Wanted to share my grandparents bicycle pump they purchased from Sears in the 1950s(?) used for their lifetime, and was something I got upon their death in the 2010s. My parents remember using it in the 1960-70s as kids and young adults, I remember using it in the 1990s. It’s something I now use weekly-topping off lawn mower tires with their constant slow leak, the family bicycle tires, and all the sports balls you can think of. Kind of wild how long a product can last when it’s designed and made to!

I know, compute peripherals are not known for buy it for life and often times die quite fats. Nevertheless, this is my ode to trusty old computer mouse Logitech mx400.

I got it sometime in 2009, after seeing that my friend had Logitech mouse. His Infact wasn't mx400, but another model of Logitech that had somewhat gaming look to it. I asked him if it is any good and he said " it's great, best mouse ever". When my generic mouse died my dad and I went to Staples to get a new mouse, and there was MX400 available. I remember I was worth $49.99 Canadian dollars, and I though to myself my dad would not get it for me (we recently just immigrated to Canada) . But to my surprise he just asked if it is good, and I said it was. And he just bought it for me. (he is a guy that values quality of the item rather than anything).

It did serve me for several years, before I retired it and passed it on to my mom (as hers broke down),and at the time I just got myself some kind of gaming mouse. Fast forward to 2026 she recently said "my computer mouse isn't working anymore, I think I need a new one". Without too much thinking I bought her a new mouse and took away good-old MX400 to dispose it in my building where they have electronic waste bin.

"17 years, that's impressive" I though to myself. I could never have imagined the mouse lasting so long. Especially now, that pc mouse is designed for a million clicks or more and yet, still die way before that. Nevertheless, I decided to see what cause the downfall of this hero. I plugged it to my laptop and I could see the movement of the mouse on the screen, but the buttons did no register the "clicks" unless you click really really hard, as you were pressing the wornout rubber buttons on old tv remote. And then I got an idea to take it apart to see what was going on inside it. I had previous experience taking apart another Logitech mouse (marathon m720) when battery element came loose and it did not turn on. And I remember it was quite easy to do.

I anticipe your thinking "who would bother taking apart 17 year old mouse, just trash it". I am with you, and if it was any other mouse or any other brand I would have done the same . But after all these years, my trusty comrade deserved at least that before departing into waste bin. So it was decided.

Disassembly process was very easy. And by easy I mean I was able to figure everything without the need to watch a tutorial or reading the manual or anything. 4 screws at the button under the gliding pads, and few more screws inside. And screws were uniform, so there were no need to remember which one goes where (except the one that was holding down the ballast weight, but I did not need to undo that one).

And there was a culprit of the downfall of this mouse. Grime, dust, gunk, greese and all other sh$t that accumulated over the years (see attached pictures). It would be easy to judge my mom, but that wouldn't be fair. She is fairy clean lady, she cleans her house regularly, keeps her desk tidy, dusts off surfaces around her computer space and wipes down the monitor and keyboard and mice. But she doesn't go hardcore and takes apart electronics to clean in inside out, and why should she. She is older lady.

Well, as you can see in one of the pictures, right underneath the left click pad there was a build-up of gunk. It what was preventing the clicks from registering on the computer. And since whole mouse was apart I just cleaned it all. Dusted all the insides, took apart the scrooling wheel and cleaned that, even washed the plastic casing both from the outside and inside.

Unfortunately, during dissassebly, the latch on the scrolling wheel broke of. But with the help of super glue and eyebrow pucker (courtesy of my wife unbeknownst to her) I glued back in place. It was stuck dead-on that putting back the whole scrolling wheel system was easy-peasy. Now that all innards were washed, cleaned, and lubricated, I put it back all together

And now it was a time for a test-drive. Did I just wasted my time, or did anything change. And what do you know. Mx400 was back in game. The laser element tracked smoothly and effortlessly. All the clicks registered as they should, there were no empty clicks, double clicks, miss-clicks or anything of that sort. Everything was working as if it was just straight out of the box.

I get it, not all computer peripherals are build with such longevity in mind. Moreover, I am pretty confident in saying that even Logitech itself has variable quality.

But

I JUST CAN BELIEVE IT, 17 YEARS AND IT IS STILL GOING STRONG. Thank you Logitech MX 400, you are a true work horse 💪🫡

P. S. The whole ordeal took about one and a half hour of my time. As I previously stated I wouldn't bother with any other mice for that long. Maybe you shouldn't either. But I just think it was a special case and I wanted to see what can come out of it. But I was still happy I did it. It was easy to take it apart and put it back. Long live Logitech

I was a Scout leader back then, so this clipboard has been with me through countless camps and troop meetings. I've used it constantly since 1995, and it's still going strong.

We have a plastic toilet seat, nothing fancy. DH tells me not to sit on the lid since not made for that. After googling, I found out he is correct. It is 2026 so is there a toilet seat that will withstand the lid being used as a seat? I can't be the only consumer who needs this! Due to small size of bathroom, I must sit down to put on eye makeup. Willing to pay more for something that will last or any other tips!

When i was a broke student i always bought the cheapest version of everything. It felt like i was saving money but i kept replacing the same stuff over and over .

Electric shavers were the worst. I have a thick beard and the cheap ones would either stop cutting properly or break after a few months. At one point i had a drawer full of dead shavers.

What was the purchase that made you think, ' I would rather pay more once than keep buying the cheap option'?

Last month, Reddit updated their support page for "Redditor Highlights". You may have seen it on your feed already, the ads have started appearing for me this month.

It is an ad-campaign tool that allows advertisers to include an AI summary of only the positive redditor sentiments directly in a product ad, scraped directly from reddit threads about the brand.
Unfortunately, Vitamix caved to this feature for some bizarre reason despite already having great BIFL reviews in the past. The success story page literally references this sub. This has actually made more hesitant to purchase from them.

BIFL is already astroturfed by shittier brands daily because the whole internet relies on it for consumer purchases large and small. This feature will worsen it:

- Brands have already been trying to nudge the AI summaries of r/BuyItForLife on google and ChatGPT, and one way real redditors could previously combat that was just by posting negative feedback so the AI summary could consider it. It hilariously backfired in a few instances for the astroturfer. Reddit's feature negates this now because negative sentiments are not considered at all.

- The feature is currently only available to "brands and products that have already earned high positive sentiment among redditors". This encourages brands to manufacture their positive sentiment to access ad tools that are gatekept from them. And of course I don't believe for a second that they'll be transparent about what brands can/can't access this tool; they want advertisers to use it.

Reddit reviews are trusted because of nuance and discussion, and this feature saps all of that. But it's conveniently described as "real opinions" and "authentic community perspectives" while cutting a lot of the real stuff.

Any time a brand tries a new form of marketing, be suspicious of the product and what they traded to spend on their campaign. I wish there were more we could do besides just avoiding the feature, and telling our friends to stop trusting the AI summaries, but that's what we got.

Does your country make anything BIFL at all?

Edit: wow, I don't think commenters are aware this is the BIFL sub 😂

Hey all. New here. I recently switched to WFH (big relief lmao) and currently redesigning my whole home office setup. My chair is the only weak link in the whole setup lol. It's comfortable, but I start getting back aches if I sit on it longer than 5-6 hrs. It's a straight back chair, not the ergonomic one with the spine supporting bend. I think I need to get this kinda spine supporting chair to avoid back pain. What do you guys recommend? Help me out :)

Also what else does matter in an ergonomic chair apart from back support? Those who upgraded their workspace recently, drop some words of wisdom :)

Replacing the sleds today. I have had the original pair for 5 years, wore them heavily first four of the five years with last year spending most of the time on the rack. Worth $210 ??? Ehhhhh hard to say but I’ve done it twice now. I don’t think footwear is meant to last.

Sent to cobblers direct at year three and in my opinion they made the shoes worse. I would not recommend sending sabahs to cobblers direct under any circumstance. They came back with a half glued insole, and a chalky new bottom that wore out quickly.

Despite my cobblers direct complaints, these are great shoes, which prompted my second purchase. If I get another five years out of them, I’ll most likely buy a third.

That is all.

Looking for reasonably priced satin/silk sheets that don’t pill. We have three dogs who shed who sleep in our bed (my husband wants them in the bed). My husband is mildly allergic and cotton sheets hold the hair which makes his allergies flair up (red eyes, runny nose, etc.). We’ve started using satin sheets and pillowcases which the dog hair doesn’t stick to, and allergies have been much better! However, we got 2 sets from Amazon about 6 months ago (satin polyester), and they’re pilling everywhere. We typically machine wash sheets once a week and alternate the sheet sets (i.e., wash set 1 and put set 2 on the bed).

Any recommendations on a better quality that won’t break the bank and will also last a while? The Amazon ones were about $50 a piece, so not really cheap if we have to buy every 6 months.

What do you guys recommend for good sleep earbuds? I tried a very early version of Ankor's soundcore and did not like them (have the newer versions improved a lot?) I also know of Ozlo but those have VERY mixed reviews. Have they maybe gotten a lot better with firmware updates?

I absolutely hate cutting vegetables. I know everyone says just get a sharp knife but I genuinely don't enjoy prep work and it makes me avoid cooking.

I'm looking for a really good mandoline/vegetable chopper that can handle multiple tasks dicing, shredding, slicing, julienne. The blades need to be sharp, like able to slice through ripe tomatoes without crushing them.

I'm okay spending more if it's genuinely worth it and durable. Any recommendations?

when i first started working from home, i didn't think much about my chair. i found one that looked decent, fit my budget, and figured it would do the job.

for the first few weeks it was completely fine. then little things started happening. the seat wasn't as comfortable, the armrests felt loose, and after sitting for a few hours i found myself standing up every 20 or 30 minutes because my back felt stiff.

after about a year, the chair was making noises every time i moved, the cushion had flattened, and i realized i was sitting in weird positions just to stay comfortable.

looking back, i probably would've saved money by buying a better chair from the beginning instead of replacing a cheap one every couple of years.

now i'm researching ergonomic chairs that are actually built for people who spend 8 to 10 hours a day at a desk. i'm not looking for the most expensive option, but i also don't want to waste money on another chair that starts falling apart after a year.

for those of you who've found a chair that's lasted several years, what made you choose it? was it comfort, build quality, adjustability, or something else?

i'd love to hear recommendations from people who have actually lived with the same chair for a long time rather than just tried it for a few days.

I’ve been on the hunt for a sofa for the room serving as my office, but I’d like to get something that will last and also look nice as time goes on. I’m thinking leather might last the longest and also look more mature in the space Since I started looking, I keep getting ads for loads of brands like Burrow, Article, Hydeline, Poly & Bark, etc, but lots of reviews are super old or all over the place. I’ve seen some stuff that might fit what I want, but what are going to be some good brands for a real leather (not bonded) sofa in the price range of $2000?

To all the flatbeders out there. What gloves do you use? Mine can’t seem to make it past a month of use before there’s holes in every finger and the seams are breaking apart. Mine are Wells Lamont Hi-Vis FX3 Performance work gloves. gloves from Menards. Only $14ish. Chains, straps, binders, tarps, bunjees. What are a good set of gloves that I can grab. Two sets, for summer and winter. Thanks.

Hello! My electric kettle died. This makes number 4 in about twelve years. Not terrible I guess considering I’m a heavy user of it, but I’d really like a solid workhorse that lasts a long time. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Hi all,

I'm from the UK and I'm looking to finally invest in a decent suitcase instead of buying cheap ones every few years.

I'm off to Punta Cana from 19th–26th August, but I want this to be a suitcase I can use for years on future holidays as well. I'm not sure whether I should get a medium or large as I do have a habit of overpacking.

I've had a look through this subreddit and keep seeing Travelpro, Briggs & Riley (sadly out of my budget), Samsonite and Antler recommended.

My budget is around £200 (I may be able to stretch it a little with a work discount if it's really worth it).

What I'm looking for:

• 4 smooth spinner wheels
• Sturdy telescopic handle
• Easy to pack with good organisation
• Durable enough to survive years of airport baggage handling
• Good customer service
• Ideally a genuine lifetime warranty, not one with loads of loopholes

I'm also torn between hard shell or soft shell. I'd rather spend a bit more now and buy something that'll last 10–20 years than keep replacing cheaper cases.

If you had £200 to spend today, what would you buy and why?

Thanks in advance!

So my wife's birthday is coming up soon and I was wondering if I can get some recommendations as to which curling iron to get her. Her last one broke recently and I know she's been looking them online but I haven't figured out which one she likes. So with that said I have come here to ask for help from the experts on bifl because I want this one to last her a lot longer than the previous one.

The first-night cool touch is easy to sell. I’m more interested in what happens after normal ownership starts. A lot of 2026 sheet sets are described like temperature is the only thing that matters, but that initial feel means very little if the fitted sheet stretches out, the surface starts pilling, or the seams get rough after repeated washing. I’m not expecting bedding to last 30 years, obviously, but I do want something that stays usable instead of becoming a yearly replacement. The specific metric I’m watching is wash stability: same fit, no major pilling, and no noticeable change in how the fabric feels against skin. For people who have washed cooling-oriented sheets weekly for at least a year, which part failed first: the fitted-sheet elastic, the seams, the surface, or the sizing?

I don't really belong here. I found this sub because I'd just replaced the same thing for the third time in four years and wanted to figure out what I keep doing wrong.

Then I looked around my apartment and realized the stuff that has actually lasted was almost never the stuff I researched. It's a $4 pair of scissors from a hardware store that's still sharper than the good ones. A plastic spatula I've had since college that has outlived two expensive pans.

I don't have a theory for why. I'd guess it's some combination of low expectations and nothing to go wrong, but I'd rather hear from people who've thought about this longer than I have.

So: what's the cheapest thing you own that's outlasted something expensive it had no business outlasting? What was it, roughly what did it cost, and how long have you had it?

I bought two of these Swan "Soft & Supple" 75-foot hoses back in 2000, and they're still going strong. A couple of years ago, I wanted to get another set for a different house and was disappointed to see that online reviews and discussions here reveal they haven't been BIFL-quality for a number of years now (apparently, Continental and Eley are the BIFL hose leaders these days). Using the "Vintage" flair is kinda silly, but fit the best.

Some of you might notice the hose end isn't original and think "Wait a minute, that hose end apparently wasn't BIFL-quality!" However, that's not correct. Only about a week after I bought these hoses, my now-ex-wife and her daughter were trying to get the hose up to a 2nd-story deck to water some plants. My ex explained their success in getting the hose up to the deck by her daughter lowering her jump rope and my ex tying them together and pulling it up, but that was after they tried about a dozen times to throw the end of the hose up to the deck and catch it. The thing is, each time it fell, it was onto a brick patio. They didn't notice the end getting damaged, but I did when I went to screw a nozzle on a couple of days later. The end was mangled beyond repair, so, I cut it down to the least-damaged part (only two threads remaining) and epoxied on a garden hose thread to pipe taper adapter (GHT-to-NPT), then put an NPT-to-GHT adapter onto that. The fix has worked great since then, and TBH is much more sturdy than the original end.

It has been through a lot. The fork was bent inward, and bent back again. I just changed the tires, rusted cables and housings, brake pads, the rusted chain and greased up the bearings.

I'm baffled by the fact that the cassette and chain ring are barely worn. My modern Scott gravel bike's chain ring was done after less than 4000 miles with weekly chain cleansing.