Kirby (in my opinion the models prior to the Sentria) or for a basic upright the commercial Sanitaires. I'm sure there's plenty of info out there on the Kirbys, and I love my Ultimate G, but she's very heavy, and her attachments take up a lot of room. She's like the spend the whole day removing all the dust bunnies vacuum, kinda cumbersome.

But the Sanitaires clean carpets and clean carpets well for half the price of a professionally refurbished Kirby (so just grab a canister vacuum for the attachments to clean above the floor, like an old Kenmore Progressive canister). My Kirby, idk, the price point makes me worried I'll hurt it, even though I know that's probably almost impossible.

The Sanitaires are the same design as the mid century Eurekas, my family's Eureka was from the 1960's, and still worked perfectly when my mom rolled it out to the curb in the early 00's. No idea why she did that, aside from "the FiLtRaTiOn", but I bought a commercial Sanitaire last year, it's a workhorse, and it's like, oh I remember all of this from that old vacuum. It's the definition of, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", the design hasn't needed to change, because it works. Except it has an upgraded allergy filtration bag, and seems to be heavier duty since it's commercial grade not residential grade. The parts are extremely easy to come by, it's direct air, so it will clean the carpet and the padding underneath the carpet, it has insane CFM. The brushroll is metal and has bristles and a beater bar, but it vibrates the carpet clean, it doesn't damage carpet fibers for such a powerful machine. Both the Kirby and the Sanitaire will get all the sand out of your carpet, which is what cuts the carpet fibers like tiny pieces of glass. The only parts you'll probably ever have to replace are the bags, the belt, and maybe the fan if you vacuum up bullets and bolts. VacLab on YouTube does good reviews on vacuums.

Ariat ramblers

Which do you recommend

I dont think a compass is gonna help you like you think it is mate

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Believe me when I tell you that this isn’t like other wools. I have worn a large variety of woolens over the years (Filson, Pendleton, Big Bill, etc), and this fabric is significantly better. The labor intensive construction adds another layer of cost. Just because it isn’t worth it to you doesn’t mean that the people who buy it are “getting screwed.” If anything, they are choosing a manufacturer with next to nothing in terms of marketing or brand premium.

Yeah brand specifics are good to know in general, but I can only give the ones I personally have found to be true BIFL. I’m to stocky for Ann Taylor, the beautiful blouses never fit me in the arms. Such is life.

I've also found Ann Taylor brand to be good quality second hand for women's clothing. I could never afford to shop there first hand. Classic stuff that doesn't go in or out of style. I've found some brands from Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus Marcus too. The Nordstrom stuff is hit or miss, some of it is lower tier/fast fashion, some of it is very good quality.

It's mainly getting a feel for the fabric. Does it feel thick and durable, or thin, stretchy and brittle? Are the seams sewn straight and evenly? Hold them up to the light and see if the light shines through the fabric evenly, or if there are thin patches, this is likely where the item will tear. Like I want t-shirts that wash well and wear out evenly, so they get that super soft feeling as they get older. Has the fabric aged nicely, or is there a lot of fuzzballs and pilling, especially on synthetics, which might also suggest the previous owner didn't care for it properly (like washed and dried it at too high of a temperature). If it's something that is supposed to have some stretch like athletic wear, you can sometimes see that the threads of the stretch material have snapped like little broken rubber bands, the fabric should look uniform and smooth. Check how it's supposed to be cared for, personally, I am against dry cleaning from the environmental impact, but it's important to look at how it's cared for. Older clothing often required ironing, starching, and pressing, but there was also permanent press which usually didn't wrinkle as easily and had pre-set seams. Now clothes are more wash and wear friendly. Will the garment care require more time than you are willing to commit to it?

I will lay clothes out, fold them multiple ways, see if the garment is symmetrical and the seams line up. Lower quality clothing from overseas, it amazes me how uneven they are, no offense to the people who made them. Older clothing may have a union label or logo on the tags. There might also be quality control or inspector numbers on the tag, which means someone actually hand inspected the garment for quality. Prior to about the 1980's, a lot of clothing was handmade, and I've found those clothes to be superior quality, since hours of work was usually put into making a single garment. So they'll feel very well made but not have any identifying tags.

Also with thrifting and BIFL on a budget; I learned how to hand sew and am trying to learn how to use my sewing machine so I can tailor and alter my clothing. Nothing makes a garment look more flattering than tailoring it to you, especially dressier or business attire and jeans. It's also helpful to repair things like buttons, zippers, and patch items. Upscale department stores used to have an in-store tailoring service. You would buy a garment, know your measurements, and the tailor would personalize it to you. Now, you can learn to do it yourself and give your clothes a very customized fit. It's good if you find an item slightly too large, you can take in the seams a bit, or add darts, for example.

You also want to look up tricks to identifying and removing different stains. Most food stains can be removed, but I'd avoid anything that looks like mold or a possible bodily fluid. Yellowing of white fabric is also often permanent, but there is a product called bluing that will tint whites slightly bluish to make them look a brighter white if the yellowing/dingy color is only slight. Sometimes hanging them outside on a sunny day also brightens fabric, and remove some odors that washing didn't get out. Maybe it has been in a dark closet for too long and picked up a musty odor, but airing it outside can help. Heat from the dryer will often set in stains and odors, so if one wash didn't get it out, try washing it again before drying it.

It's helpful to go to the thrift store often, know when they put out new items, sometimes expect you'll go home empty handed. It seems like thrifting gets almost competitive during economic recessions.

Iron Heart ultra heavy hoodies are pretty robust.

Check these out from Marathon https://www.marathonwatch.com/collections/compasses

Yeah I wear the kitchen clogs for work and they only really lasted about a year, need a replacement badly

Grindz are well known and loved in the barista world. Been a barista 5 years and that's what all the shops around me use to keep heavy use grinders up and running

My advice is to look your buys over GOOD. I sometimes miss things like stains or torn seams.

Haha it was so cheap that I figured it was worth at least trying

I daily used mine at the dairy farm for at least 1.5 years until they were literally falling apart from all their seams. They were definitely very warm in the summer, but it was workable.

You need to find brands you know are good for you then thrift them. I prefer LLBean dress shirts. I always look for my size, and even go to EBay. $20-$25 for a gently used shirt is better than $60 new

That's sad to hear! I would mostly be using mine in the summertime so perhaps they wouldn't be the right fit for me if warmth is a key feature

Wow - you don't hang around!

Silva are the best-respected compass maker, so hopefully you won't be disappointed. I've had mine for probably 15 years now.

Oh and I also have a bad back and have had 3 major surgeries done in my knees and ankles and these are by far an excellent mix between protection and lightness. I haven’t had many flare ups in my legs or back since changing from my muck boots.

That price is fucking ridiculous

Just bought one online for twenty bucks. I'll give this a try -- thanks for the rec!

My suggestion is Bekina boots! I daily use my StepliteX SolidGrip S5 at the dairy farm for the past 3 months and have 0 complaints. They have all the features you might want such as slip resistance, a composite safety toe, electrical hazard resistance, and thermal insulation rated for -22 C. I was a bit skeptical of the insulation, but I used them this past week during the bad weather (I am in PA) and they kept my feet warm and dry.

Bayside USA is made in USA. Super thick and durable. Not really a fashion cut, but more budget friendly. These are blanks places buy to put their own designs on, but nothing wrong with plain sweatshirts. I don't own their sweatshirt but have some tshirts. They get a lot softer as you wear them and abuse them. I will link their site but you will probably have to find a retail seller somewhere else.

https://usabayside.com/product/1102/

I have had their classic dealer boot for 3 years, I wear them every day now and only just wore out the factory insole. Can't go wrong for under $50. I feel like the sizing runs a little big, and they're chonky, not as slim/streamlined as they seem in the photos. But definitely easy to get on and super durable.