Even if it’s not expensive, Is there a high quality item every serious enthusiast owns?

Or maybe it’s a highly prized holy grail item you’d give your right arm for.

Is there something you’ve had an eye on for a while and you’re just waiting for an excuse to treat yourself?

  • peppersnail
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    201 year ago

    I have electronically actuated (as opposed to cable actuated) gear shifting on my bike. It’s becoming way more common these days, though…but still, it’s a pretty expensive piece of kit for quite marginal gains.

    • xenos
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      51 year ago

      Woah that sounds amazing, how much of the system is electronic? Is the derailleur itself controlled by a servo?

      • peppersnail
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        1 year ago

        Front and rear derailleurs are servo controlled. These connect to a central unit that also has the shifters connected to it. This central unit can communicate with a bike computer (via ant+) to show gearing.

        In addition, you can set it up so that when you shift the front derailleur, it automatically moves the rear derailler. You might want to do this in order to keep roughly the same gear ratio when changing chainrings. Or, there is a mode where you just shift up and down, and the system manages the shift for you, shifting either (or both) derailleurs, simulating a 1x drivetrain.

        All of the popular group sets have a version of this: shimano, sram, and campagnolo.

        It’s very expensive lol

        • parrot-party
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          21 year ago

          Is it battery operated then or is there a vampire circuit from the pedal power?

          • peppersnail
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            31 year ago

            It’s rechargeable battery powered. The front derailleur takes more power to do its thing, so when power is low, the system automatically drops you into the small chainring and disables the front shifting. The idea is that this will get you home relatively comfortably since you still have the full range of your cassette.

            Still…a full charge lasts me many weeks of riding, and I ride quite a lot…about 10-15 hours a week.

            Also, I’m describing shimano’s version of electronic shifting, where everything is connected physically via electric cables, so there’s one battery (mine is hidden in the seatpost). Sram’s offering has every component (derailleurs, shifters) communicating wirelessly and every piece has its own battery.

    • SentientMattress
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      31 year ago

      Modern drivetrains are great but I love the feeling of friction shifters. It’s like driving an old pickup with a manual transmission.

      • peppersnail
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        41 year ago

        Nothing wrong with that. There’s something to be said for going with simplicity. Way easier to fix if something goes wrong. If I was doing some really hardcore touring through remote areas, I would definitely favor friction shifters for this reason.

    • HidingCat
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      31 year ago

      WTF, first I’m hearing of this. Sounds really expensive. Is this a road bike thing? Sounds like a road bike thing, I can’t imagine the mountain bikers wanting something like that.

      • peppersnail
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        31 year ago

        I have it on my road bike, but they also have it for mountain bikes.

        In addition to shifting, you can even get electronically actuated dropper seat posts these days :)

        • HidingCat
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          21 year ago

          Oh wow, when I was still biking actively, dropper seat posts were only becoming mainstream; shows you how long I’ve not ridden. And now there are electronic ones!

      • relicax
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        31 year ago

        It’s becoming pretty standard on the ‘mid tier’ specced mountain bikes. Anything with sram axs in the name. With that said the mid tier for mountain bikes jumped from 3-4k to 5-6k usd over the past few years.

        • HidingCat
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          21 year ago

          Ooof! Yea, I remember when mid-tier was 3k-ish, that’s quite a big jump in price.

  • swan_pr
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    191 year ago

    Knitting can be quite fun and somewhat low cost if you don’t get influenced too much. But ask any knitter about their stash and you’ll discover we’re all hoarders who will not hesitate to pay ridiculous amounts of money for a single skein of hand died yarn (in the ugliest colours) that most likely will end up in the stash and never get knitted. Tools are the same. Why settle for a very basic and fully functional set of needles when you can get the most expensive one?

    If you know a knitter, just know they are most likely sitting on a small fortune worth of yarn and tools.

    • harmonea
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      1 year ago

      Knitting acrylic yarn on basic plastic needles is fun, mostly.

      Knitting merino wool on a slick set of stainless steel needles with memory-free interchangable cables feels so nice I feel like I’m breaking a law.

      • swan_pr
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        31 year ago

        For sure. But there are ways to make it more affordable and sustainable. Seconds, OOAKs, estate sales, unravelling thrift finds, etc. If I was listening to all the yarn shops and designers I follow, I would have a collection of 250$ sweaters! (I’m not saying I don’t have any mind you…)

    • patchw3rk
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      71 year ago

      My wife took up knitting one summer and now we’re stuck with this huge stash of yarn.

      • huckleberry
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        81 year ago

        As my GF likes to say, buying yarn and knitting are 2 different hobbies.

      • swan_pr
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        41 year ago

        Maybe talk to her about crochet. That eats up yarn in a flash. Then you’ll have doilies and granny square blankets all over the house!

      • swan_pr
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        31 year ago

        This is beautiful work, wow! Winding yarn is so relaxing. Doing it with great tools is even more satisfying. I say it’s totally necessary :)

  • wjrii
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    171 year ago

    For most power-tool woodworkers, it’s a heavy cast-iron table saw. Versatile, accurate, stable, repairable, adjustable, and powerful. Hand tool folks may not have one at all, or maybe just a little jobsite thing to rip big boards, and there’s a few people who think differently and either use a tracksaw or build up a custom work table with something smaller as its core, but the vast majority of people who are “into” woodworking will have a cast iron table saw in good repair.

    • esc27
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      41 year ago

      I only have a semi-portable table saw, and I don’t use it often, but it is easily one of my favorite tools

    • -spam-
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      31 year ago

      I wish I had the space to dedicate to big solid table saw, but even just getting a job site table saw was an absolute game changer for me.

      • wjrii
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        21 year ago

        If you’ve already got some permanent floorspace dedicated, a cast-iron top Ridgid or Delta won’t take up much more at all and the current versions are basically clones of each other, down to their integrated casters. If you’re having to put the thing away as an actual benchtop tool, then yeah, something is a million times better than nothing, no doubt.

    • oversized_hoodie
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      21 year ago

      I have the job site saw… Setting up the roller stands to handle big rips is a pain. But if I find the space to build it into a proper outfeed table, I think it could be about 85% of the cast iron saw.

      • wjrii
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        21 year ago

        Yeah, going from no saw to yes saw is obviously the biggest move. Beyond that, going from an aluminum table jobsite saw to a beat-up but cast-iron “motor-hanger” import contractor saw (I spruced it up and added a fence roughly equivalent to the ones that came on the Ridgid R4512) was a bigger jump than when I was using the makerspace’s big 3hp and 5hp cabinet saws with Biesemeyers. For me, that first jump from jobsite to contractor is the move where the value-add is worth it and you’re not too deep into diminishing returns.

        I’m currently on the spiritual successor (and possibly literal, depending on which factory in Taiwan they came from) of my “project” saw, a Sawstop Contractor saw. I think it’s the only one on the market that still has an outrigger motor, but I see no need to spend the money to upgrade any farther. The weight, the ability to adjust back into square, the induction motor (versus universal), the standard 27" depth and 3/4" miter slots, and the ease of adding supprt and fence capacity. Even staying out of the Sawstop argument, you get all of that with the jump to a Delta 36-725, or even an old Craftsman 113 (with SOME sort of upgraded fence).

    • @[email protected]
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      11 year ago

      I’ve currently got two vintage contractor saws sitting in my garage: a Craftsman 113 and a Powermatic 63. Both have beautiful cast iron tops and both have misaligned blades that I’ve spent hours trying to fix. I have PALS installed on both and for the life of me I can’t get the trunnion aligned properly. (Yes, this is a cry for help. plz help)

  • bozo
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    1 year ago

    CRT monitors: the Intergraph Interview 28HD96, informally known as the “Carmacktron” (see picture)

    A true 16:9 aspect ratio PC CRT monitor with a maximum output of 2042x1152 @ 80Hz. Not the highest horizontal frequency out there but an absolute monster in 1995.

    Edit: Check out https://kbin.social/m/CRTs if you’re into this shit 👍

  • EmptyRadar
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    131 year ago

    I’m into 3D printing, so for me right now the piece of kit I’m drooling over is the X1 Carbon by Bambu Lab. It has a lot of fancy features but what I most want is the 16-color mixer. It would be great because it would significantly reduce the painting overhead. I’m hoping to have it before the end of the year, if there’s not something fancier out by then.

    • Jon-H558
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      61 year ago

      If it has multiple spools does that mean one spool can be disolvable for ease of support removal

      • -spam-
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        31 year ago

        For sure, PVA filament for supports that dissolve.

      • Spiff
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        21 year ago

        There is special support material available that you can set as support. Ins not soluble but apparently makes removing the support much easier.

        Also, I have this printer and it’s really nice.

    • Seraph
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      51 year ago

      There’s always something fancier out! Or new tech, just this morning I saw that AI adjustment tech, auto-adjusting flow, temp or z height.

      Still, it’s pretty incredible the stuff we can make in our own home, even with “older” 3D printers.

    • -spam-
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      41 year ago

      I’m patiently waiting for the cash free for the P1P and AMS. More colours would be cool but just being able to use a couple of different filaments without manually changing them will be wild.

    • DarkGamer
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      31 year ago

      Whoa, that is cool, thanks for sharing it! Might be time to replace my old replicator 2 soon.

  • Addv4
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    131 year ago

    A really nice laminar flow hood for mycology. It basically provides a clean area so you can work with agar without worrying about introducing contamination or stuff you don’t want. You can make a basic version for around $100 (or a still air box if you can’t afford one), but a really nice hood is somewhere in the ballpark of $500-1000 for what is essentially a fan with a Very good hepa filter.

  • Mikelius
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    111 year ago

    For guitarists you have either the 100% analog guys that can spend tens of thousands on a collection of amps, or the ones that went more digital with modelers. The big ones being the Kemper, Fractal, Nueral DSP and Line 6. I have the Quad Cortex and it’s a killer, thought I wish the rate of updates was a little faster.

    • AttackBunny
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      71 year ago

      Tube amps always sound better. Just saying.

      Can we tell which category I fall into?

      • dismalnow
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        51 year ago

        Can we tell which category I fall into?

        Forearms that can carry a boogie stack from the van to the stage by their damned selves.

        That category.

          • dismalnow
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            31 year ago

            I pined over the Dual Rev G when I could actually use one as a gigging guitarist in the 90’s - but, as a gigging guitarist, I couldn’t afford one.

            Now I have a bad back, but it’s a Marshall bad back. So I guess it all worked out.

    • Jimi_Hotsauce
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      31 year ago

      I like to split the difference and use one of those nutube amps, I got a voxmv50 AC and it works very well for what I do. Tube purists will stick their noses up, modeling people will gawk at the lack of features, but for someone who doesn’t even use reverb or delay it’s perfect. (Plus it weighs nothing!)

      • AttackBunny
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        21 year ago

        If it sounds good, I’m into it. I’ve seen really, really expensive amps sound horrible, and relatively cheap ones sound great. But pretty universally, I prefer tubes amps sound.

  • Pseu
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    101 year ago

    A good quality micrometer. Some will go for the classic Starett, others will get a modern digital Mitutoyo. Doesn’t matter if it’s a lathe or mill guy, CNC or manual. Any decent machinist will have their mic.

    • Badabinski
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      51 year ago

      Not all of my metrology equipment makes it back in the tool chest every time I’m done, but my Brown & Sharpe digit mics? My Starrett No. 220? My Federal indicating micrometer? Those never see a second out of their case that they don’t need to see.

      • Devi
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        41 year ago

        It’s good for the corals, they like being bashed about a bit, like the waves would in the sea. Corals are very weird animals.

        • HidingCat
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          51 year ago

          Marine tanks are just full of weird things. Love hearing the stories from friends and acquaintances who’re into it.

          • keeb420
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            21 year ago

            my mom had one growing up. the person we got it from had a maroon clownfish that was full size. it would sometimes attack when my mom was doing stuff in the tank and even drew blood. she ended up trading it in to the dealer she bought stuff from and he put it in his display tank. youd think with now much she spent on the thing wed have had a generator of some kind but nope. i even suggested it. it sucked having to clean the tank after losing power for a week from a hurricane or winter storm.

      • FrostTom
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        31 year ago

        Fish like it. And it moves the water around to get flow to corals and to kick crap into the overflow.

    • FriendOP
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      21 year ago

      Ohh do you have a preference? Are you one of these mechanical keyboard enthusiasts or do you prefer a slimline Bluetooth softkey type setup?

      • Dsco
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        41 year ago

        Software Engineer here: Filco Majestouch 2 w/ Silent Reds is my daily driver.

        • wjrii
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          31 year ago

          Not a coder, but a mid-range 1800 format with loud ass Box Navy switches is my (WFH) daily driver.

          My browsing/gaming desktop has even louder budeget outemu greens on a budget board.

          I have a couple of megacheap Filco clone gamerboards lying around my home office, but even they are a huge step up from OEM membrane garbage.

          • HidingCat
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            21 year ago

            If you haven’t, try the Box White Owls. Super sharp tactility, they’re my current daily driver.

          • Flaky_Fish69
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            11 year ago

            Heheh. the others in my office made fun of me when I convinced the IT people that I needed a GMMK (full) frame with kahlil jade switches. I got my sweet sweet revenge by typing at something like 100 words per minute… it’s not an open office but it doesn’t matter…

            although, they’ve since asked for ‘accessibility’ upgrades to theirs as well…

      • fisteroboto
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        31 year ago

        Software engineer here
        Zsa Moonlander. Xda profile keycaps. Zealios 78g.

        This has been a dream to work on

        • Dsco
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          11 year ago

          Just ordered one of these. We’ll see how it goes

    • EmptyRadar
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      21 year ago

      I feel that. I’m using an old Cougar mechanical keyboard for work still, just because it has the key feel I want. Other features are nice but if I don’t get that clacky sensation I just can’t write code.

    • zannzen
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      21 year ago

      Got the dygma raise last year with silent pinks and the tenting. It was a massive game changer. Of course now I’m thinking of diving into the 30% ergo keyboards and that looks like a deep rabbit hole

  • Nougat
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    91 year ago

    If you like working on old Japanese motorcycles with carburetors, you really really want to have a JIS screwdriver. A Phillips will “work” … but it’ll tend to want to cam out of the bolt head, stripping it, especially if the bolts are corroded in place after 40 years. A proper JIS screwdriver has a different bit profile, designed for use with those bolts.

    “So just get one, how hard can that be?” I hear you asking. A real, quality JIS screwdriver is expensive, at least in the States. And the cheap ones are often not actually JIS screwdrivers at all. Another option is replacing JIS bolts with allen head bolts, this is very common. But if you are a stickler for keeping things as original as possible … it’s got to be JIS.

    • pjhenry1216
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      71 year ago

      Or if you wanna work on Japanese electronics. The Switch Pro controller is built with JIS screws.

  • FlashZordon
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    91 year ago

    Been into computer hardware for not very long and got dragged into the Small Form Factor PC space immediately.

    The pinnacle for me for a while what getting recent hardware into a PC case as small as a shoebox

    I’ve started with PCs as small as 20L and now have my PC in a case less that 10L. The urge to go smaller while maintaining the same amount of power is hard to resist.

    There are others doing full custom watercooling loops in PCs smaller than mine but that is a whole other rabbit hole i don’t think i am ready for.

    • Badabinski
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      31 year ago

      Mini computer people unite! I’m using a DAN Cases A4-SFXv4.1 and I love it. It’s amazing that I can fit an entire GTX 1080 in this little case.

    • @[email protected]
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      11 year ago

      In your experienced opinion, what’s a good horizontal sff case that can fit in an area around the size of an old Xbox One? I want to build a pc for the tv and the media cabinet it’s on has spaces that comfortably fit consoles.

  • metaStatic
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    81 year ago

    Miniature painter here, if you don’t own a Windsor and Newton series 7 sable brush what are you even doing?

    oh, I recently got a Vortex mixer and it’s a game changer.

    A good quality airbrush can get expensive too and is probably the biggest upgrade to the hobby.

    as with all art it’s subjective, you adjust to the tools you use … but seriously, get a series 7.

    • funkmachinego
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      71 year ago

      Windsor and Newton Series 7s were my first expensive brushes. I’m rocking Raphael 8404s right now though and I’ve been a lot happier.

      I’d say that the Harder Steinbeck Infinity series are probably the “you’ve made it” of mini painting with lots of little tweaks and QoL features, but my Iwata Eclipse has been a perfect work horse for me and may be a “pinnacle” for mini painting as far as overall value.

      Not sure you’ve made it over there yet, but feel free to join us on https://kbin.social/m/minipainting. Always love to see more work over there!

      • metaStatic
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        31 year ago

        I’ll see if I can’t get a good shot of something with my old camera to share over there.

        Ironically my next big purchase will be a new SLR. Taking pictures or videos of minis to share is as big of a rabbit hole as painting them in the first place.

  • Flaky_Fish69
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    81 year ago

    for all the keyboard peeps…

    https://fluxkeyboard.com/

    Gimmick or… do you think the hall effect keys might not be as bad as chicklets? I’m intrigued by the ability to clean it easily. (the keyboard frame itself pops off and can be rinsed.) Not sure I want a screen under it, though.

      • Flaky_Fish69
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        31 year ago

        The screen definitely is. The swappable modules as well. I’m wondering about the keys themselves.

        There’s really two reasons to use mechanicals- they’re. Ore reliable and because they don’t rely on mashing a circuit closed, you can type faster with less finger strain by not bottoming the key out.

        If you can get the same effect in something that can be taken off and cleaned…

        • xenos
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          31 year ago

          Each key is magnetically suspended with rare earth magnets allowing them to be 97% transparent and ultra low friction. Each switch has 4mm of travel and will be available in linear and tactile variants. They also feature a software adjustable actuation point in 0.1mm increments and rapid trigger functionality through analog hall effect sensing.

          Eagerly awaiting reviews on the keys, it will take something impressive to pry my cherry mx browns out of my hands…

          As someone who dabbles in all kinds of software development and media production, I feel like the screen is less of a gimmick when you consider how it can change to show shortcuts for the specific application or OS you’re running. Definitely a gimmick to use it for showing flames and fireworks and waifus… but I think it has potential for productivity

    • HidingCat
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      41 year ago

      Isn’t that just a Wooting with a fancy screen underneath?

      • Flaky_Fish69
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        21 year ago

        maybe? they’re both using hall effect sensors. I’m now intrigued by the Wooting…

        …yeah. I think I’m gonna blow some of my next paycheck on it…

        • HidingCat
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          21 year ago

          While I do think the “benefits” of a Wooting are somewhat overrated, it’s the one solid offering in that space now. I don’t think anything else comes close if that’s the kind of keyboard you’re looking at.

  • kelce
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    81 year ago

    Boots. Good quality boots. Nothing worse than being on a 10+ mile trail and realizing your boots are digging into all the wrong places.

    • Pons_Aelius
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      41 year ago

      My hiking boots had their 24th birthday last month. Still as comfortable as they were when newly broken in. I have easily covered 20,000 km in them.

      • kelce
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        21 year ago

        I’ve had mine for 5 years. They’re close to not being waterproof anymore but they got good soles so I’m holding on :D