I can see the "be curious" vibe of HN here. However, I can't shake off the feeling that this is just a low effort carryover from bygone /r/askreddit discussions.
Nah, there have been lots of similar threads over the years on HN. There is also at least one "whats the best thing you bought this year?"-post around the holidays almost every year. So I'd say this is totally within HN tradition.
Voting will take care of it. It's a bit chicken/egg though: I could see myself voting for this if it had some nice comments. There are things I've bought after seeing them discussed/recommended on HN, and I've even used hn.algolia.com to find them again or even see if something in that category has been discussed/recommended here. (Green Bell nail clippers the most recent example, so the one I can remember. Ha.)
- Split keyboard saved my wrists fifteen years ago, still do every day
- Sleeping mask with eye padding so I can open my eyes without my lids touching anything and only see total darkness. Took some getting used to, but it's amazing for getting better sleep
- standing desk setup with footstool and taller chair so I can just slide off to stand up. Makes it easy to switch so I do it more
- quality earplugs with a keychain case so they are always with me
- injinji ankle high hiking toe socks. I wear these every day now, so comfortable
- instant pot, almost all of my cooking is in this
- old cast iron skillet from a garage sale, if it's not in the instant pot it's in this
- floss holder, saves a lot of floss and is easier to use, so I floss a lot more
- bidet for toilet
- a great pair of four way stretch workout shorts. I got a Lululemon pair at a thrift store that has a hip phone pocket. I've worn them for thousands of miles of hiking and they look brand new. Love these shorts so much.
- Sun hoodie, because I'm basically a ginger and can't take that sun. The hoodie keeps me from burning.
- ultralight umbrella, fantastic for hiking in the sun or the rain
- music lessons, I wanted to learn violin and it's easy easier with a fun teacher
- bone conducting headphones (shockz). They are awesome for hiking since you can still hear everything (unless it's raining, then they are annoying). I love wearing them in the shower, music while I clean. Since they don't cover my ears, I've worn them for several days without noticing. They are very comfortable
Seconded on the bone conducting headphones. I have a little kid, so I need to reliably hear my environment, but it's nice to listen to podcasts or audiobooks once in a while.
Also the bidet. It is so strange that water washing a bum is the exception rather than the rule. In many ways we're still a primitive civilization.
Earplugs: did you get custom-fitted ones? I'm using foam ones at the range with 32db suppression. Wife suggested the custom-fitted ones. Thoughts?
Ankle hiking socks: how do they wear? I get Darn Though because of their lifetime warranty which I've used 5 times per pair already.
Cast Iron skillet: Please test this thing for lead. PLEASE.
Shorts: I don't wear brands. But my workout should be as nice as possible. So it's all Lululemon. If only they had a better lifetime. Shorts of 2 years old start to fray.
Headphones: How do they work with iOS (if you use that?). I've used all kinds of headphones, on Android, PC and iOS and I find the only one with some form of stable connection are iOS ones with the H1 chip.
Toe socks. These mid weight tend to last pretty decently for me, but I've mostly just accepted that no fabric will last forever with the kind of abuse that is hiking, so I just buy new ones as they blow out: https://www.rei.com/product/107250/injinji-trail-midweight-m...
I will test the skillet, thanks.
I don't have any Apple products, so I don't know, but I have found the Shockz to take some epic abuse. I'm on my second pair, as the first pair finally gave up the ghost after roughly 6k hours of use. That's including a winter thru of the Appalachian trail, where it was regularly below freezing all day. The best part is that they fit under a winter beanie, so my ears stay warm, and because the button is physical, I can pause and stuff without taking off my gloves and hat. https://a.co/d/goWxmam
Custom-fitted earplugs are AMAZING, especially for sleeping. I had a pair of SleepSound earplugs made for me 4-ish years back and have worn them every night since.
They still fit perfectly! Also, I give them a gentle wash with soap and water every morning (almost like I'm washing my hands normally, but with the earplugs cupped between them—takes 30 seconds) and leave them out to dry, so they haven't gotten nasty from a thousand nights lodged in my ears.
Mine (Aeropex model) work great with my iPhone. Between listening to podcasts while walking the dogs, and music while biking or running, they've been great.
I do love being able to hear what's around me for safety reasons, so there's the caveat that riding fast / downhill has a lot of wind noise. None of this is a stability problem with the connection though.
Headphones: How do they work with iOS (if you use that?).
I've used all kinds of headphones, on Android, PC and iOS
and I find the only one with some form of stable connection
are iOS ones with the H1 chip.
Bose QC45 + iPhone 12 Pro have been rock solid stable for me. Hundreds of hours.
I know HN skews largely male so this might not be interesting to many, but an Ethnotek crossbody purse. It's the most well-thought-through bag I've ever used, especially for travel. Everything has a place and is secure (so I don't worry about pickpockets), but is still easily accessible when needed. And it's expandable for a water bottle or jacket but rolls up small when empty.
Manbags/murses/satchels need to be normalized for men too. I hate carrying a wallet in my back pocket. Men have been carrying purses for a couple thousand years, IDK why we don't in modern society.
I don't see any reason to try and normalize the murse now that the briefcase has been slowly beaten into irrelevance and backpacks are far more comfortable.
Also why do some people carry their wallet in their back pockets instead of the roomier front pockets? Seems like you have to shift stuff around if you ever want to sit and are just begging to be pickpocketed
Why normalize it? People critizise stigmas, but I don't feel like this is the case (no pun intended) here. It may vary from where you're at, but in middle europe I'd argue, no one gives you a second look for wearing those (Edit: Or is that the problem? ;) ).
Yeah, sorry about that. I meant the cross body sling, with the roll top. I do know someone as well that has the shoulder bag and likes it, but I can't personally speak to it.
I started with a 30w Anker Nano, now have a handful in strategic places like backpacks, at work, etc. They are just great. Small, light and powerful. They can charge anything, even my old thinkpads (with an adapter), no more heavy charging bricks or multiple chargers to lugg around. Bonus: a quality 180cm USB-C charging cable if you only have 90cm/3ft ones.
That's exactly what I wrote on a prior round of small life tips thread. I got a 65W charger with 2 USB-C and 1 USB-A. When using two it splits 45W + 18W, and splits again 45+10+10 when using all 3. It charges practically everything I own up to a MacBook Pro (Intel) 16".
The Thermapen One meat thermometer. First I had to get over the arrogance that I could 'feel' when meat was the right temperature, then I had to invest in a product that, while being wildly more expensive, actually encourages me to use it all the time.
Pork, chicken, steak. I now have a sub-second answer to when the food is cooked.
Everyone who cooks meat should own at least one meat thermometer. I took a couple of introductory courses to professional cooking and first 2 classes of the semester were all spent on food safety. Proper handling of food, prep space cleaning, general kitchen cleaning. Now I have 3 meat thermometers so no matter who I'm cooking for their meat comes out at the proper temperature and there is no cross contamination.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend the parent posts answer (thermopen) - whilst I do own one and it's fantastic, I'd not that particularly brand loyal.
However.... would totally recommend getting an actual instant read one at a similar price point instead of a crappy $10 version (not that you were suggesting a cheap one here! just raising it for anyone who was thinking that might be an option)
I had a few iterations of cheap ones, and moving to an actual instant read thermometer was a game changer for cooking. You can quickly eg check 20 different chicken wings for doneness instead of spending 20 seconds or so checking one and wondering if the thermometer has actually come up to temp before moving on to the next
The Tushy bidet. It completely changed my morning routine. By cleaning my backside, I now flipped my wprkout + shower schedule to evening before bed, which is far more efficient and I, overall, feel more hygienic, and it's gotten me to workout far more regularly and do much less useless web browsing and procrastinating nonsense in the evening. In the mornings, now, I get straight to the things I want to get done in the day.
An HRV monitor (whoop, oura, garmin watch) that let me see how much stress I was putting my body when eating unwell / drinking. Has changed me to a much cleaner diet
I'd single out Garmin especially for the HN crowd.
While other watches seem to go in the "consumers like their data in simple colored blobs and are scared of numbers", Garmin goes hard on "chart and graph everything"
Big fan of my Forerunner 945 and use to wear it nearly 24/7, but its been giving me bad rashes on my wrist, so only wear it when running/hiking/swimming. Superior to the Apple watch for health data.
How does Apple Watch perform here? I have a Whoop 4.0 which I don't really like that much and was thinking about getting an Apple Watch as soon as they release a new one this fall. I assume it'd have superior data and Apple health integration but haven't used one since the original series.
Readit News
https://www.reddit.com/r/ask/comments/15b3wld/what_can_you_b...
https://www.reddit.com/r/LivingAlone/comments/14x2vka/what_a...
- Sleeping mask with eye padding so I can open my eyes without my lids touching anything and only see total darkness. Took some getting used to, but it's amazing for getting better sleep
- standing desk setup with footstool and taller chair so I can just slide off to stand up. Makes it easy to switch so I do it more
- quality earplugs with a keychain case so they are always with me
- injinji ankle high hiking toe socks. I wear these every day now, so comfortable
- instant pot, almost all of my cooking is in this
- old cast iron skillet from a garage sale, if it's not in the instant pot it's in this
- floss holder, saves a lot of floss and is easier to use, so I floss a lot more
- bidet for toilet
- a great pair of four way stretch workout shorts. I got a Lululemon pair at a thrift store that has a hip phone pocket. I've worn them for thousands of miles of hiking and they look brand new. Love these shorts so much.
- Sun hoodie, because I'm basically a ginger and can't take that sun. The hoodie keeps me from burning.
- ultralight umbrella, fantastic for hiking in the sun or the rain
- music lessons, I wanted to learn violin and it's easy easier with a fun teacher
- bone conducting headphones (shockz). They are awesome for hiking since you can still hear everything (unless it's raining, then they are annoying). I love wearing them in the shower, music while I clean. Since they don't cover my ears, I've worn them for several days without noticing. They are very comfortable
Also the bidet. It is so strange that water washing a bum is the exception rather than the rule. In many ways we're still a primitive civilization.
Couple of questions:
Earplugs: did you get custom-fitted ones? I'm using foam ones at the range with 32db suppression. Wife suggested the custom-fitted ones. Thoughts?
Ankle hiking socks: how do they wear? I get Darn Though because of their lifetime warranty which I've used 5 times per pair already.
Cast Iron skillet: Please test this thing for lead. PLEASE.
Shorts: I don't wear brands. But my workout should be as nice as possible. So it's all Lululemon. If only they had a better lifetime. Shorts of 2 years old start to fray.
Headphones: How do they work with iOS (if you use that?). I've used all kinds of headphones, on Android, PC and iOS and I find the only one with some form of stable connection are iOS ones with the H1 chip.
Toe socks. These mid weight tend to last pretty decently for me, but I've mostly just accepted that no fabric will last forever with the kind of abuse that is hiking, so I just buy new ones as they blow out: https://www.rei.com/product/107250/injinji-trail-midweight-m...
I will test the skillet, thanks.
I don't have any Apple products, so I don't know, but I have found the Shockz to take some epic abuse. I'm on my second pair, as the first pair finally gave up the ghost after roughly 6k hours of use. That's including a winter thru of the Appalachian trail, where it was regularly below freezing all day. The best part is that they fit under a winter beanie, so my ears stay warm, and because the button is physical, I can pause and stuff without taking off my gloves and hat. https://a.co/d/goWxmam
They still fit perfectly! Also, I give them a gentle wash with soap and water every morning (almost like I'm washing my hands normally, but with the earplugs cupped between them—takes 30 seconds) and leave them out to dry, so they haven't gotten nasty from a thousand nights lodged in my ears.
I do love being able to hear what's around me for safety reasons, so there's the caveat that riding fast / downhill has a lot of wind noise. None of this is a stability problem with the connection though.
Also why do some people carry their wallet in their back pockets instead of the roomier front pockets? Seems like you have to shift stuff around if you ever want to sit and are just begging to be pickpocketed
You're allowed to carry a wallet in your front pocket. Source: me and my front pocket.
[1]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0039N0JKQ
I started with a 30w Anker Nano, now have a handful in strategic places like backpacks, at work, etc. They are just great. Small, light and powerful. They can charge anything, even my old thinkpads (with an adapter), no more heavy charging bricks or multiple chargers to lugg around. Bonus: a quality 180cm USB-C charging cable if you only have 90cm/3ft ones.
Pork, chicken, steak. I now have a sub-second answer to when the food is cooked.
However.... would totally recommend getting an actual instant read one at a similar price point instead of a crappy $10 version (not that you were suggesting a cheap one here! just raising it for anyone who was thinking that might be an option)
I had a few iterations of cheap ones, and moving to an actual instant read thermometer was a game changer for cooking. You can quickly eg check 20 different chicken wings for doneness instead of spending 20 seconds or so checking one and wondering if the thermometer has actually come up to temp before moving on to the next
While other watches seem to go in the "consumers like their data in simple colored blobs and are scared of numbers", Garmin goes hard on "chart and graph everything"