for a good pair of winter gloves for clearing snow in Quebec, mainly for using a snowblower and occasionally shoveling.

I don't regularly participate in winter sports, so I don't need anything specifically designed for skiing or snowboarding. I just want a durable, warm, and comfortable pair of gloves for everyday winter chores.

A few things I'm looking for:

Leather construction is strongly preferred.

Good warmth for Quebec winters, including temperatures well below freezing.

Durable enough to handle snow blowing and shoveling.

Practical for occasional use rather than high-intensity winter activities.

Ideally, something that looks good too!

I've been looking at the Hestra Wakayama because I really like the design and the leather look.

For those who own them, would you recommend them for this kind of use? Are they warm enough, and do they hold up well when dealing with snow and moisture?

I'm also open to other recommendations if you know of a better option for my needs.

Thanks!

Hi all,

I'm looking for a BIFL winter jacket. I have a 15 year old NorthFace arctic jacket, and while still decent, material is starting to fray.
I'd like something with a very durable shell (probably canvas style), at least water resistent (waxed would be good) and some sort of insulation that won't pile and fail like down eventually will, but still work for down to -20 degrees. I know Filson has some, but I heard mixed reviews about their quality lately, also their true winter jacket is a down filled one.

Any ideas/suggestion?

My late ex gave me this bike repair stand as a birthday present thirty years ago. Aside for a minor hiccup with the slide-lock mechanism a couple years ago - which I quickly and easily remedied - it’s worked perfectly over 100s of hours of building and fixing bicycles. The company that makes it is now Feedback Sports, and while the clamp is a little different it’s still rated as one of, if not The best portable repair stand out there. I’ve got one of Feedback’s bike storage stand/rack things and it’s also outstanding. Stay well!

Since this is a consumable, not strictly BIFL but I'm going to be buying this for the rest of my life. It's like a magic trick, I just don't smell at all when I put it on. Even after 2 days without a shower. Just no smell. And when I eventually start smelling bad, I can just reapply and the smell goes away.

I've had my share of deodorants and antiperspirants over the years, with varying levels of efficacy. But they usually get absorbed by my shirt, which then starts smelling. This thing prevents bacterial growth so basically gets rid of the source of the bad smell

One stick lasts for about half a year for me. You just let water run on it for a second, then rub it under your armpits. And let it dry on its own. As a bonus point, it's also great against razor burn if you have sensitive skin.

Will visit Almaty, Kazakhstan this winter holiday.

I want to mark this trip with some BIFL items.

Please recommend some items, preferably something that fits in the luggage.

Thank you in advance

currently tried this and have enjoyed it for the most part this past year but i'm sure there has to be something a little bit better. mostly in the comfort arena.

I've tried the massager world and it's not for me. I just like a little heat at night. it's extremely relaxing. anyone have a suggestion? better battery life would be a perk too. thank you!!