10 Things I Bought to Use for Life

I have been thinking lately about the idea of “buy it for life.”

Usually, that phrase is associated with durability—buy something well made, take care of it, and hopefully you'll still be using it decades from now.

I like that definition, but mine is a little broader.

I don't think something has to be indestructible to qualify. Things wear out. Things break. Sometimes they need maintenance or repair. And occasionally life simply intervenes and something gets lost, damaged or stolen.

For me, “buy it for life” is more about the intention behind the purchase.

These are things I bought to use, not things I bought while already wondering what the next version might offer. They don't depend on an annual upgrade cycle to remain useful, and their value to me isn't diminished simply because something newer exists.

More importantly, every item on this list crosses three different periods of my life:

Past. Present. Future.

Each has already earned its place through my own experience with it. Each still has a purpose in my life today. And I can already imagine how each will fit into the years ahead.

Some are expensive. Some aren't. Some get used constantly, while others can sit quietly until their particular talents are needed again.

They aren't necessarily the ten greatest products ever made, and I'm not claiming that every one of them will physically last for the rest of my life.

That's not my definition.

For me, a buy-it-for-life product is something good enough, useful enough and adaptable enough that, as long as it continues doing its job, I have no reason to go looking for its replacement.

The search is over.

1. Big Green Egg — Maintain It and Keep Cooking

The Big Green Egg may be one of the easiest products on this list to explain.

It's basically a big ceramic cooker, and technology isn't going to suddenly make mine obsolete.

I've cooked countless meals on it, and there's something about cooking over charcoal that still makes the process feel like part of the meal rather than simply the way you heat it.

Parts can wear. A gasket can eventually need replacing. Accessories may come and go.

The Egg itself just keeps being an Egg.

That's an important part of my definition of buying something for life. Maintenance doesn't disqualify something. If anything, the ability to maintain something instead of throwing it away is part of the appeal.

I don't need a smarter Big Green Egg.

I just need this one to keep cooking.

2. Breville Touch — Use It Constantly

My Breville Touch represents a completely different kind of buy-it-for-life product.

This one has electronics. I have no illusion that an electronic appliance is guaranteed to last forever.

But this machine has already earned its place on this list through sheer use.

It has made coffee several times a day for years.

And I mean every day.

There has really only been one memorable incident. Something that felt almost like a rock made its way in with the coffee beans and jammed the machine.

I grabbed a screwdriver, removed a couple of pieces, found the offending object and put everything back together.

Within a few minutes, I was making coffee again.

Maybe the Breville dies before I do. If it does, that won't change the thousands of cups of coffee it made or the enjoyment I've gotten from using it.

Some products improve your life through extraordinary experiences.

Others improve an ordinary Tuesday morning.

Do that several times a day for years and those little improvements add up.

That's part of buying something for life, too.

Use it.

A lot.

3. Swiss Army Knife — Always Be Useful

My Swiss Army knife lives on my desk.

That's probably the best indication of how I use it.

It's rarely the ideal tool for anything.

Need to tighten a screw? I own better screwdrivers.

Need to cut something? I own better knives and scissors.

But my Swiss Army knife has a knife, scissors, screwdriver, pen and enough other little tools that it seems to have an answer for an amazing number of small problems.

Its philosophy could almost be:

I may not be the ideal solution, but I can probably help.

That's what makes it so useful.

Something needs opening? It's there.

A loose screw? It's there.

Need to cut something quickly? It's there.

Can't find a pen? It can even solve that problem.

There's no software update. No charging cable. No new model that suddenly makes mine useless.

It's simply a little collection of useful tools sitting on my desk, waiting for the next small problem.

4. KEF Meta Speakers — Move With Your Life

Great passive speakers are another product that can largely escape the upgrade cycle.

But there's a specific reason my KEF Meta speakers make this list beyond simply sounding good.

They're small.

That may not sound particularly exciting, but a small, genuinely high-quality speaker can follow you through different stages of your life.

Put them in an office.

Move them into a bedroom.

Use them as the primary speakers in a living room.

Change the amplifier. Change the receiver. Change the source.

The speakers don't really care.

Mine aren't currently in the same room as some of the other audio equipment on this list, and that's actually part of the point.

Their usefulness isn't tied to a particular system or room.

As my needs change, I can move them somewhere else and give them another job.

Sometimes the ability to use something for life comes from its ability to move with your life.

5. Emotiva Monoblock Amplifiers — Build Around Them

I've owned my Emotiva monoblocks for so long that I don't remember exactly when I bought them.

Receivers have come and gone.

The Emotivas stay.

Whenever another receiver enters the system, the monoblocks get connected to it and go right back to powering my stereo speakers.

At this point, they're less like another piece of audio equipment and more like part of the infrastructure.

Interestingly, one of them actually developed a problem when it was only about nine months old.

I called Emotiva, and they walked me through some troubleshooting. Eventually we determined that it needed to go back for repair.

Fortunately, they were located in Tennessee. I sent it in, and in less than a week I had it back.

And then I continued using it.

Years later, that's not a reason I would leave the Emotivas off this list. It's one of the reasons I would put them on it.

Buy it for life doesn't mean nothing can ever break.

Things break.

The question is what happens next.

Can it be repaired and put back into service, or are you expected to throw it away and buy the latest model?

My Emotivas had their answer to that question years ago.

They came back.

I plugged them in.

And I've continued building systems around them ever since.

6. Jeep Wrangler — Make It Yours

This is probably the most controversial product on my list.

A Jeep Wrangler has an engine, transmission, electronics, suspension and thousands of components that can eventually wear or fail.

So how can I possibly call it a buy-it-for-life product?

Because longevity isn't the absence of maintenance.

A fine mechanical watch can require periodic servicing and still be considered something you can own for a lifetime. A cheap quartz watch may even keep better time.

That's not really the point.

Years ago, I owned a two-door Jeep, and looking back, I wish I had kept it.

I wish I had treated it less like transportation and more like a ticket to adventure.

Now I have another Wrangler, and this time I understand what I have.

A Wrangler is also one of the few vehicles that can change its personality along with your life.

Put on the hardtop and it's an enclosed vehicle ready for bad weather, woods and long trips.

Remove the top and doors and it becomes something entirely different.

Put on a soft top and you get a little of both.

Tires, suspension, storage and other pieces can change as its job changes.

It can live in the woods.

It can live near a beach.

It can be transportation one day and part of the adventure the next.

And if someday mine gets old enough that I no longer want to keep it going, I suspect there's somebody out there who will look at an old Wrangler and see something worth restoring.

The Jeep I owned years ago was something I wish I had held onto.

This one gives me another chance.

This time, I intend to use the Jeep for what a Jeep is exceptionally good at and to keep it in the family for as long as possible..

7. KitchenAid Stand Mixer — Let It Wait for You

My KitchenAid hasn't gotten nearly as much use lately as some of the other products on this list.

I'm okay with that.

It's waiting for me.

There was a time when I used the grinder attachment to grind meat for hamburgers. I've made pizza dough with it. And because of the attachments available, a KitchenAid can fan out in all sorts of culinary directions.

That's exactly how I see myself using it again when I have more time.

Experiment with different pizza dough recipes.

Make fresh pasta.

Try different cuts and combinations of steak for homemade burgers.

Make bread.

Turn making dinner into something I have time to enjoy rather than another thing that needs to get done.

That's why I've never considered getting rid of the mixer simply because it hasn't been heavily used recently.

I already know what its next job is.

It's waiting for me to have time again.

And perhaps that's another definition of a product worth buying for life: it can go dormant during one chapter of your life without becoming obsolete before the next one begins.

8. Husky Workbench — Give It a New Job

My Husky workbench isn't really a workbench anymore.

And that's one of the reasons it's on this list.

The heavy-duty drawers that were designed to hold tools happen to be great for storing camera equipment. Cameras and lenses have a protected place to live. Another drawer holds printer paper. Another has a Kindle and iPods.

The top has evolved, too.

Right now, it's home to my camera bag and a small photo printer. In the future, I plan to put a much larger and heavier photo printer there.

And because the entire thing sits on heavy-duty wheels, I can move all of that equipment when I need to.

I could have gone looking for a piece of furniture specifically designed for photography equipment, but there really wasn't a reason to.

I already owned something exceptionally sturdy with strong drawers, a large work surface and enough capacity to handle heavy equipment.

Its original job changed.

Its usefulness didn't.

That's another quality I look for in something I can use for life. The best products don't always have to keep doing the job printed on the box.

Sometimes they're built well enough that, when one chapter ends, you simply find another use for them.

My workbench became part of my photography setup.

Years from now, its job could change again.

I don't need to know what that job will be yet. I just know the Husky will probably be sturdy enough to handle it.

9. Billingham 2020 Camera Bag — Adapt Rather Than Replace

Camera equipment is notorious for the upgrade cycle.

Camera bags don't have to be.

That's one reason I love my Billingham Hadley Pro 2020.

It's exceptionally well made, but durability is only part of why I consider it something I can use for life.

It's adaptable.

I'm already adapting mine for what I want to do next by adding an Avea 8 side pocket.

That's a small thing, but it represents something I really like about products designed this way.

My needs changed.

The answer wasn't necessarily to replace the bag.

The answer was to adapt the bag I already own.

That's very similar to what I like about the Jeep.

The equipment inside my Billingham will change. Camera bodies will come and go. Lenses will change. My style of photography will continue evolving.

The bag can evolve with it.

Could someone steal my Billingham tomorrow?

Sure.

That wouldn't make buying it a mistake.

Every time I've carried my equipment in a bag that I genuinely enjoy owning and using, I've gotten something back from that purchase.

Buying something for life isn't a guarantee about what will happen to the object.

It's a decision about the role you want that object to have in your life.

10. Lodge Cast-Iron Skillet — Keep It Simple

After all the different kinds of products on this list, perhaps the simplest is the best place to finish.

A Lodge cast-iron skillet.

It's a chunk of iron.

There's not much to become obsolete.

Treat it reasonably well and it may last longer than you do. Neglect it, and there's a pretty good chance you can still strip it, reseason it and start over.

It can cook breakfast in the morning and sear a steak that evening.

Use it on a stove.

Put it in an oven.

Cook with it over a fire.

And unlike many things we own, years of use don't necessarily make a cast-iron skillet worse.

They can make it better.

The Lodge may also be one of the least expensive products on this entire list, which makes it a fitting final example.

Buying something for life isn't about spending a lot of money.

It's about buying something that earns a long-term place in your life.

Past, Present and Future

Looking back over these ten things, I realized that's really what connects them.

They've been part of my past.

They're part of my present.

And I can see a place for every one of them in my future.

Some have been used almost constantly.

Some have moved between rooms.

Some have been repaired.

Some have been modified and adapted.

Some have found entirely different jobs from the ones they were originally purchased to do.

And some are waiting patiently for the period of my life when I'll have more time to use them again.

They aren't perfect.

They aren't indestructible.

And they aren't guaranteed to last as long as I do.

That's not really the point.

The point is that when I look at each one, I'm not wondering what I'm going to replace it with.

If something wears out, I'll maintain it. If something breaks, I'll try to repair it. If my needs change, I'll adapt it when possible.

And then I'll keep using it.

Maybe that's my real definition of “buy it for life.”

Buy something good enough, useful enough and enjoyable enough that you can stop shopping for its replacement and start using it as part of your life.