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.
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.
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.
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"
Arcopal Volcan, late '70s/early 80's. Quality, beautiful design & craftmanship. I don't know any modern product that comes near. Almost as old as I am, used daily, but looks new. Weren't expensive either. Just hard to find.
Each time I pick it up, sip my coffee, or hold it in sunlight, my day is a little more joyful vs. using regular store-bought mug.
Manufacturer taking pride in their skills & doing what they can to fabricate the best product possible, vs. today's race-to-the bottom cheap crap where enduser opinion doesn't matter as long as a profit can be made.
Everything is reduced by about 30 dB, especially low-frequency road and engine noise. Sirens etc are still perfectly audible as there is less background noise.
Either way, just posting this as a potential warning, if you use any noise cancellation, its not the technologies fault, its your brain trying to fill in the weirdly quiet bits its not hearing. Thankfully a lot of these noise cancelling headsets you can just not turn on the feature and they're just as good.
I admit I do this, but I'm conscious about using only a so-so noise canceling. Reducing even 30% of tire noise is a bliss and greatly reduces fatigue. With top-shelf Sony or Bose stuff it would be quite unsafe for everyone involved.
As a passenger (on the road and on flights), the full canceling is a game changer.
I prefer the Sony personally I feel like their ANC is a bit better.
Second one is "dump" remote control plugs. Simple 3 piece set with simple 6 button remote. Works, no stupid IOT or network or anything.
For the Mac users: I find that it is quite handy to keep a Magic Trackpad on the side of my keyboard opposite the trackball. I use it to make quick gestures such as switching desktops, showing all windows, etc.
First one I got was the Logitech M575, I just went for what looked to have good reviews, and I've always bought Logitech. I got one for work and my home when the first one died too quickly because it got bumped in my bag going back and forth to work.
Then they released a new trackball called the Ergo MX (when googling it, definitiely add the term "Trackball") which was fantastic. I liked keeping it raised instead of lowered (which was a feature it had) but then after a few years the clicking stopped working as expected, and I found out some people had issues with the switch wearing down over time.
At this point I have a wireless Kensington Trackball mouse, it supports three devices (2 bluetooth, and one USB paired device, so three total), witching between all three isn't perfect (its a little too delayed compared to my Logitech keyboard that switches on a single tap) but it works well enough. Its raised by default so its just as I would have used the Ergo MX. It also has two programmable buttons, though you can also program other things with their software, I've left their custom software uninstalled however, since it fights with Windows' own settings, but it works great on any OS I'm on, including my Linux system.
As for the keyboard, I had Microsoft's Ergonomic wireless keyboard for a while, I've been leaning towards wired keyboards more, since I do tend to use Linux, and use full disk encryption, and none of that works if you're fully bluetooth wireless only.
My other thing is I prefer flat key keyboards, I know some people hate them, but I just find them to be nicer on my hands and quicker to type on, so I usually lean towards flat key ergonomic keyboards now, which there's not a huge amount of those. The wired Microsoft keyboards only come with regular "fat keys" as opposed to the flat keys their other wireless ergonomic keyboards feature. I did find a Kensington wired keyboard that's ergonomic and has flat keys, I replaced it after I spilled coffee on it and bought the same one, but I cant help but want a wireless one still.
But I'm looking into a Logitech keyboard that is ergonomic and supports multiple devices, and using the unifying USB plug as the main way to connect to my encrypted Linux system, I've always had solid luck with Logitech's unifying USB device, it usually just works regardless of what stage the computer is in, its just bluetooth only that fails if you're trying to make bios changes.
Anyway, its been a few different devices, but the focus has always been on getting a ergonomic keyboard and any trackball mouse that works best for me. I definitely like the ones where you rest most of your hand on them the most.
They're expensive, but they are VERY comfortable, cool in hot weather, warm in cold weather, breathable, and absorb odor.
Also, you can definitely hear bone conducting headphones in the environment if the volume is high enough as the vibrations also vibrate the air.
* A nearby observer might be able to hear a bone-conducting headphone if you blast the volume, but the main point is that it doesn't reach a disturbing volume for anybody in the surrounding environment, unlike some other potential solutions.
* The audio quality isn't phenomenal, but is acceptable for the use case where you're out in public and still wanting to focus on the surrounding environment. I wouldn't use those kinds of headphones for general home use, but they're good enough for the intended purpose.
A mechanical keyboard. Retina displays. Comfortable shoes. Prescription sunglasses. Good coffee.
A good trackball instead of a mouse. (I love my Elecom Huge).
Non-standard keyboards where you can uses your thumbs (e.g. ZSA's moonlander) are a significant improvement over keyboards which retain an impractically large spacebar.
ZSA Moonlander is really not great or even very ergonomic for us. If you tent the keyboard, the thumb cluster has to be tilted down. In this case, the thumb keys are very hard to reach. If you put the cluster up, this improves only slightly, and now you can't tent the keyboard.
I stuck with mine for a few weeks but eventually gave up.
i'll be getting at least one when october comes and want to see if that really helps when dealing with low temperatures and thermal body regulation.
is there a particular brand you'd recommend?
These little things served me so well over the last 25 years!
Crafting anything at home requires an insane amount of tools, so I’m really glad I invested in proper equipment. I still need to buy a few things (not tools but generic things like wedges) but I can do more and more unplanned things without needing to buy anything.
Shaves well dry (which I do when camping) but is also water resistant for the shower. Recharge once a week at most. Used to dread shaving my head each morning, but having an excuse to stand around in the shower longer suits me just fine.
Built in VPN client connects to my home VPN server and keeps all connections safe. Airplanes, hotels, coffee shops, etc.
I love being able to share a single connection with multiple devices, get NAT firewall protection, and VPN security.
When the home Internet goes out, I put the router in the backyard to bridge the open WiFi from the school nextdoor.
A backpack that's also a bike pannier (Ortlieb Vario PS). This is great for shopping.
Bicycle gloves, for colder days. The Decathlon midrange model is good.
Lots of appliances now come with annoyingly short cables, too.
I would also recommend getting a better camera since it will change how you see the world, although a decent camera might not qualify as a small thing.
Always loved those. But I have just four now and it’s a pleasure to write.
I love the feeling and sound of writing. A good pencil goes a long way for me because it brings me joy to have the perfect weight and balance when taking notes, diagramming, etc.
Notes on a computer have always been inferior for me.
Thanks to modern phone tech I can just snap a pic of the notes I take and can use OCR for ex to share text with someone.
I've got about a dozen.
I spend so much less time looking for things now. The even bigger win is that I spend so much less time worrying about losing things. Especially when traveling.
- Label Maker
I don't often need it but when I do, I do.
- Stackable Plastic Shoeboxes (& the key to organization in general)
I have a lot of hobbies that involve a lot of little bits and pieces and tend to become clutter nightmares. Solution that I belatedly discovered: label 'em and stack 'em. I realize how stupidly obvious this sounds.
More generally, the key to staying organized is coming up with the most frictionless possible organization system. It doesn't have to be the "best" system. That was the real discovery.
- Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones
Common choice here it seems. Literal life-changer for all of the obvious reasons. I have the Bose QC45 which have been flawless. Didn't really compare with the competition head to head, just always had good experiences w/ Bose headphones so I stuck with them.
.. cheap, light, and easy to operate, it has made my outdoor expeditions so much more comfortable, and for some reason provides peace of mind since, if the grid goes kablooey, there's plenty of twigs for the next cuppa tea ..
Rosie Campbell https://www.facebook.com/ardenlk/posts/10156553178262333
Sam Bowman https://medium.com/@s8mb/things-i-recommend-you-buy-and-use-...
Also, bar soap. Switching from liquid body wash to bar soap stands as one of my best decisions. Made the switch 8 years ago now and I just opened a new bar of goat milk soap made by some regional (local...ish) nuns. It's just so much easier to travel with, and I find there are better options for my super-dry skin in bar soap land.
I take it with me everywhere and its saved my butt many many times
As for the reason, I'll just say I still have a family because of one.
(2) A roll-up electronics case. Mine (ProCase) has three pockets for thumb drives and dongles, two large pockets for my charger and power cable, and six loops for smaller cables. Then it all rolls nice and neat and compact. I call it "the burrito" and I must not be alone because Jansport now has one that actually looks like a burrito.
If only the "left behind" alert could be a bit smarter and alert me if I leave it behind when heading to office, but not when I'm heading elsewhere.
Then we bought some more to give to everyone for christmas because we liked ours so much.
Lot of other good answers in this thread: split keyboard, trackball, iron skillet, etc. These items also spark joy for me. And I should probably stop thinking about getting a bidet and actually get one.
i opted for another watch, still from casio (W-735H-1AVDF, 20€ from amazon) and while this is again a great value... the strap broke again. on this last one i got an unofficial strap that's working okay, but i don't know for how long.
(Yes there are newer models but they are more expensive and some of them much larger which makes the whole deal unattractive.)
I feared it would be a short-lived whim desire but I'm using it daily and I love it. So much smoother than a note-taking app for ideation, and also better than a notebook, because whatever I've drawn will decorate the room and gently remind me to think about its contents.
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/561269
This has been a great way to stay safe and in communications in very remote places...
Same for toilet paper. Only subscription I have. Comes 2x a year in a giant boz
- Victorinox Cybertool (mostly to work on PC buils when I'm on the go and can't take lots of tools with me)
And for everyday use a keyring pocket knife:
- Victorinox Midnite Manager@work (somehow makes me feel safer to have a backup of my encrypted passwords on me on that USB stick, and I often use the small LED light at night or in dark corners of PC builds too)
https://www.amazon.com/inCharge-Six-One-Portable-Compatible/...
Amazing how often I end up whipping this thing out to charge something or connect data end points together. Being on my keyring means I pretty much always have it. The most clever thing is that it manages to combine an Apple lightning and micro-USB into the same connector.
Newer battery flashlights all seem to have a microcontroller that's in standby when 'off', so the battery runs down, and is inevitably empty when you need it most..
These wind-up ones always have power.
Please allow me to send you down the rabbit hole[1][2] of flashlights.
Seeds are small, and they grow into things edible/pretty.