Hi there, I came here to the BIFL Lemmy out of suspicion that the reddit posts are just unlabelled marketing, and I was wondering the possibility of sourcing goods that are more to a BIFL standard? In my area, second hand goods tend to be really quite poor in quality (reselling fast fashion) or otherwise not present, and I have not inherited anything that does last. So I would apprecite advice or reccomendations for finding goods at a BIFL standard. I was also wondering if maybe there would be anyone with good advice for finding sustainable, local textile production so that I may be able to tailor what I need without having to buy from the poor selection aforementioned, does anyone know of any of this?
TL:DR I am suspicious that a lot of what is claimed as ‘BIFL’ has been enshittified, and would like advice on being able to search for sustainable goods for a local area (not specified because I’m hoping for advice with searching, not exactly for specific reccs)
Military and police gear tends to be local, high quality and available as second hand. If you can tailor and it somewhat suits your style then it is a good option.
If you are able to tailor, try to find a group. They will have local knowledge and know where to find quality cloth and other products.
My experience with military gear is the opposite - it was designed to last long enough to use, with the recognition it’s going to be lost or destroyed in battle.
That, of course, depends on the item. Older stuff can be quite sturdy. For example, I have a 1960’s self-contained analog multimeter that’s in it’s own aluminum case (looks like it was designed in the 50’s, just post-WWII). It’s clearly been banged around (the case is rough) but it still works, and is designed to be regularly adjusted - there’s a sticker or label inside showing the last time it was adjusted.
It seems stuff from at least the 1980’s (probably the 60’s, really) had more of a “built just good enough” design goal. Regular/continuous maintenance isn’t much of a concern for the military as compared to us civilians.
thank you for the recommendation :) I’ve looked at military disposal sites local to my area before, though they’ve seemed a little off, but I will redouble my efforts. Do you know of any good ways to find sites that sell proper used mil/pol gear, rather than just being named so?
Basically any military surplus store really. Online stores all tend to have very aligned pricing so but you cannot inspect the (used) item for issues, sizing, stains or damage, etc so I’d recommend finding your local military surplus store - just recognize that you’re thrifting not shopping. Not everything is available, nor worth having necessarily, and it’s commonly been worked hard and not cared for before it found its way to the shelf.
If you want to roll the dice and get some serious deals, there’s usually a liquidator or auction website for your local PD and/or government to offload their outdated but workable gear and tech. But they usually have very particular rules around shipping and pickup, you arrange all that on your own.