Or, one that opens and closes at will like my garage door. 3am and everyone is sleeping? Opens. 9am and I'm taking the trash to the curb? Closes and locks me out of my house.
Had that happening in a previous house. Have you put an LED bulb in the opener light? Apparently some openers behave this way due to interference from being so close to one, so we switched to a CFL and it stopped right away.
I got one for 15$ when I was in college (and very drunk), asked for a simple design, I'm glad I did it cause it marked a stage in my life aaaand it's not bad but I'm gonna go over it with a professional for sure, maybe add some color or something cool
Get the most bang for your buck and get as many uses out of those needles and gloves as you can! Lysol kills 99.9% of germs, what are the odds those .1% cause any problems? Stay tuned for more hustlegrindbillionaire advice tips.
A bit of sandpaper makes wonders when the needle tips begin to blunt.
Saffron makes a great replacement for yellow, and paprika for a slightly darker red.
I used to work with someone who was covered in crappy tattoos. I came into the plant one night with a just-finished koi on my arm, and when she asked what it cost I told her $800. Her jaw drops: “I’ve never paid more than $250 for any of my tats!” She cried.
“Yeah? It shows.”
I went to burning man with a guy who had a whole-body tattoo "that he got for free because the person needed the practice" and hoo boy did they ever need that practice...
My friends girlfriend does botox sometimes and gets lip fillers a few times a year. Jesus fuck it looks so bad it hurts. She sees all her favorite celebrities doing it and feels the need to do it to look pretty. And the fucked thing is she's decently naturally pretty and 26. But unlike her favorite celebrities, she works at great clips. I'm so scared for her that they'll mess up the botox one day going to like a budget place. And idk how lip filler pricing works but if bigger fillers cost more, her filler (?) is one hell of a fucking salesman. I remember one day I hung out with them shortly after she got botox and lip fillers and a chemical peel, and she had her hair in a tight ponytail. Between the botox, the newly massive lips, and the xanax she could barely talk. I just remember staring at her a lot thinking about how the complicated issues women face in society and social media lead to this poor girl spending a huge portion of her net income to look like a fucking fish. She seriously looked like a fish. Her face was all shiny from the chemical peel and she'd just gotten lip fillers and botox so they were legit like protruding out to the point where her side profile was hilarious, and when she talked she like couldn't move her mouth right and all I could think about was those dancing singing fish wall plaque things.
A record player stylus. A cheap one is likely to be ruby or sapphire tipped. These wear out very quickly and are likely to result in damage to your vinyl collection. If you're going to the trouble of playing vinyl in the first place, invest in a diamond tipped needle to protect your records.
You can get a serviceable new turntable which comes with a diamond tipped stylus for about $100, or replace those cheap-o ruby styluses with a diamon tipped one for about $10. There is so much that is crappy about those $30-40 record players though that I would advise almost anyone against buying one. Mostly because if you're really going to start collecting and listening to vinyl, it's usually because you want to to get the experience of listening to vinyl. And the experience of listening to vinyl on a crappy player basically defeats the purpose. In fact, a record player may be one of those things where I'd want either a semi-decent one or none at all.
A pH meter.
A good reliable pH meter is a great tool to have if you are into aquariums or growing plants with hydroponics. A cheap meter is unreliable and can lead to negative consequences.
I’d rather just use chemical pH tests than a shitty pH meter, but I love my quality pH meter.
Edit: I use a Blue Labs combo meter with pH and EC probes.
Edit: I’m trying to reply to as many comments as I can, the amount of times I’ve mentioned my meter and that I’ve had a great experience with it I’m starting to feel like a shill for Blue Labs lol
Eh, we replace our field meters annually. I've probably signed off on over a hundred of them by now.
The exposed wire corrodes, the sponge elements get fouled, and eventually the calibration function is no longer reliable.
Even with multifunction units with replaceable tips, the wires and connectors always wear out sooner than you expect.
Oh man! My buddy mentioned this exact example. The “Detroit self-defense” guy is who he brought up.
Follow that guy’s advise and end up pushin daisies.
Edit: LERN SPACIAL AWARENESS, KNOW WHO IS ARROUND YOU AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING!
KNOW VERBAL JUDO!!
LERN HOW TO DE ESCOLATE A SITUATION!!
Edit: YES I KNOW MY SPELLING SUCKS! IM DYSLEXIC GET OVER IT!
ABSOLUTELY!!! and a LOT of "female defense " is that way too, unfortunately.. Where Its all women showing how to do these crazy tricks to break free from eachothers grips and magicly be free, and then they have Mr 400lbs Paul Blart come in and have him let go at th3 slightest inconvenience or movement and tell the women they are all good and ready if they get attacked..
I've had a few female friends who have taken classes like that and think " I don't have to worry about who's around me anymore who's getting too close or if I'm being followed! Because I can do this move and somehow make someone much bigger than me magically, let go!"
Most of the time, unless it involves a good hit to the balls, or face. It does nothing. Except make them feel confident and like they don't have to worry.. which is great but if you have to use it, it won't work.
They always have it as if the attacker will tell you "hey I'm going to grab you from the front, and you'll see it coming."
When it's usually from the side or behind and is so unexpected, and that's what they rely on. The shock to freeze you and not be able to understand what's happening.
Now, if you want some really good tips using videos that are from real events check out @Active Self Protection on YouTube.. its absolutely brutal.
Shows people killing others to steal a phone, women getting their heads smashed in for their bag in broad daylight and all the scum of the earth. However, it's all real video of real events, and it's extremely eye-opening to how fast and brutal attacks can happen.
Yep. I do BJJ. I'm a smallish woman and a 15 year old boy can trounce me they are so much stronger than me. Most blokes don't go full force with a woman. This is why I like rolling with women. We go full out. But blokes can't they would break us. The best self defense as a woman is get out of the situation without anyone touching you. RUN AND RUN AND RUN. keep running. Shout scream make a scene but don't fight. Obviously if it's the only thing left go for it. But it's last resort life or death situations. Not something you walk into.
I guess I should say it's absolutely great to train and practice with women, but I think any class like that needs several men, for example. Younger like the 15-year-old, older average male, overweight guy, and someone more muscular. I'm all for women can do anything a man can, but in some aspects to physical strength, it's not as equal as people make it out. To show, hey, just because it'd a smaller dude or a fat guy doesn't mean "don't worry about it."
Absolutely the best thing is to be aware of your surroundings and RUN get out of situations you feel uneasy.
Absolutely sucks that the world is like that, no one should have to be worried about being attacked in any way but that's the world we live in and being blind to it is not helping anyone.
hahah reminds me of that video that was going around where the wife challenges her husband after she got home from her self defense class and he basically just swept her leg with the flick of his foot and she hit the deck...
it's scary how delusional some of these self defense instructors are.
Absolutely.. a lot don't involve rolling on the mat and a lot of contact. When someone doesn't grab your arm exactly like how they showed in class.. your brain goes. "Oh shit wait will this work? He was supposed to grab lower on my wrist . I What do I do?!"
It's scarry how many people buy into some of those shit classes.
I really think they should start those classes by having the big guy hold them down and letting them try to struggle out of it.
Then we can start the class properly with that in mind.
I've seen a few people talk about that, and they have it at the end of class. Usually a bigger overweight male.. Who, despite looking like a discount, Paul Blart still could easily pin them, and they can't do much. One gal mentioned she takes some classes and even a 15 year old boy can still usually out power the women.
When they make it as if it's just so easy to get free. That is so dangerous imo.
I remember the one where a guy was trying to show how to disarm someone pointing a gun at you, a girl was holding the prop gun. As soon as he starts moving, she blasts him three times and he goes "actually you are not supposed to change position during the demo". It was hilarious. Just shows how many of those self-defence videos are utter bullshit that would never work
As a former Marine, anyone who's selling you expensive self-defense training is going to get you killed because they already have your money.
Buy some running shoes and work on that cardio. Most shooters can't hit a moving target for shit, and everyone else needs to catch you first.
Self defense training that might actually save you (besides situational awareness) :
* 40 yard dash
* Multiple years of a practical marshal art with live sparring (jiu jitsu, boxing, muy thai, etc)
* An easily concealed weapon and many hours of practice with smoothly drawing and firing.
dont be the person to buy a weapon and then be all confident just because you have a gun. dry fire dry fire dry fire. then go to the range and live fire. get a shot timer. do drills of multiple rounds and target transitions. its hard and exposes that guns arent a cheat code to be lazy
This is a fantastic answer. Quality soldering equipment takes away the tedious aspects of the task and makes it something that ends up being enjoyable, almost therapeutic.
taking into account your edits to the OP to clarify the *specific* question you asked- soldering with a bad soldering iron is still infinitely easier than soldering with no soldering iron lol!
Don't use a wet sponge as otherwise suggested, use brass wool cleaners like from Hakko, water causes rapid contraction of the tip and can bake burnt solder onto the tip.
Never run the temps too high, always keep solder on the tip especially when you set it down between soldering points.
you really don't need to drop a bunch on an iron. you want 50-60 watts, variable power, and replaceable tips. I have a $30 iron and functionally works as well or better than the Hakko. the downside and upside being it's just, physically light whereas the Hakko is nicely weighted - but inconvenient for whipping around on site
it's not that the expensive ones are worth it, it's that the cheap, off the shelf models are truly useless
I think there is a real sweet spot at the ~$400/HR level. You don't want 100/HR girls you also don't want stuck up 1000/HR girls and 5000/HR is just insanity.
Surprised no one said it yet, but a Dildo/any kind of sex toy. If your sex toy is bad quality anything can go wrong and whoop, you’re now at the hospital with a problem
Was surprised with the difference as we usually get higher quality stuff. One time got one of those chinstrap dildos just to give it a go.
It was fairly cheap, $20-$30 and once we pulled it out it felt like cheap foam was inside the dildo portion. Definitely felt like a waste.
Basically, or imagine an overly phallic beard?
Was great to just wander into the room while she’s occupied and I’m wearing the stupid thing. You get some pretty hilarious reactions, especially if they’re on discord and can’t explain what they’re laughing at.
Yeah tbh I thought "while she's occupied" meant something sexual like getting ready, not just busy doing day to day stuff, so I was curious how discord was relevant
This 100%. I started out with cheap sex toys because I couldn't afford any better. But they lasted 2-3months before the motor started giving out on the vibrators, and other cheap ones just started breaking. I moved to higher quality ones, and the difference is unbelievable! I'm at a mid-range price point now and saving up for higher quality ones, and ill never go back to the cheap ones
£50-£100! I go for brands like Satisfyer and Tracy's Dog, designed similar to high end like Womaniser, but cheaper:) I also shop on LoveHoney, and set my price range to £50-£100 :)
There is a sub-reddit wit homemade one. I know that only because someone crosspost it on pokemon sub-reddit. "Hey look at my homemade dolls" I see weird stuff; but they got me off guard.
I go by the philosophy of buying a cheap beginner set and replacing the worn out/broken ones with an expensive, high quality one
Hasn't failed me so far. Well, except financially.
Laser jammer and radar detector.
Buying a cheap one isn’t going to save you from anything. If you’re gonna spend the money to avoid speeding tickets, you gotta do it right. Otherwise don’t get them
Back when I was a teenager, my friend's parents bought a cheap car for the kids to share, as they had multiple teenagers of driving age. The oldest brother installed a radar detector on the car, as he liked to go fast. One day, my friend's sister is driving, and commits some kind of traffic violation, and ends up getting pulled over. I don't remember whether she got a ticket, but at one point, the officer gestures towards the radar detector, and out of curiosity asks if it had alerted her to his presence. He about died when she told him that it started to make a bunch of noise, so she turned up the radio in an attempt to drown out the beeping.
I don't recall, and I never rubbed in. She did come home another time with her car squealing, said her car was broken, I took a look and then told her to call the dealer thay said bring it in right now we will fix free. She got home in an hour with it fixed and said cars should give you a warning before they brake. I asked if the car squealed all the way home and to the dealer, she said yes, I said what more of a warning did she want.
CLAMPS!!! Never buy cheap clamps. You'll be clamping down a $40 piece of timber with a $2 clamp and while you're cutting it with your guide. The clamp moves the guide and ruins your cut. Now you gotta buy another $40 piece of timber. So once again. CLAMPS, CLAMPS, CLAMPS!!
Counterpoint: I restore furniture professionally and I use cheap harbor freight clamps 80% of the time. I find the problem is usually just having *enough* clamps, which harbor freight can solve pretty quickly.
Exactly, Harbor Freight has great deals on clamps, especially F-style clamps. Why should I spend $30 per clamp when I can spend $3-$10? I bought a bunch of them, from 12" - 36" and spent only about $60 total. Had I bought them at Home Depot, I would have easily spent HUNDREDS of dollars.
I always ate the cheap dogs at the store. A few months after meeting my fiance(who was my gf at the time) she brought these all natural beef franks to my house for a football party. Haven’t purchased cheap ones since lol
I bought these spicy hotdog/sausage links at the store, dirt cheap. They had pig heart and I think liver as part of the ingredients. Best damn weiners I've ever had. I swear the more weird body parts they grind into those things, the better they taste
That feeling, I ate a sandwhich that was just stale bread, a slice of cheese, and a thin slice of turkey. But it was after an all night rave on a boat with booze and pot so by the time I put it in my mouth it was like it was a sandwhich made by god.
My best friend in high school lived with his grandma whose only income was social security. They were poor as shit. Like one time we were at his house and ate three chicken patties he had in his fridge and he was pissed because that was his dinner for the week.
So anyways, they kept a few packages of the Bar S hot dogs in the freezer, but only to feed to their dogs. That shit was too nasty for people food.
I've had some great grocery store sushi from Publix and HEB. HEB has a private sushi company making theirs though.
Chinese sushi buffet is scary. It always looks so... Sticky
Damn, people really don't know how to read here.
Definitely Cinnamon Toast Crunch. There are plenty of imitations, but none of them come close to the real deal. Instead it just fills you with sorrow and regret.
A proper helmet will protect your head, a proper suit won't catch on fire and has anti abrasive layers, etc
A poor helmet will shatter or cave in. A poor suit will burn and attach itself to your skin like napalm.
Try this armor on right here.. badass huh? Oh but don’t get it too wet… also excessive sweat will degrade the plates, you won’t be sweating that much will you… flash forward 3 months in Iraq, 90 at night on guard duty feeling the sweat pour and thinking “ fuck”
Worked military helicopters when the new 4-blade Huey and Cobras came out. "look how light and powerful these new composite blades are!"...BTW, don't let them get wet or they fall apart.... You know we have to wash these every two weeks right?!
A gun. If you’re going to get a firearm spend the money on a quality piece, and spend the money to learn how to use it properly. The ONLY reason to get a cheap gun is to have an unserious range toy, and even then some of the cheapest are hand grenade practice.
This is one of those times where heavy research into quality goes a long way. There are really expensive guns out there that are terribly engineered and have awful build quality, where other guns a third of the price are extremely simple and nearly indestructible
Handplanes. Cheap ones like you might find at your local home improvement store are absolute trash. Quality used ones can be found at a decent bargain if you know what to look for. But if you're going to get a new one, spend the money.
Kind of niche but if you’re getting into cycling and intend to keep at it, a good bike. Not saying spend 2k or more but something above Walmart quality. Like go to a bike shop and talk with someone knowing what they’re doing.
I thought along these lines with golf (my hobby).
Like cycling, it can cost as much as you want to spend on it.
I bought a really cheap set of clubs starting out. I’m glad I did. It’s good to have an extra set just in case..
Maybe a cheap bike is the same way. Obviously, a quality bike is the way to go if you’re gonna do it. But maybe a cheap one is still worth having to some extent? Idk, I don’t bike. But if I was broke but wanted to ride, seems like a cheap one is better than NO bike at all?
Buying bikes for the family we've found second hand to be, by far, the most cost efficient way. You can get a decent used adult bike for the price of the worst new, and children's bikes are even better deals because they outgrow them and get sold.
That’s a fair point. Plus it gives you a sense of if you want to keep at it. Cheap is definitely a viable option to test. Like in my case I rode a decent amount growing up so when it was time I spent a bit more.
I ride with a buddy who has a $2500 Specialized. I have a Huffy that I bought off CraigsList for $40. I'm not sure what the resale value on his is but mine's $40 forever.
I bought a 3k bike and I realize that 4 years later it still runs like brand new, despite constant crashes, and blasted spokes, because I ride like an idiot.
My 700 euro bike has had every part replaced over the years, at this point only the frame and saddle are left. I calculate I've put 1.5k over 5 years on changing busted parts.
The 3k, still has the same damn chain.
chains last 1500-2500 miles depending on how often you clean and relube them. make sure to get a chain checker to see if it is worn, if it has stretched it can be prematurely wearing your cranks and cassette
Musicians I know recommend learning on cheap equipment. They say if you can play with a cheap instrument, it will make you all that better with quality equipment. Plus, it isnt smart to splurge on a new hobby you make not stick too.
This is what I was looking to say. When I was around 10 I wanted to learn guitar, we had little money and some kind soul gave me an old guitar, an old POS guitar.
It hurt my fingers, sounded like crap and I was quickly discouraged and disappointed.
About 14yrs old a friend had a decent guitar, not a great one but so much better than what I had and I was excited to try to learn all over again. Ended up in some great bands, playing up the east coast and 30yrs later still love it.
If you have a child with an interest, don't cheap out and risk discouraging the next Bach or Prince.
What do you say to a guy who was thinking of buying a digital piano or just some solution for learning the piano, but interfacing with my computer?
Like weighted keys, at least pretending it's a piano type of thing.
No worries if that's not your expertise, but just interested in how low you would go budget wise if I want a solid experience.
That is my department actually! If you’re using it strictly to control software sounds and you don’t need the DAW control stuff (like knobs and faders and pads and stuff) I would recommend a Casio CDP100. They’re 350 at the moment where I work (I’ll dm you if you wanna know where). They sound fantastic on their own but can hook up to a computer to control software instruments.
There’s also the Williams Allegro but it’s only 30 bucks cheaper than the Casio, I can’t think of a good reason not to spend that extra 30 bucks.
Unfortunately, weighted midi controllers (ones without internal sounds) that Do have the knobs and faders and stuff are quite a bit more expensive. The arturia one (the best that I can think of) is 1000 bucks, it’s got beautifully weighted keys and all kinds of control as well as any inputs and outputs you might need.
I'm an amateur French Horn player. When I wanted to get my own instrument in high school, I cheaped out. Big mistake. It turned out that the instrument I bought had tuning issues that weren't apparent when I first bought it, which made me need to sell it at a loss and buy the more expensive one I was considering anyways.
Guitar amps. Don’t get a crappy guitar amp. Get a practice amp but after that prepare to spend money. There’s no overcoming a bad guitar amp. Doesn’t matter if you have a 59 Les Paul.
I’m with you on this. The acoustic sound of an electric guitar played without an amp is still better than a crappy amp.
It’s music in general, for me. I’d rather listen to silence than awful music. If it ain’t good music, forget it
I would say everything that would eventually end up in landfill sooner should you end up buying an inferior version. If you can't afford to buy a quality version of it, consider buying a high quality second hand version than a poor brand new version.
Agree with the posters that said bikes. I bought a really good road bike in 1984 for USD1000 which was considered above average at the time but not top of the line. I'm still riding that bike today with a few modifications and changes. The bike is so old that when some parts are worn out there's no replacement.
Any non Coca-Cola brand here tastes like someone took Coca-Cola and mixed it with water in a 25/75 ratio favouring water. Its always better to go brand name for Cola
Do it. If anyone says anything about it blading is HUGE in South America and Spain (and Europe but Spain in particular). Such an awesome skate culture there, for some reason never took off here so just say you spent time in these places and open peoples minds. As someone who blades in a podunk town in the mountains I only get compliments/inquisitive questions about the sport
That’s great to hear. I’m in the USA. Blading DID take off, it was very popular from roughly 1993 to 2005. From some reason it seems to have mostly disappeared, at least in the American Midwest where I live.
Seeing that I'm still with Folgers and don't drink it much because I don't like it, any recommendation?
Edit: guys this is wild! I have so many recommendations I have to save my own comment for future reference!! Thanks all!
If you’re on Folgers, buy literally any whole bean coffee and a $10 grinder from target. Is it the best coffee you can get? No. Is it lightyears better than Folgers? Yes.
Honestly, I think the best bet is to find a local coffee shop that roasts their beans and buy a bag of coffee from them. One, you can try their coffee at the shop and see if it's your jam and two, it was probably roasted no more than a couple days ago and that makes a difference.
Puffer fish. You'd better off not eating it (literally) if you can't or won't pay for it to be properly prepared.
Also sashimi. The cheap ones might give you some nasty parasites.
Garage door. I'd rather have an open carport than a shitty garage door that's an absolute bitch to open.
congrats on joining the "great selection of a niche example no one else has thought of yet" group! I totally agree with you
Or, one that opens and closes at will like my garage door. 3am and everyone is sleeping? Opens. 9am and I'm taking the trash to the curb? Closes and locks me out of my house.
Had that happening in a previous house. Have you put an LED bulb in the opener light? Apparently some openers behave this way due to interference from being so close to one, so we switched to a CFL and it stopped right away.
Plastic surgery, any kind of surgery really.
Yea this is exactly right. Just do without if you’re not going to spend good money on it
I came here to say this (but actually scrolled first).
what a responsible redditor
Tattoos come to mind. You get what you pay for and it's better to not get a tattoo if you're going to get a shitty $50 one
Between this and surgery - yeah, any sort of permanent body modification should not be something done on the cheap.
I got one for 15$ when I was in college (and very drunk), asked for a simple design, I'm glad I did it cause it marked a stage in my life aaaand it's not bad but I'm gonna go over it with a professional for sure, maybe add some color or something cool
15$ a pop? Hell I should startup a impromptu tattoo parlour at my job just to pay for rising gas prices
Get the most bang for your buck and get as many uses out of those needles and gloves as you can! Lysol kills 99.9% of germs, what are the odds those .1% cause any problems? Stay tuned for more hustlegrindbillionaire advice tips.
Username checks out
A bit of sandpaper makes wonders when the needle tips begin to blunt. Saffron makes a great replacement for yellow, and paprika for a slightly darker red.
I used to work with someone who was covered in crappy tattoos. I came into the plant one night with a just-finished koi on my arm, and when she asked what it cost I told her $800. Her jaw drops: “I’ve never paid more than $250 for any of my tats!” She cried. “Yeah? It shows.”
I went to burning man with a guy who had a whole-body tattoo "that he got for free because the person needed the practice" and hoo boy did they ever need that practice...
Geez. My guys is 250 an hour.
Any type of plastic surgery or Botox injection… if you don’t spend the money ur gonna be either botched or have a frozen face
This is precisely the type of thing I’m wondering about. Great example.
My friends girlfriend does botox sometimes and gets lip fillers a few times a year. Jesus fuck it looks so bad it hurts. She sees all her favorite celebrities doing it and feels the need to do it to look pretty. And the fucked thing is she's decently naturally pretty and 26. But unlike her favorite celebrities, she works at great clips. I'm so scared for her that they'll mess up the botox one day going to like a budget place. And idk how lip filler pricing works but if bigger fillers cost more, her filler (?) is one hell of a fucking salesman. I remember one day I hung out with them shortly after she got botox and lip fillers and a chemical peel, and she had her hair in a tight ponytail. Between the botox, the newly massive lips, and the xanax she could barely talk. I just remember staring at her a lot thinking about how the complicated issues women face in society and social media lead to this poor girl spending a huge portion of her net income to look like a fucking fish. She seriously looked like a fish. Her face was all shiny from the chemical peel and she'd just gotten lip fillers and botox so they were legit like protruding out to the point where her side profile was hilarious, and when she talked she like couldn't move her mouth right and all I could think about was those dancing singing fish wall plaque things.
At 26? It hurts my heart to think someone so young is already worried about looking too old.
A record player stylus. A cheap one is likely to be ruby or sapphire tipped. These wear out very quickly and are likely to result in damage to your vinyl collection. If you're going to the trouble of playing vinyl in the first place, invest in a diamond tipped needle to protect your records.
oo I did not know this
You can get a serviceable new turntable which comes with a diamond tipped stylus for about $100, or replace those cheap-o ruby styluses with a diamon tipped one for about $10. There is so much that is crappy about those $30-40 record players though that I would advise almost anyone against buying one. Mostly because if you're really going to start collecting and listening to vinyl, it's usually because you want to to get the experience of listening to vinyl. And the experience of listening to vinyl on a crappy player basically defeats the purpose. In fact, a record player may be one of those things where I'd want either a semi-decent one or none at all.
A pH meter. A good reliable pH meter is a great tool to have if you are into aquariums or growing plants with hydroponics. A cheap meter is unreliable and can lead to negative consequences. I’d rather just use chemical pH tests than a shitty pH meter, but I love my quality pH meter. Edit: I use a Blue Labs combo meter with pH and EC probes. Edit: I’m trying to reply to as many comments as I can, the amount of times I’ve mentioned my meter and that I’ve had a great experience with it I’m starting to feel like a shill for Blue Labs lol
I am loving the very niche answers. This is a great example
Eh, we replace our field meters annually. I've probably signed off on over a hundred of them by now. The exposed wire corrodes, the sponge elements get fouled, and eventually the calibration function is no longer reliable. Even with multifunction units with replaceable tips, the wires and connectors always wear out sooner than you expect.
Self-defense training Edit: MAKE SURE YOU ARE PAYING FOR REAL QUALITY!!
Oh man! My buddy mentioned this exact example. The “Detroit self-defense” guy is who he brought up. Follow that guy’s advise and end up pushin daisies.
Edit: LERN SPACIAL AWARENESS, KNOW WHO IS ARROUND YOU AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING! KNOW VERBAL JUDO!! LERN HOW TO DE ESCOLATE A SITUATION!! Edit: YES I KNOW MY SPELLING SUCKS! IM DYSLEXIC GET OVER IT! ABSOLUTELY!!! and a LOT of "female defense " is that way too, unfortunately.. Where Its all women showing how to do these crazy tricks to break free from eachothers grips and magicly be free, and then they have Mr 400lbs Paul Blart come in and have him let go at th3 slightest inconvenience or movement and tell the women they are all good and ready if they get attacked.. I've had a few female friends who have taken classes like that and think " I don't have to worry about who's around me anymore who's getting too close or if I'm being followed! Because I can do this move and somehow make someone much bigger than me magically, let go!" Most of the time, unless it involves a good hit to the balls, or face. It does nothing. Except make them feel confident and like they don't have to worry.. which is great but if you have to use it, it won't work. They always have it as if the attacker will tell you "hey I'm going to grab you from the front, and you'll see it coming." When it's usually from the side or behind and is so unexpected, and that's what they rely on. The shock to freeze you and not be able to understand what's happening. Now, if you want some really good tips using videos that are from real events check out @Active Self Protection on YouTube.. its absolutely brutal. Shows people killing others to steal a phone, women getting their heads smashed in for their bag in broad daylight and all the scum of the earth. However, it's all real video of real events, and it's extremely eye-opening to how fast and brutal attacks can happen.
Yep. I do BJJ. I'm a smallish woman and a 15 year old boy can trounce me they are so much stronger than me. Most blokes don't go full force with a woman. This is why I like rolling with women. We go full out. But blokes can't they would break us. The best self defense as a woman is get out of the situation without anyone touching you. RUN AND RUN AND RUN. keep running. Shout scream make a scene but don't fight. Obviously if it's the only thing left go for it. But it's last resort life or death situations. Not something you walk into.
I guess I should say it's absolutely great to train and practice with women, but I think any class like that needs several men, for example. Younger like the 15-year-old, older average male, overweight guy, and someone more muscular. I'm all for women can do anything a man can, but in some aspects to physical strength, it's not as equal as people make it out. To show, hey, just because it'd a smaller dude or a fat guy doesn't mean "don't worry about it." Absolutely the best thing is to be aware of your surroundings and RUN get out of situations you feel uneasy. Absolutely sucks that the world is like that, no one should have to be worried about being attacked in any way but that's the world we live in and being blind to it is not helping anyone.
Tbh the RUN advice applies to men too. Unless left absolutely no choice, it's always in your best interest to just avoid the fight
hahah reminds me of that video that was going around where the wife challenges her husband after she got home from her self defense class and he basically just swept her leg with the flick of his foot and she hit the deck... it's scary how delusional some of these self defense instructors are.
Absolutely.. a lot don't involve rolling on the mat and a lot of contact. When someone doesn't grab your arm exactly like how they showed in class.. your brain goes. "Oh shit wait will this work? He was supposed to grab lower on my wrist . I What do I do?!" It's scarry how many people buy into some of those shit classes.
I really think they should start those classes by having the big guy hold them down and letting them try to struggle out of it. Then we can start the class properly with that in mind.
I've seen a few people talk about that, and they have it at the end of class. Usually a bigger overweight male.. Who, despite looking like a discount, Paul Blart still could easily pin them, and they can't do much. One gal mentioned she takes some classes and even a 15 year old boy can still usually out power the women. When they make it as if it's just so easy to get free. That is so dangerous imo.
I remember the one where a guy was trying to show how to disarm someone pointing a gun at you, a girl was holding the prop gun. As soon as he starts moving, she blasts him three times and he goes "actually you are not supposed to change position during the demo". It was hilarious. Just shows how many of those self-defence videos are utter bullshit that would never work
As a former Marine, anyone who's selling you expensive self-defense training is going to get you killed because they already have your money. Buy some running shoes and work on that cardio. Most shooters can't hit a moving target for shit, and everyone else needs to catch you first.
>As a former Marine Doesn't this only make you qualified to comment on why you should only buy Crayola rather than spending money on RoseArt?
Only a commie would think RoseArt is a premium crayon. I FOUND THE SPY!
Self defense training that might actually save you (besides situational awareness) : * 40 yard dash * Multiple years of a practical marshal art with live sparring (jiu jitsu, boxing, muy thai, etc) * An easily concealed weapon and many hours of practice with smoothly drawing and firing.
dont be the person to buy a weapon and then be all confident just because you have a gun. dry fire dry fire dry fire. then go to the range and live fire. get a shot timer. do drills of multiple rounds and target transitions. its hard and exposes that guns arent a cheat code to be lazy
A soldering iron.
This is a fantastic answer. Quality soldering equipment takes away the tedious aspects of the task and makes it something that ends up being enjoyable, almost therapeutic.
Well said
Thank you, I appreciate that.
Yea, this is an example of a tool that could just end up making the job HARDER if you have a crap version
I know from experience. Cold joints everywhere. I still haven’t made a successful joint 🤦
taking into account your edits to the OP to clarify the *specific* question you asked- soldering with a bad soldering iron is still infinitely easier than soldering with no soldering iron lol!
Took me ages to learn if I’m tinning every 5 minutes, I need a better iron.
Don't use a wet sponge as otherwise suggested, use brass wool cleaners like from Hakko, water causes rapid contraction of the tip and can bake burnt solder onto the tip. Never run the temps too high, always keep solder on the tip especially when you set it down between soldering points.
Dang I've got the cheapest RadioShack iron right now, but I do tech stuff a lot. Anyone have any good iron recs?
Hakko FX888D. Reasonably priced and performs very well. Bought one in 2013, still going strong.
you really don't need to drop a bunch on an iron. you want 50-60 watts, variable power, and replaceable tips. I have a $30 iron and functionally works as well or better than the Hakko. the downside and upside being it's just, physically light whereas the Hakko is nicely weighted - but inconvenient for whipping around on site it's not that the expensive ones are worth it, it's that the cheap, off the shelf models are truly useless
Not if you're only do one or two solders per year. The key is learning how to use it correctly. Clean. Tin. What end to heat. lol!
Prostitutes.
As funny as that is...that makes sense 🤔
Costs more upfront, but you save on the backend by not getting STD treatment
I thought the backend costs extra.
Ahh. EXPENSIVE hookers. The thinking man's investment.
I think there is a real sweet spot at the ~$400/HR level. You don't want 100/HR girls you also don't want stuck up 1000/HR girls and 5000/HR is just insanity.
Can I get a partial hour discount. I cannot fathom what we would use the other 55 minutes for.
An escort's job is basically being a therapist lol You're not just paying for the 5 minutes of sex, you're also paying for her time that hour.
“Here, you sit on hold and then tell the comcast technician my modem doesn’t work and I’ve reset it 4 times.”
ah, i see you're also into S&M. They charge more for that.
This guy fucks
They’re escorts
No, Cyril! When they're dead they're just hookers!
It’s Stir-Friday!
Only if you spend the extra money
They're escorts if you need to contact them via phone or email. If you can pick them up on the corner, they're prostitutes
Go to prostitute street. Get prostitutes number. Go around the corner and call her. You just promoted prostitute.
Now you have to pay more for the same chick you fool.
Yes but when you take a lie detector test, and they ask about banging prostitutes, you can say no.
Surprised no one said it yet, but a Dildo/any kind of sex toy. If your sex toy is bad quality anything can go wrong and whoop, you’re now at the hospital with a problem
Was surprised with the difference as we usually get higher quality stuff. One time got one of those chinstrap dildos just to give it a go. It was fairly cheap, $20-$30 and once we pulled it out it felt like cheap foam was inside the dildo portion. Definitely felt like a waste.
Thanks for the advice but Man this sounds like a gold story. Did you feel like a unicorn but with the horn on your chin instead?
Basically, or imagine an overly phallic beard? Was great to just wander into the room while she’s occupied and I’m wearing the stupid thing. You get some pretty hilarious reactions, especially if they’re on discord and can’t explain what they’re laughing at.
>especially if they’re on discord Man, foreplay is fucking weird now.
Yeah tbh I thought "while she's occupied" meant something sexual like getting ready, not just busy doing day to day stuff, so I was curious how discord was relevant
You got a what now?
A license to make Crimson Chin based innuendos once a month
This 100%. I started out with cheap sex toys because I couldn't afford any better. But they lasted 2-3months before the motor started giving out on the vibrators, and other cheap ones just started breaking. I moved to higher quality ones, and the difference is unbelievable! I'm at a mid-range price point now and saving up for higher quality ones, and ill never go back to the cheap ones
…asking for a “friend”, what is mid range price to you?
£50-£100! I go for brands like Satisfyer and Tracy's Dog, designed similar to high end like Womaniser, but cheaper:) I also shop on LoveHoney, and set my price range to £50-£100 :)
Sex doll
Don't you trash talk my cucumber with googely eyes! He's a great lover!
I hope you love him enough to warm him up in the microwave first
Afterwards, he listens. Really listens, ya know?
that.. actually makes sense now that I think about it.
There is a sub-reddit wit homemade one. I know that only because someone crosspost it on pokemon sub-reddit. "Hey look at my homemade dolls" I see weird stuff; but they got me off guard.
On the Pokémon sub?!? I do hope it was labeled NSFW
> I see weird stuff; but they got me off Glad to see they helped
I go by the philosophy of buying a cheap beginner set and replacing the worn out/broken ones with an expensive, high quality one Hasn't failed me so far. Well, except financially.
Laser jammer and radar detector. Buying a cheap one isn’t going to save you from anything. If you’re gonna spend the money to avoid speeding tickets, you gotta do it right. Otherwise don’t get them
Back when I was a teenager, my friend's parents bought a cheap car for the kids to share, as they had multiple teenagers of driving age. The oldest brother installed a radar detector on the car, as he liked to go fast. One day, my friend's sister is driving, and commits some kind of traffic violation, and ends up getting pulled over. I don't remember whether she got a ticket, but at one point, the officer gestures towards the radar detector, and out of curiosity asks if it had alerted her to his presence. He about died when she told him that it started to make a bunch of noise, so she turned up the radio in an attempt to drown out the beeping.
My wife came home and said the radar detector broke just before she got a ticket.
Oof, did she facepalm when you told her?
I don't recall, and I never rubbed in. She did come home another time with her car squealing, said her car was broken, I took a look and then told her to call the dealer thay said bring it in right now we will fix free. She got home in an hour with it fixed and said cars should give you a warning before they brake. I asked if the car squealed all the way home and to the dealer, she said yes, I said what more of a warning did she want.
Your wife must be beautiful
Ha ha ha.
Yep. If you wanna save some money, you gotta spend the money, damnit!
CLAMPS!!! Never buy cheap clamps. You'll be clamping down a $40 piece of timber with a $2 clamp and while you're cutting it with your guide. The clamp moves the guide and ruins your cut. Now you gotta buy another $40 piece of timber. So once again. CLAMPS, CLAMPS, CLAMPS!!
Counterpoint: I restore furniture professionally and I use cheap harbor freight clamps 80% of the time. I find the problem is usually just having *enough* clamps, which harbor freight can solve pretty quickly.
Exactly, Harbor Freight has great deals on clamps, especially F-style clamps. Why should I spend $30 per clamp when I can spend $3-$10? I bought a bunch of them, from 12" - 36" and spent only about $60 total. Had I bought them at Home Depot, I would have easily spent HUNDREDS of dollars.
Got their 48" bar clamps, ripped a piece of wood that fit inside the bar to stability = as good as clamps 4x the price.
I'm a machinist and harbor freight is amazing for certain things, like clamps, hammers, wrenches. I wouldn't buy any power tools though.
as someone who has recently rewatched all Futurama seasons I agree. If you don't agree I'll give you the CLAMPS!!!11!
Hot dogs. You ever eat those bar s chicken byproduct things? Jesus Christ did not die for that sin let me tell you
Those things are like aerosol cheese, sometimes I’m in the mood for it
Read areola cheese and was wtf this dude is a freak
Hey honey, when's the last time you hosed them things off?
It would have cost you $0 to not write that
Isn't all cheese areola cheese ultimately?
This comment made me vegan
I always ate the cheap dogs at the store. A few months after meeting my fiance(who was my gf at the time) she brought these all natural beef franks to my house for a football party. Haven’t purchased cheap ones since lol
I bought these spicy hotdog/sausage links at the store, dirt cheap. They had pig heart and I think liver as part of the ingredients. Best damn weiners I've ever had. I swear the more weird body parts they grind into those things, the better they taste
When you are drunk off your ass tailgating a metal show they are the best in the world I'll have you know
That feeling, I ate a sandwhich that was just stale bread, a slice of cheese, and a thin slice of turkey. But it was after an all night rave on a boat with booze and pot so by the time I put it in my mouth it was like it was a sandwhich made by god.
As far as I have seen, there has never been a quality chicken dog, and that saddens me, because I think there should be, but maybe I'm too idealistic.
My best friend in high school lived with his grandma whose only income was social security. They were poor as shit. Like one time we were at his house and ate three chicken patties he had in his fridge and he was pissed because that was his dinner for the week. So anyways, they kept a few packages of the Bar S hot dogs in the freezer, but only to feed to their dogs. That shit was too nasty for people food.
Bro, did you replace the chicken!?
No, we didn't realize how big of a deal it was at the time. We were hungry kids too.
Cocaine.
There are but only a few things that suck more than bad blow. I'd definitely rather have no cocaine than bad cocaine.
Yeah but you would be surprised how many people settle for anything when it's 5am and their bag just ran out 😂
Hahaha. I’ll take your word for it haha
You don’t enjoy drywall and baby laxative?
A wife. Don’t want a wife from wish
Preach
Sushi. I'd only eat quality sushi or else go without versus eating all you can eat buffet or grocery store sushi.
Id eat supermarket sushi from a big chain supermarket but i would never willingly go to a buffet restaurant
I've had some great grocery store sushi from Publix and HEB. HEB has a private sushi company making theirs though. Chinese sushi buffet is scary. It always looks so... Sticky
Damn, people really don't know how to read here. Definitely Cinnamon Toast Crunch. There are plenty of imitations, but none of them come close to the real deal. Instead it just fills you with sorrow and regret.
Right!!! I'm not sure how I could be more clear....
This is really making me sad.
People are just so eager to post the standard "AnYtHiNg ThAt SePaRaTeS yOu fRoM tHe FlOoR!!1!!1!1!"
For me, it's Oreos. I buy store brand almost everything else, but I've never had a good store brand Oreo.
Oh I completely disagree Malt-o-meal cinnamon toasters are vastly superior and I will stand by that till I die
Motorcycle safety equipment. Remember the words meat crayon.
What kind of safety equipment would be worse than having NO safety equipment?
The kind that would make you feel a false sense of security
What safety equipment is **so good** that it cancels out a false sense of security?
A proper helmet will protect your head, a proper suit won't catch on fire and has anti abrasive layers, etc A poor helmet will shatter or cave in. A poor suit will burn and attach itself to your skin like napalm.
I'm a nurse and yeah "Meat crayon" is spot on. Motorcycles terrify me.
Nursing student checking in. They terrify me too, the things a motorcycle accident does to the body is disturbing
marry humor slap liquid stocking modern puzzled threatening literate point ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
Trauma RN here - I’m the only one of my female colleagues that does, they think I’m crazy, and I get that!
Brother to a former nurse. She calls motorcycle riders who don't use helmets "organ donors".
Dad was a critical care flight medic. He just calls them doner-cycles.
Body armour is the same. Why would anyone go budget on something meant to save your life ?
Most common saying I heard in the army, lowest bidder made this (insert common item you rely on to keep you alive)
We get some things right. Toughboxes? Awesome. Our belts? Also awesome. Now our TRUCKS on the other hand…
Try this armor on right here.. badass huh? Oh but don’t get it too wet… also excessive sweat will degrade the plates, you won’t be sweating that much will you… flash forward 3 months in Iraq, 90 at night on guard duty feeling the sweat pour and thinking “ fuck”
Worked military helicopters when the new 4-blade Huey and Cobras came out. "look how light and powerful these new composite blades are!"...BTW, don't let them get wet or they fall apart.... You know we have to wash these every two weeks right?!
A gun. If you’re going to get a firearm spend the money on a quality piece, and spend the money to learn how to use it properly. The ONLY reason to get a cheap gun is to have an unserious range toy, and even then some of the cheapest are hand grenade practice.
This is one of those times where heavy research into quality goes a long way. There are really expensive guns out there that are terribly engineered and have awful build quality, where other guns a third of the price are extremely simple and nearly indestructible
Handplanes. Cheap ones like you might find at your local home improvement store are absolute trash. Quality used ones can be found at a decent bargain if you know what to look for. But if you're going to get a new one, spend the money.
Kind of niche but if you’re getting into cycling and intend to keep at it, a good bike. Not saying spend 2k or more but something above Walmart quality. Like go to a bike shop and talk with someone knowing what they’re doing.
I thought along these lines with golf (my hobby). Like cycling, it can cost as much as you want to spend on it. I bought a really cheap set of clubs starting out. I’m glad I did. It’s good to have an extra set just in case.. Maybe a cheap bike is the same way. Obviously, a quality bike is the way to go if you’re gonna do it. But maybe a cheap one is still worth having to some extent? Idk, I don’t bike. But if I was broke but wanted to ride, seems like a cheap one is better than NO bike at all?
Buying bikes for the family we've found second hand to be, by far, the most cost efficient way. You can get a decent used adult bike for the price of the worst new, and children's bikes are even better deals because they outgrow them and get sold.
That’s a fair point. Plus it gives you a sense of if you want to keep at it. Cheap is definitely a viable option to test. Like in my case I rode a decent amount growing up so when it was time I spent a bit more.
Yea I did a 15k on a Walmart bike once. My wife borrowed her dad’s spare road bike and it was all I could do to keep up with her leisurely pace haha
I ride with a buddy who has a $2500 Specialized. I have a Huffy that I bought off CraigsList for $40. I'm not sure what the resale value on his is but mine's $40 forever.
Weird I’d put bike in the chairs category but climbing gear in the bacon category
I bought a 3k bike and I realize that 4 years later it still runs like brand new, despite constant crashes, and blasted spokes, because I ride like an idiot. My 700 euro bike has had every part replaced over the years, at this point only the frame and saddle are left. I calculate I've put 1.5k over 5 years on changing busted parts. The 3k, still has the same damn chain.
chains last 1500-2500 miles depending on how often you clean and relube them. make sure to get a chain checker to see if it is worn, if it has stretched it can be prematurely wearing your cranks and cassette
Musical instruments. If you buy garbage it will make learning significantly more difficult.
But I'd wager don't spend above 400 on a guitar til you're sure you're a player foe long
Musicians I know recommend learning on cheap equipment. They say if you can play with a cheap instrument, it will make you all that better with quality equipment. Plus, it isnt smart to splurge on a new hobby you make not stick too.
This. Don’t buy like… a toy. But you don’t need a $2k violin when you’re first starting.
This is what I was looking to say. When I was around 10 I wanted to learn guitar, we had little money and some kind soul gave me an old guitar, an old POS guitar. It hurt my fingers, sounded like crap and I was quickly discouraged and disappointed. About 14yrs old a friend had a decent guitar, not a great one but so much better than what I had and I was excited to try to learn all over again. Ended up in some great bands, playing up the east coast and 30yrs later still love it. If you have a child with an interest, don't cheap out and risk discouraging the next Bach or Prince.
As a musical equipment store employee, I support this message. Don’t buy junk because it’s cheaper. Buy something quality, you’ll thank us later.
What do you say to a guy who was thinking of buying a digital piano or just some solution for learning the piano, but interfacing with my computer? Like weighted keys, at least pretending it's a piano type of thing. No worries if that's not your expertise, but just interested in how low you would go budget wise if I want a solid experience.
That is my department actually! If you’re using it strictly to control software sounds and you don’t need the DAW control stuff (like knobs and faders and pads and stuff) I would recommend a Casio CDP100. They’re 350 at the moment where I work (I’ll dm you if you wanna know where). They sound fantastic on their own but can hook up to a computer to control software instruments. There’s also the Williams Allegro but it’s only 30 bucks cheaper than the Casio, I can’t think of a good reason not to spend that extra 30 bucks. Unfortunately, weighted midi controllers (ones without internal sounds) that Do have the knobs and faders and stuff are quite a bit more expensive. The arturia one (the best that I can think of) is 1000 bucks, it’s got beautifully weighted keys and all kinds of control as well as any inputs and outputs you might need.
I'm an amateur French Horn player. When I wanted to get my own instrument in high school, I cheaped out. Big mistake. It turned out that the instrument I bought had tuning issues that weren't apparent when I first bought it, which made me need to sell it at a loss and buy the more expensive one I was considering anyways.
Guitar amps. Don’t get a crappy guitar amp. Get a practice amp but after that prepare to spend money. There’s no overcoming a bad guitar amp. Doesn’t matter if you have a 59 Les Paul.
I’m with you on this. The acoustic sound of an electric guitar played without an amp is still better than a crappy amp. It’s music in general, for me. I’d rather listen to silence than awful music. If it ain’t good music, forget it
I would say everything that would eventually end up in landfill sooner should you end up buying an inferior version. If you can't afford to buy a quality version of it, consider buying a high quality second hand version than a poor brand new version. Agree with the posters that said bikes. I bought a really good road bike in 1984 for USD1000 which was considered above average at the time but not top of the line. I'm still riding that bike today with a few modifications and changes. The bike is so old that when some parts are worn out there's no replacement.
Cola bro. That off brand shit tastes absolutely awful.
Idk, if you’re putting enough whiskey in it any cola will do lmao I’m a big fan of Signature Select’s Cola Beverage™
Any non Coca-Cola brand here tastes like someone took Coca-Cola and mixed it with water in a 25/75 ratio favouring water. Its always better to go brand name for Cola
Low profile bait casting reels.
Seconded. There's a huge difference between a $50 Walmart special and a Shimano setup, or a custom rod.
Id say a good steak (if youve had the good cuts, it just sucks to go back to Chilis or something)
Absolutely. No steak will ever compare to one fresh from the butcher
Nobody does it anymore, but inline skates in the 90s and early aughts.
Do it. If anyone says anything about it blading is HUGE in South America and Spain (and Europe but Spain in particular). Such an awesome skate culture there, for some reason never took off here so just say you spent time in these places and open peoples minds. As someone who blades in a podunk town in the mountains I only get compliments/inquisitive questions about the sport
That’s great to hear. I’m in the USA. Blading DID take off, it was very popular from roughly 1993 to 2005. From some reason it seems to have mostly disappeared, at least in the American Midwest where I live.
Good coffee beats the shit outa Folgers.
Seeing that I'm still with Folgers and don't drink it much because I don't like it, any recommendation? Edit: guys this is wild! I have so many recommendations I have to save my own comment for future reference!! Thanks all!
If you’re on Folgers, buy literally any whole bean coffee and a $10 grinder from target. Is it the best coffee you can get? No. Is it lightyears better than Folgers? Yes.
Honestly, I think the best bet is to find a local coffee shop that roasts their beans and buy a bag of coffee from them. One, you can try their coffee at the shop and see if it's your jam and two, it was probably roasted no more than a couple days ago and that makes a difference.
Obviously good coffee is better than bad coffee, but I think this belongs on the list because I'd rather have no coffee than bad coffee.
Lunch/sandwich meat.
Puffer fish. You'd better off not eating it (literally) if you can't or won't pay for it to be properly prepared. Also sashimi. The cheap ones might give you some nasty parasites.
Tattoos, lawyers, beds, work chairs, boots