Deuter is my choice. It lasts from 5 to 10 years, depending on the use. I don't know if these backpacks are sold in the US, but in Europe the price starts at 100€.
I second that. It has served me for everything from airplane hand luggage to college backpack to hiking bag. It has lasted me for more than 10 years now and has been less busy in the last few years, but still has many more years of life in it.
I'll copy-paste what I put in that previous thread.
You want real, non-stretch jeans or canvas. Bonus if they tell you the weight of the fabric. Once you get any spandex in there, you are limited in strength. I also always go for pants with reinforced crotches, cause otherwise that fails first for me.
In order for pants to stretch, the cotton (or whatever other blend of fibers) is essentially held together by spandex fibers. You might get the feel of the cotton, but the structural integrity of the garment is dependent on the spandex. Spandex wears out, especially if washed and dried a lot. In some cases, this results in the pants just getting permanently stretched out, but in other cases the fibers just come apart in a way that you can't really repair.
I really like pants with a crotch gusset, because that's where mine typically wear out. That gusset prevents the wear out, but it is also easier to repair if necessary. I have a pair of pants with a spandex blend gusset, and plain cotton throughout the rest of the pants, and ibthink that's a good combo of durability, repairability, and mobility.
My dad used the same pair Fjällräven pants for something like 15 years. Frequently used, often for day walks/hikes, and I don't recall seeing any signs of they were wearing out.
Now that I think about it, I should find out where that issue of pants ended up.
I have experienced that the quality of the classic fjällräven pants have dropped significantly over the past years. I have a pair i bought 2 years ago and already had to repair them 2 times because stitches suddenly broke and the pockets woren through. The belt strops seems to be next in line.
I'd much rather recommend Härkila since they are way more durable. They are ment for hunting and the fabric soft and light but also is super tare resistant and dries really fast if wet.
I have actual BIFL boots, but for hiking I settled on a pair of Danner 8" TFX GTX back in 2014. They still get plenty of use after years of backcountry expeditions.
I hear good things about Danner, but i absolutely hate them. I have had 3 pairs. First pair was decent, but every step I took they squeaked. Second pair… yup squeaky. Third pair not only squeaks, but the sizing seems off and they hurt my feet (after walking in them for three days my feet hurt for about two weeks after). Dinner’s solution was to buy new insoles for my brand new boots or get their leather conditioner for old leather. They kept completely ignoring that the boots were brand new and any time I mentioned their money back guarantee they ignored it.
I'm confused by all the issues people have had cleaning it. All of the ones I've used have a non stick inner pot thing. The rice just dumps out of there with minimal effort. Are there really cheap brands that don't have this or am I missing something about cleaning it?
I find that, to clean it, I need to wrap a paper towel around a sharp chopstick or toothpick to get in to all the little corners. And when I look at all of my friend's rice cookers, they have the same problem. Rice water crustys all around the seals that are hard to hit with a disk sponge.
Edit: mine is pretty clean right now, but I just spent a good amount to time getting into all the little crevices. Of all then stuff in my kitchen, its one of the more annoying things to clean.
Your lid looks completely fixed? On my zojirushi the top panel pops out and you can scrub it down, then just wipe out the lid before you pop it back in.
Yeah, that’s easy to pop out and clean. The most annoying part is the black plastic channel with the latch and hinge. They collect rice water and have lots of small spaces that you can’t easily hit with a sponge. You need a chopstick or toothpick.
It's all the other parts that might get dirty. Mine has a tendency to form bubbles, which means starchy foam can get around this metal disk above the pot and starches everything. I have to disassemble everything to get it really clean again.
I'll chime in with what I've personally dealt with.
Both Aroma brand
Glass lid, metal cooking pan has a lip that rolls outside of the heating base. Just a simple switch, cooking & warm. Does boil over once in a while, and fairly small...ease of cleaning, really really easy.
Enclosed unit, has a metal pan that goes inside and a steamer basket, has a removeable metal top to clean...haven't had it for long, but I can imagine the seals will deteriorate and make it not as long lasting as the other pan...However, those seals do make cleaning more difficult.
Yeah, that's what I have as well. An Aroma with the plastic seals. They're super annoying to clean. I've been considering one of those simple glass top versions simply because they don't have a ton of tight spaces that collect rice water crust.
For the past couple of years, I've been using an Aroma rice cooker as well (ARC-753SG if you're curious), and have been very pleased with it. It was one of the few rice cookers I could find with a stainless steel pot instead of Teflon. Makes perfect rice every time, easy to clean, and shows no signs of wear so far.
Glad to see Altberg mentioned.
I haven't owned any of these yet, but the fact you can visit their factory and get fitted for a specific size says a lot. Next time I'm up North I'll pay them a visit to get sized.
My current boots are Mammut GTX and I had 10 years of good use from them. Very durable. But I don't think they make them anymore and they're overkill for the walking I do now.
if you’re in an old apartment or old building, look for a little slot in the back of the medicine cabinet – that’s where everyone before you has been dumping used razor blades
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