Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with durable

Durable School Backpack

Srudolph — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:43:03 -0800

My son needs the most durable school backpack we can find. He is a sophomore and for reasons that pass my understanding, doesn't use a locker, but carries all his books and his laptop with him all the time. He needs a seriously heavy-duty backpack that will last longer than a couple of months.

He doesn't need any bells and whistles -- no extra pockets or straps or rings for hanging things or zippered compartments. It just needs to be killer strong and large enough for six classes' worth of textbooks. And a laptop.

Any suggestions? THANKS

Need durable shirt buttons

exogenous — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:35:34 -0800

The cleaner sometimes smashes my shirt buttons. Where can I find durable replacement buttons for dress shirts? This problems occurs with different cleaners, and my current cleaner is probably the least problematic, so switching cleaners is not a viable solution. Nor is laundering and ironing the shirts myself an option - I'd rather pay a dollar a shirt to have them do it, even if it sometimes means I need to sew on a button. I already save buttons from worn-out shirts to re-use, but I would appreciate a better source.

I guess I could ask the cleaner to replace the broken buttons, but it only takes me a few minutes to replace them myself so I'd prefer not to raise a stink with them.

Suggestions for durable colthing

racingjs — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:35:41 -0800

I’m looking for quality, durable mens clothing, what are your recommendations? It could be dress wear, working clothes, shoes, sportswear; I want to buy those pieces of clothing that you pay 2 times the price but still looks fine after 10 years.

For example, I’ve been dissatisfied by Banana republic but satisfied by the quality of Patagonia clothing and I want that durability across my wardrobe.

rainjacket

quseio — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:23:01 -0800

I wash trucks and houses for my liveing, myproblem is i need a rain jacket that is waterproof and soap proof and very durable( and size 4 x or so) and preferably if possible acid proof i dont mean like hydrochloric acid.. something like you would use on a tractor trailor truck. I got a yellow rain jacket from a local hardware store but, its already cracking in spots and torn as it was a little to small

I would prefer something knee length or longer, with an attached hood.

I tried google it got me no where, i would prefer someone whos bought one, or knows someone who has to comment.
I am willing to pay 100-150 if its a really nice one

What are the best bargains at IKEA?

cucumberfresh — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:19:28 -0800

IKEA Filter: What are some cheap, yet surprisingly durable or high-quality items worth purchasing at IKEA? I'll be making my annual pilgrimage to IKEA soon and I would like some general tips on what to buy. Whether it's been a wobbly lamp or a chair that won't adjust, a lot of the cheap stuff I have gotten there in the past has been of really poor quality, so I am looking for things that are both inexpensive and durable. Of course, you get what you pay for, but what are the best bargains to be had at IKEA? What are some things to avoid? Thanks!

What food should I put in my school bag?

Nighthawk3729 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:39:09 -0800

I am a college student, and my cafe likes to charge 7 bucks for a wrap, as such, I try to scrounge food from around the campus, you know, going to events here and there to try and pass up the obscenely large food bill. I carry everything in my bag, from a few extra pieces of clothes, to an emergency flashlight, to an emergency can of slim fast, to everyone of my notebooks and class textbooks. I also carry some of my books in my hands nowadays for space. As you can imagine, my bag is stuffed, I've actually noticed a rip along of of the zippers, so that sections not being used so much anymore, hah, to think, I've only had it for 3 months! I Was wondering what would be a good food that could withstand not getting mushed in my bag, and that if it exploded [happened] that it wouldn't be horrible. Any ideas? PS - as you might be able to tell, I'm a little rough with my bag.

What realiable durable goods wouuld you recommend?

lpctstr; — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 01:54:45 -0800

This week a lot of things I own have worn out or have broke, and many of my other belongings will probably "expire" in the next year or so. No big deal, but what I'd like to do is purchase high quality durable goods that will last 5+ years. I'm also concerned of possible hyperinflation so I don't mind spending. What realiable durable goods would you buy? The past few weeks, a bunch of things have needed replacing:
- wallet
- speakers
- laser pointer/flashlight
- pepper mill
- ups battery backup
- sneakers
- laptop
- external hard drive
- umbrella

Most of my other possessions are nearly worn out as well, and I even have some new things that I know will not be working in a few years (projector bulb). Another example, I opened up my tin of about a hundred various pens and most of them don't write.

Some things I own have lasted a long time and still work great:
- hard anodized cookware, abused over and over
- medium-expensive casio watch, worn every day
- silverware, corelle plates/bowls, pedrini waiter corkscrew

I live in Seattle, if that affects anything.

Boston area laptop bag store?

genefinder — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:24:24 -0800

I need a durable waterproof laptop bag for under $100, and I need to buy it in the Boston area today. My son is off to college, and for some reason we haven't had the chance to go laptop bag shopping yet. No time to order online plus he would rather see it before we buy one. I would like to go with him today and buy one in the Boston area (preferably north of Boston rather than the city if that is possible).

He wants a messenger style, and it will need to be durable as he is a well known destroyer of bags. It needs to hold a Dell Latitude D630 and a selection of textbooks (one or two at a time I guess). It would be great if it was waterproof to withstand the New England weather. And hopefully around $100, but i would be willing to invest more for one that will last.

So does anyone know of a good brick and mortar we should go check out later? I'll check back if anyone needs more information to help out.

Lenovo T61p alternative?

Popcorn — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 17:42:28 -0800

Alternative to T61p? I'm looking for a laptop that is highly reliable, has a good graphics card and lots of storage. I will use this system for 3d cad, gaming, and basic office tasks. I will be traveling with it extensively and it needs to be able to take a beating. I need good battery life and small size. I'd also like to run XP pro as I've finally made peace with XP and I don't want to start all over with Vista. I'd also like bluetooth support.

I would also like it to have 2 hard drives so that I can back stuff up and easily reformat and reload the C drive from an image without needing an external drive. I like to have my computer configured a certain way and when the gremlins start showing up, I like to just nuke them from orbit and start over from an Acronis image

I saw this thread, which made me want a thinkpad, and I was looking at the T-61p 15". This system seems pretty ideal for my purposes, but what turned me off is the poor battery life and the lack of a second drive. Is there somthing else out there that is comperable but with a second drive and longer battery life?

I'm toying with the idea of not having an optical drive, as it seems like I'm asking for too much in such a small package. I figure without an optical drive, I could get more battery or hard drive in a small package. Is this crazy? I don't buy much software and I rarely burn disks. I'd rather rely on flash memory and network for my data transfer needs

Also, is there a website that is like dpreview.com but for laptops? I like the feature search function that they have.
where I can dial in all my wants and search across all brands and models. I'm finding it a real pain in the ass to go to each manufacturer's website and having to first cut through their marketing-speak to figure out which line is the one I'm looking for and then dealing with their customization process. I've got a good 25 firefox tabs open and it's driving me crazy.

Thanks in advance!

Help me find shoes!

jujube — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:39:20 -0800

Help me find durable, comfortable, wear-to-the-office women's shoes in a style that won't look dated in a few years. I don't enjoy shoe shopping, but I don't mind investing the time to find a good pair of shoes. But what drives me really really nuts is that the shoes last only about a year or at most 2 years and then I have to start all over again. Help me find some durable office shoes please! I prefer shoes that have a little bit of a heel (2-3 inches) in a classic style that won't look dated the next season--something like this or this.

I've also looked at this post about classic styles and this and this, and other similar posts that are helpful for finding specific styles or comfort, do not address the durability issue.

By durable, I mean shoes that will last me at least 5 years. I know it's possible because I have some shoes that are more than 10 years old and still look great (with a few re-soles and re-heels in between). I know, you might think, hey, why don't I buy more pairs of those shoes that have lasted me long? Well, I bought them in either Europe or Asia, and they aren't the famous brands that sell here in the Northeast US. The one pair of durable US bought shoes that I own were bought back in the 1990s, and are made by a company that's changed their profile in terms of the type of shoes it sells.

So, hivemind, it's up to you. Recommend some shoes!

Drunk-friendly camera (with AA batteries)?

knapah — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 07:40:37 -0800

Waterproof, shockproof camera which takes AA batteries? I am looking to buy a camera for use with a drinking society where chances are the camera will be passed around, dropped on the floor, into pints of ale etc. So I need something durable.

I've seen other threads on this topic such as this one http://ask.metafilter.com/60311/A-shockingly-wet-digital-camera and I was all set to purchase an Olympus 725SW from ebay.

However, I suddenly realised that it doesn't take AA batteries, something which would be distinctly useful for a variety of reasons.

Any ideas?

I'd prefer AAs over buying a spare Lithium battery, but if it comes to that I will

Help me find a durable personal radio?

wyzewoman — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:04:52 -0800

My boyfriend's portable radios keep breaking. Help me find him something more durable... My boyfriend listens to the radio while walking to and from work. Usually, he buys Sony Walkmen (Walkmans?). After about a year, something always breaks -- sometimes it's the headphone jack, sometimes it's the on-off button, sometimes it's the volume dial. Do you have a portable radio that you love and that has stood up to the test of time?

He's listening mostly to one or two stations, generally talk (NPR). This means that sound quality isn't his very first priority. But he does want all digital controls.

This radio isn't going to be exposed to the elements or mud or sweat or anything like that. It will be simply tossed in and out of jeans pockets and backpacks, repeatedly.

He's willing to pay up to $100 for something that will last him more than a year or two. So how about it, MeFites? What should he get?

Help me find a digital camera that I can drop!!

nataliecay — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 11:33:43 -0800

Please help me find a digital camera repair shop in Dallas that doesn't charge up front. I also have a question about finding a DURABLE camera for a clumsy girl. More inside. In the past three months I have successfully killed about $500 worth of digital cameras. Both cases were caused by dropping them. My first casualty, a Canon Powershot, I took to Wolf Camera and they said it would be $187 to even LOOK at it. So I decided that I should just bite the bullet and buy a new one. Two weeks ago I bought a Sony and dropped it last night and broke it.

In both cases they were only dropped once. The Canon on a garage floor and the Sony on a wood coffee table. Nothing broke off of either camera, it appears to be more internal damage. In both cases the lense that usually retracts once the camera is turned off is permanently stuck out.

SO I have two questions:

1) Can anyone recommend a good repair shop in Dallas that will diagnose my problem and THEN tell me how much it would be to fix it as opposed to charging some absurd fee up front?

2) And aside from purchasing one of those fisher-price cameras meant for five year olds, what options are out there for someone who is apparently very hard on cameras? Looking for absolute durability here...

Thanks in advance!!

Sony Ericsson quality questions

trinarian — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 09:14:34 -0800

Are Sony Ericsson phones bad news or is it just in my head? My experience has been that phone brands are consistent. Every Nokia and Samsung I've had has been trouble-free. I've hated every Motorola I've owned. The one time I owned Sony Ericsson, I quickly gave it away. It was a relatively new hand-me-down that never got signal and the interface seemed exactly opposite of what I was used to. Thus, until today, I've avoided paying them any attention.

It seems though that C-Net and other online sources think highly of them and are pretty adamant that they're the best camera phones [which is important, I'm replacing a broken pocket-cam too] on the market.

The particular phone at issue is the K750 [vs. Samsung D600-900 series]

--- The Skinny ---

- Are Sony Ericsson's reliable? I'm in China... warranty's don't mean as much, methinks.

- Are they durable? I'm going to drop it. Again. It will likely have at least one brief episode where I find how quickly it sinks.

- Do they have intuitive interfaces? I don't mind having to relearn an interface, but I don't want something that's fundamentally flawed.

- Were they bad but got better or have I had isolated experiences?

whats the most durable cell phone?

digital-dragonfly — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 21:10:00 -0800

I am looking to replace my cell phone. I use T-Mobile. The want list: camera, bluetooth headset, email & DURABLE! (broke two already) What phone do I really want?

How do I get a durable gloss wood laquer?

-harlequin- — Sat, 12 Mar 2005 09:48:09 -0800

I want to find out how to get a durable glossy lacquered(?) wood finish for pseudo wooden instrument cases. I know almost nothing about varnish/lacquer. My last attempt resulted in this, which is definitely the right look for the finish, but the problem is that it's far more prone to damage than it should be, such that I now feel I should try to keep the surface covered and protected, which makes me reluctant to actually ever take it out of the closet or use it. I used a product from the local Michaels craft store called Minwax fast-drying Polyurethane clear gloss. I used about four or five coats to get it glossy. Its can also prominantly says Superior Durability, but as you can see from the arrow in the photo, when this stuff's surface is damaged, it doesn't chip so much as peel, that light coloured area around the chip is where the coat has lifted off the wood, allowing for further peeling which in turn lifts more of the surrounding surface.

What am I doing wrong? Am I using the wrong product? Should I expect months or years instead of weeks for full hardness to be attained? Might the (aerosol) woodstain I'm using be reducing the effectiveness (if so, how do I choose woodstain?).

What product do you use, and how do you use it?

What about those hard-laquered japanese jewelery boxes where the surface is so smooth and hard it looks like plastic - how is that done?

Book Binding

blueshammer — Fri, 08 Oct 2004 06:22:14 -0800

Book binding: I want to make some one-off children's books for my daughter and her friends, and I'm trying to determine the most cost-effective way to make something extra-durable. These kids are all about 2 years old; my own daughter has been known to rip pages out of favorite books as a sign of enthusiasm. My current thought is laminating two-sided color pages and spiral binding it, but to me that's only about a 6 out of 10 on cheapness and durability. Other thoughts?

Help me find an inexpensive, durable computer to run in a tropical environment.

rschram — Fri, 12 Dec 2003 12:14:01 -0800

Please recommend models of computers which are designed to work for extended periods in tropical (a few degrees south of the equator) outdoor environments. Besides durability, power usage and price are important considerations. I'm going to be starting fieldwork soon and was reluctant to budget for a computer because I didn't know if I could justify a "ruggedized" laptop. But since I'm only going to be using the machine for typing notes, I thought people might know about some alternatives.