Quality brands with quality materials for men's purchasing power

The Resilient

The Resilient

Ostrich
This thread is for us guys too discuss brands sand products that haven't gone to absolute poop.
One quality brand I've stuck with over the years has been New Balance shoes. Minus the fact I work around diesel (petroleum constantly that destroys rubber soles) their upper parts are still solidly made shoes. Classic 574s are my favorite style and I don't wear any other style, so I may be not as informed. List your favorite brands that still make quality materials that last a lot longer than most other competitors.

574s
 
Deepdiver

Deepdiver

Crow
Gold Member
I like Carhartt shirts and jackets - I have an old Carhartt navy blue quilted lined quality heavy duty duck barn jacket that is burn resistant to my cigars and has kept me warm even on our coldest winter days this year ... I have a couple olive green surplus tank helmet liners with Velcro flaps also lightweight but quite warm.
 
Grow Bag

Grow Bag

Kingfisher
Fisk_ said:
Leatherman multitools are as good as it gets. I've had a Sidekick for the last three years. Used it when working on field trials as well as on repairs at home and furniture assembly. Never missed a beat. Built to last
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I have a Wave and consider it an essential item. It's genius and built to last. Saved my skin a few times over the years. They're around £150 in the UK now, when I bought mine it was £60 and worth every penny.

I've had my Opinel for 30 years and have added a few more along the way. Light, nice in the hand and keep a good edge.
just a human said:
Opinel pocket knife. Have one for more than 25 years. Bought in France. Simple, sharp and very good.
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Grow Bag

Grow Bag

Kingfisher
Remember, sometimes you have to buy second hand in order to get quality.

When looking for a replacement for my Asus Ee-PC, I finally decided on a corporate clear-out 12" 5i Lenovo Thinkpad (circa 2010)for less money than even a second hand Chromebook. It's very solidly built, has the best keyboard I've ever used and 5 years later runs a smoothly as ever. Those Thinkpads were build like tanks compared to the thin plastic laptops available now.
 
Hypno

Hypno

Crow
I got some Asics shoes that are tremenously comfortable.

Also, I have a pair of Johnson & Murphy shoes that I bought in 1994 and resoled several times.

My 2015 Mercedes drives like its new.

I have a leather sofa bought in 2008 from Leather Creations that looks almost new.
 
Bitter End

Bitter End

Woodpecker
I have a similar idea for a thread but will do a bit of research first. It would be interesting to know which brands don't manufacture in China. It is one of my 2021 resolutions to buy less Chinese products. The trouble is, the brands might differ between US and Europe.
 
F

Fisk_

Chicken
I am a fan of Lowa shoes. Designed in Germany and assembled in Slovakia. Best shoes for walking in the field and hiking in general. After 4 years I replaced the first pair. The hiking boots are also great. I' ve walked about 200 km with them and still are as good as new. The €150 price tag is fair enough in my opinion.
 
tomzestatlu

tomzestatlu

Kingfisher
Classic style New Balance shoes have been my choice for last 8 years. Every pair lasts me 2-3 years of every day use. It's only important to choose higher quality series (565, 574). I have got bad experience with 373.

I have bought above mentioned Lowa boots last year and they are pretty good. Definitely looks like undestroyable boot and design it unique (model Zephyr - designed for military use).

Speaking about footwear, I have got very good experience with running shoes Adidas Ultraboost 20. I have bought them a year ago and ran thousands of kilometers in them and still they do their work pretty well and when I clean them properly, they almost look like new shoes. At the beginning I was concerned about how long are they going to stick together before they fall apart, but they turned up to be very good decision for endurance shoes and long-term investment.

I would add backpack from Polish brand Wisport. Its price tag isn't as high as top quality backpack brands (far from it) , but it's made very well. I have been carrying in it 140-150 lbs of weight and its no problem.
 
Monty_Brogan

Monty_Brogan

Woodpecker
Gold Member
* Red Wing boots

* Klein pliers

* Old school American Made Craftsman wrenches.

And my favorite buy over the last couple years: A PK GRILL.

One of the best investments I’ve ever made. I ended up down a YouTube rabbit hole and discovered Steak Competitions. Long story short all the winners use PK’s. And now I know why.

This grill makes me want to go outside every night and get the charcoal going. Plus you eat better and spend time outside.
 
Bird

Bird

Kingfisher
Fisk_ said:
I am a fan of Lowa shoes. Designed in Germany and assembled in Slovakia. Best shoes for walking in the field and hiking in general. After 4 years I replaced the first pair. The hiking boots are also great. I' ve walked about 200 km with them and still are as good as new. The €150 price tag is fair enough in my opinion.
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Me too!
I bought my Lowas 5 years ago and used them a lot in the past and they will last another several years.
 
Bitter End

Bitter End

Woodpecker
For running I use Assics. I was working in a sports retail as a student and they had the reputation for the best cushioning gel thingy. The models I buy are Gel Cumulus, worth running the odd marathon with them without being too fancy. I fear they are probably produced in China though.

For mountaineering I use "Salewa". Italian brand, produced mostly in Vietnam, it seems. Nice and durable. I believe they are in the same bracket as Lowa.

Hugo Boss - the Nazi uniform guys make great jackets, shoes and general clothing. Some of the stuff is produced in Albania and thereabouts. It can be seen on the price tag, but I bought a jacket 5 years ago and it still feels like new every time the spring comes.

Aeronautica Militare - personal favourite for their interesting designs. Expensive but durable. Seems like it is produced in Lithuania but I am not 100% convinced. Hard to extract that info these days.
 
D

degoogle_obsession

Chicken
Fisk_ said:
I am a fan of Lowa shoes. Designed in Germany and assembled in Slovakia. Best shoes for walking in the field and hiking in general. After 4 years I replaced the first pair. The hiking boots are also great. I' ve walked about 200 km with them and still are as good as new. The €150 price tag is fair enough in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I also like hiking brands in general (the good quality ones). Being in northern europe, I have invested this winter in 2 layers of wool longjohns to survive the -18 degrees celcius days. When you wear them you feel so powerful outside.
 
D

degoogle_obsession

Chicken
Monty_Brogan said:
* Red Wing boots
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Not sure what to say about the Red Wing love. I think the iron rangers look a bit clownish. I was hesitating to buy the $300 moc toes but just couldn't pull the trigger. When I want to buy something expensive I'm not sure about I take a deep breath, note it in my Joplin notes, and will see in 2 months if I still wanna buy it. Then I rewatch this bearded dude where he all along makes remarks about not buying expensive stuff :


Bitter End said:
Aeronautica Militare - personal favourite for their interesting designs. Expensive but durable. Seems like it is produced in Lithuania but I am not 100% convinced. Hard to extract that info these days.
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It's italian. You in Warsaw?
 
bucky

bucky

Ostrich
The Resilient said:
This thread is for us guys too discuss brands sand products that haven't gone to absolute poop.
One quality brand I've stuck with over the years has been New Balance shoes. Minus the fact I work around diesel (petroleum constantly that destroys rubber soles) their upper parts are still solidly made shoes. Classic 574s are my favorite style and I don't wear any other style, so I may be not as informed. List your favorite brands that still make quality materials that last a lot longer than most other competitors.

574s
Click to expand...
I like New Balance. I have a great pair of NB gym shoes for weight training that I got many years ago. They were actually made in the USA but still cost just a little over $100, about the same as what you'd pay for "name brand" gym shoes made in China. I never wear them outdoors and only use them to work out so they're still pretty much like new.

NB was really pushing the fact that they made a lot of their products in the USA back then, but they don't any more so I'm guessing the attempt to bring manufacturing back to the domestic market failed. Makes me sad when I think about it, similar to how I feel when I see the current Chinese-made Craftsman tools.

Speaking of quality brands, I bought a MyPillow recently. I haven't even watched Mike Lindell's documentary about the election, I just hate how publicly standing up to globohomo in any way brings the fury of (literal) Hell onto your head. So even though I always thought MyPillow sounded ridiculous I did my part to support him. To my surprise, it really is probably the best pillow I've ever owned and I seem to sleep a little better with it.
 
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