Buy It For Life

There is a whole movement of people who are against wasteful purchases and disposable goods and espouse the belief that you should make only a few high quality purchases and then use those things (which should be durable) for a really long time.

This idea has a lot of merits, but I'm not totally sold for a variety of reasons which I'll save for another post. Here's a good summary of what the movement is about and one pitfall of it at the end.

If you are in the make-it-good-and-make-it-last bandwagon, there are a bunch of sites that highlight pieces that are good investments.

• BuyItForLife.org is clearly a good place to start looking at these products.
• One that I have just started reading is this sub-reddit.
• There is also this one which started out about clothes but morphed into a little of everything.
• Reactual is a review site that has a whole section devoted to different "buy it for life" items

Here are some of the products from those sites that I think are good purchases:

 $49 Lodge enameled dutch oven
Very similar to the Le Creuset model and just as durable (once you replace the knob with a metal one), but much cheaper--1/5 the price!

$22.34 Lodge cast iron 12" pan
You probably don't even need to buy one of these.
The best place to find cast iron is in your grandparents' or parents' houses.
If they don't want to give up their old cast iron, remind them how much younger and stronger you are and how you can actually lift the damn things.
Challenging grandmas to a cast iron bicep curl contest is fun for the whole family.

$430 Duluth Trading Co Wildfire backpack
Duluth trading has a ton of unbreakable solid stuff. Sometimes I wish I still had a physical, outdoors job so I could buy and use their stuff. Manhattan office culture just doesn't require the same kind of tool belt.

$150 Filson Flight Bag
This is a waxed canvas bag with double bottom and leather reinforcements that can take quite a beating.

$45 Leatherman Skeletool
Has a knife, bottle openener, 2 kinds of pliers, cutters, and carabiner.
Not bad!

$44.50 Duluth Trading Men's Firehose shorts
The thick material these are made from is tougher than cotton duck or denim.

$33 Carhartt washed duck work pants
These are awesome for actual outdoor work. Especially if you have a good butt.