If you have a car get a dashcam. It’s more valuable than any insurance because it will definitively prove what happened when something goes wrong. Bonus: you can post videos of bad drivers doing stupid things on the internet for imaginary points.
If only there was actually a good car dashcam, but every time I go down that rabbit hole I give up frustrated. The quality (build, mounting, video, whatever) is shit in pretty much all of them, and the “passable” ones look like a web cam from 2005 still.
There’s a reason for that, Linus Tech Tips did a great video on it. You’re better off buying an old go pro and using that.
Only if you remember to turn it on
I’ve bought the N2 Pro from Vantrue a couple of years ago and I’ve been super happy with it. The quality is pretty good and it has actually capable night vision and parking surveillance. I’ve also bought one for my brother in law (who got into an accident just a month after) and one for my grandma. Not to sound like an ad, but these are definitely worth checking out even if it’s an older model.
People lie. Even a shittiest, cheapest dashcam will be better than nothing, when you have to prove to your insurance company who was really at fault after a collision.
One I didn’t see mentioned yet: a rice cooker.
Put in rice, add water, push start button, and you get perfect rice every time. I’m usually against single-purpose kitchen tools but a rice cooker is soo worth it.
Really only if you eat a lot of rice. For once a year or so, a pot on the stove works just fine. The actual benefit I’ve see for ricecookers is how well they can hold the rice for hours ready to go, but that’s more of a commercial benefit I think.
[…] but that’s more of a commercial benefit I think
For me, this is the primary benefit of a rice cooker. Having warm, cheap, filling food on demand at any time is fantastic. I am so lazy and my little rice buddies are always ready to go when I can’t be bothered.
“Rice is great if you’re really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something”
I eat a lot of ice and I still just make it in a pot.
I like to imagine you huddled over an ice field, stirring water in a pot until it turns to the perfect slushy consistency for your fresh homemade ice.
Shit this comment made me so thirsty good lord I need some water
Artesan ice. $17.99/litre
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I would like to know more about this.
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I need this recipe ASAP.
Get a box of brownie mix
Mix according to the instructions
Put in rice cooker
Start cooker
Brownies are done when cooker cycle finishes. Test with toothpick, run longer if not fully baked.
OK that sounds so simple. Going to try this. Thanks!
A rice cooker can serve as a cheaper instapot tho. I can steam rice and veggies without having to babysit a pot.
I also have kitchen anxiety, and in a roommate situation can keep a rice cooker in my room.
Living in Japan, this almost didn’t register to me. I have literally never met anybody that didn’t have one. When you move out, you use your family’s old one until you can buy a newer one.
Everyone should have one, absolutely.
When I did a homestay in Japan, my host dad was shocked my family didn’t have one. I do now though!
ok this might sound heretical but a “hack” i learned from cooking youtube is to just boil rice like pasta then drain. I do this for about ~12 mins with white rice and it comes out perfect every time with no risk of messing up. Downside is you need to drain it.
unsure the validity of this claim? but apparently there can be a non-insignificant amount of arsenic in american grown rice, and boiling can help leech it out into the water.
I know this will be a popular response, but I don’t get it.
I just use a pot and the rice is always perfect? Not hard at all? Am I just good?
I used to do that for years, but rice cookers really do some magic to get perfectly fluffy rice. I thought my technique was good, until I tried rice from a rice cooker.
Meanwhile, I’ve been disappointed by rice cooker rice and make it better the old fashioned way. :shrug:
You should look into Zojirushi. They make the best rice cookers
We sold our rice cooker on eBay after finding out the microwave rice cooker addon for 10€ is just as good, if not faster.
Lol TIL people are buying used rice cookers on eBay
So what?
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A pair of high fidelity earplugs (aka concert earplugs or filtering earplugs). You can get a good non-custom pair for $15–$40, and that’ll work well for the average person for a long time.
They’re excellent for live music, airplanes, and anytime you want the world to be quieter but still need to be able to understand speech. And for music specifically, they can bring the volume level down just enough to be safe without muffling the sound like traditional foam earplugs do. Protect your hearing, kids!
Protect your hearing, kids!
Seriously, PROTECT YOUR FUCKING HEARING. I was young and stupid (now I’m no longer young) and went to way too many raves, gigs etc. without any sort of hearing protection, and now I have a nice constant background track of EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE and can’t hear higher frequencies worth shit
I didnt even go to any concerts or anything and i still have it 😭
I can get tinnitus if I have too much ear-wax and I have to remove it periodically, since it wont come out on its own.
Yep, tinnitus is your brain filling in the absence of hearing, its not a condition in itself
Right ear went to working in a call centre. Left ear seems to be trying to decide if it's going to recover or not from some unaware idiot in Tesco suddenly walking up and slamming his stock cart shut right next to me. I really hope I don't end up with stereo EEEEEEEEEEEEE but it feels like an inevitable matter of time at this point. There goes the left one again…
I have done this same thing. My hearing is a bit hypersensitive and these kinds of headphones have helped me in many different, loud situations!
I got some of these and they are excellent
I know it’s way more expensive, but the last gig I went to, I used my AirPods Pro in transparency mode, and it reduced the sound down from an insane ~110db to peaks of 90! Definitely worth protecting your ears.
A bike. Poor people in underdeveloped countries can use it to get access to education and markets, while people from developed countries can ise it to keep healthy and reduce their environmental footprint
I was going to say that, but out of the 6 bikes in the garage none of them are under $100 even second hand.
In fact I would advise against getting a cheap shitty bike that isn’t going to last. Spend the extra money, get something good. It’s better for the environment and your wallet in the long run.
I’ve driven “good” bikes all my life. Aluminium frame, disc brakes, fancy suspension, 3x9 gears. That sort of thing.
Wanna know what my best biking experience was? Riding a steel frame, 3-speed dutch-style rental omafiets with no suspension and regular-ass brakes on a vacation. That thing was hella comfortable, sturdy as a brick and convenient.
If I lived in a not fully car-brained city where you can safely bike and was tight on money, I’d absolutely buy an old cheap used regular-ass steel frame bike with no frills and use the hell out of it until it’s irreparably broken. You can leave that thing standing in the rain, locked with just a frame lock (or perhaps even no lock at all) all without worrying that it might get damaged or stolen because there isn’t much to damage or steal in the first place.
I also don’t see how buying a “good” bike in any way helps the environment when the alternative is re-using something that’s already been built and successfully used before.
I love my 2000€ Brompton that I daily-drive but I’d be nearly as happy with a 100€ bike like I described above. You don’t get more bike when you go above that price point, you only get a more fancy bike.
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I have a bike in a city and it’s faster than the cars. The cars are always stuck in traffic as I fly by. Bikes are the best.
I was gonna say this.
$100 on craigslist or a local bike refurbishing place (where I got mine) will get you something that will last for years.
Throw in a $15 bike lock, a cheap returned helmet, and a $5 rear bike light and you’re set for life.
But I walk everywhere … not sure getting a bike would reduce my footprint.
Can’t leave footprints if your feet aren’t touching the ground.
It would increase your travel distance though. Mechanical advantage for the win.
3 dozen pairs of identical socks. Mine are black crew cut. I’ll wear them until the last few pairs are worn through and I’ll never have a sock without a mate.
You’ve got life figured out
99 bucks
99.99 would be more profitable:-D
In cash, yes. Electronic payments are great, until you’re out in the boonies and the only way to pay is via cold, hard cash. Or for the places that require cash for one reason or another.
A water kettle. Doesn’t have to be any fancy one, but it really fucking rocks for anything you might think of : want hot water for tea? No problem. Need hot water to steep something? No problem.
Most mid-range ones are insanely power efficient too, often being alot better than just boiling water on a stovetop, or using a microwave. And, depending on insulation, heat can be stored for over 6! hours.
I’m going to guess you’re in the States? I’m from England and live in the Netherlands. I’ve never met anybody ever who didn’t own a kettle. Is it true that it’s really not that common in the States to own a kettle?
We had a stove top kettle growing up but I never heard of an electric kettle until I was an adult. First time I saw one was a pretentious dude doing pour over coffee at work.
I would say 20 years ago almost no one had an electric kettle in the US. Now they are much more common, but still only in a minority of homes. Americans just don’t drink nearly as much tea as the English. The UK consumes 1.94kg of tea per person annually. The US is 0.23kg. (per wikipedia). You will find a coffee maker in most homes and hotel rooms though.
what do kids have with their breakfast then?
Cold milk usually
what about in wintertime?
Cold milk usually
…water?
o.o
A kettle is such a default kitchen item in the UK that I find it kinda crazy that it’s not standard somewhere like the US, though I know I’ve seen the difference in base voltage being a factor before.
What home doesn’t have a kettle? I don’t think I’ve ever been to someones house who didn’t have one. Who are these degenerates that were boiling all their water in saucepans?
Depends where you live, Technology Connections did a few episodes on kettles because apparently they’re not super common in his neck of the woods.
A fire extinguisher can be found for less than 100 USD and is a must-have. A smoke detector is also a bare minimum in my opinion.
A smoke detector is also a bare minimum in my opinion.
In your opinion? You’re required to have one where I life
In the USA private homes are not usually required to have them. Rentals, yes, but that’s a responsibility of the landlord.
Bought one when I bought a 3D printer. Haven’t needed it yet (the extinguisher).
A good quality fire extinguisher, multiple if you live in a large house or apartment.
To that note, a good quality, working carbon monoxide detector should be on the list…
A towel
As recommended by the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy
You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat; wrap it around your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you — daft as a brush, but very very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course you can dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
good for covering your ears in case of Vogon poetry
A bidet. Fight me.
Fight me.
Okay, but I’m bringing my power washer.
PSA - Do not use a power washer on your parts.
“Bidet - the power washer for your parts”
Can I use it in others parts?
You sound like a man with experience.
Love my bidet.
10/10 for squeaky clean buttholes.
Preach it brother. Enlighten the unwashed (m)asses.
The only people who would fight you about how great bidets are are people who have never actually used one
Water sensor alarms.
If you have any doubts about the pipes in your house or have a feeling that water might enter your basement, sensors will help you sleep at night.
Water damage to your home is no joke. I know two separate homeowners who have had leaks from their refrigerator’s plumbing (water and ice dispenser). The damage for each homeowner was quite extensive given how small the leak was.
I second this!
Most people who have heard of water sensors know of the moen one. I’m in Canada, and my plumber recommended a Canadian company, Sinope. They were much less expensive and had a sensor in the line and ones you could put in and around appliances that use water.
The in-line flow sensor shuts off the water if it senses abnormal flow anywhere. But the physical sensors shut off the water when it’s leaking at that spot.
We’ve had no leaks, but the flow sensor shut off the water when I filled the kiddie pool and forgot to turn it off. It also cuts short, excessively long showers (that can be turned off).
The safety net is fantastic to have. We can install that freezer ice cube maker without a worry.
I went to go check out Sinope’s site, and it was already in my browser history. I wonder what past me was looking up…lol
Besides that, the smart valves are so much cheape than Moen! I might have to actually get one now. The ever looming threat of potential water damage stresses me out way too much.
A sun hoodie. Sun hoodies are meant to be worn on their own, cover your entire upper body, be very light, and have a high UPF (clothing equivalent of SPF). Instead of dealing with globs of sunscreen that wears out as you sweat, you can slip on a sun hoodie in an instant and get lasting protection. I got the REI store brand, which is around $50. Unfortunately, it looks like they’re almost sold out of the nice visible orange color that I bought. It’s only available in XXXL.
I can vouch for this.
I own REI’s sun hoodie that I use for the singular purpose of doing yard work and it’s one of the best 50 bucks I’ve spent because it makes being in the sun all day tolerable. I am fortunate to have a yard big enough to garden and my first summer here I thought just throwing on some regular clothes(long sleeves, jeans) would do but I was miserable because cotton absorbs sweat and doesn’t breathe worth shit in the heat. Then I got the hoodie and it was night and day of a difference.
It’s like when you go get a haircut and getting a bunch chopped off, that feeling of airy coolness right afterwards is probably the best way I can describe it. Made being outside in summer more comfortable and less of a slog.
I just tried searching for these and I’m genuinely confused. Is it not just…a hoodie made of light material? I mean, surely most if not all clothing will stop you getting burnt.
Many materials like cotton will let sunlight through quite readily, especially when thin or wet. A sun hoodie has 50+ UPF. A cotton shirt that has a similar low thickness will have a mere 5 UPF, making it basically worthless for sun protection. Sun hoodies also often sport features like vents to catch breezes.
A bidet. You can install it yourself in 20 minutes and enjoy a lifetime of cleaner buttholes and save on tp.
I’ll never ‘go’ without one!
Seriously though, bidets rock. Try one, get a good one, and you’ll never go back.
Every time I’ve tried to use a bidet, I’ve hated it. The water feels uncomfortable and sudden, and then I feel like I either can’t get dry with toilet paper and get chapped later, or it breaks up from the water and leaves pieces everywhere. The air dry varieties seem to contribute to chapped butt too. I know some people use wash cloths, but frankly the idea of leaving butthole cloth out in the bathroom weirds me out also.
What is the secret to enjoying these things? Am I just too damn American for them?
When I use a bidet at home, I always do a few wipes first to avoid the breakup. Then I pat down with tp after to dry.
I get that some people want to save tp, but I just want to feel clean after I drop a bomb.
The key is to use a hose and not a fixed one. The fixed ones don’t really allow you to clean where you’d like whereas the hose ones let you aim wherever. At least that’s how it’s been in my experience.
You have to do the bidet dance with a fixed one, works just as well.
A first aid kit
