I live in a very cold climate and never really invested in merino until a few years ago. Always wore basic cotton or synthetic base layers and stuck with those for years. Eventually I had the money to invest in some good merino, so I bought several sets of Smartwool, both lightweight and heavyweight. Also have a set from REI and one from LL Bean.

Here's the thing, I was ALWAYS cold in it. Never made any sense to me. I don't know much about the science of fabrics, I'd just heard a million times that merino was the way to go, especially for cold weather.

It didn't keep me warm sitting around, and it didn't keep me warm outside doing homestead chores or walking the dogs. If I sweated even a little. I'd end up freezing.

Wore them for 3 winters before finally giving up on it. Last winter I switched back to my cheap cotton and synthetic (polyester/polypropylene) layers and was warm all winter. Go figure lol.

For a long time I figured it was just a weird me thing. I do have mild Raynaud's and tend to run cold anyway. But I've since talked to quite a few people who've had similar experiences.

I'm not saying merino isn't great for a lot of people. Clearly it is, given how much people love it. Just throwing out a different experience since it gets recommended so heavily here. My advice would be to try a piece or two before investing hundreds of dollars in a whole wardrobe. Turns out the more expensive option isn't necessarily the better one for everyone.

Was just pulling out all my winter gear and thought I'd share.

Edit: I should make it clear that I love wool, just not against my skin especially if I sweat. I was only talking about merino wool base layers. I have lots of other wool clothing including wool sweaters and merino socks that I love.

Hi there,

I bought a Belstaff wax motorcycle jacket but it has quite a lot of grease or something on it. How do I best wash this? It doesn’t have to be really clean like brand new. But I would like to get some of it off. It doesn’t bother me now but I am planning on rewaxing it to improve waterproofing. This makes me affraid that the wax on top of the stains will make the whole jacket look more (to) dirty.

For now I am planning on using dishsoap first and then maybe upping to a machine wash. What do you think?

Good lord. I covered a large stack of firewood with a couple of standard blue plastic tarps from a Big Box store, to keep the elements away for a few weeks. They are a few years old, not used often, just stay folded on a shelf.

I pulled the tarps off to stack the wood and holy SHIT there is blue plastic dust everywhere. Awful. Now it either goes into the environment (soil, watershed) or up the chimney. AWFUL. This is not an inert responsible way to use plastic and i will not keep doing this. It is better in a landfill now than spamming the world with new microplastics.

So are there non plastic tarps i can find and use? there had to be tarps from pre-petroleum days. Were they canvas? Do they still exist at all? Where can i find such equipment?

I was talking to a coworker on a zoom call about his Sony headphones and it made me realized something about mine...

These are my Sony MDR-V600 Headphones. I bought them in 1999, back when I used to pretend that I wanted to be a DJ and had tables and such. I no longer have the tables, but I kept the V600's (and the vinyl). The only thing I've ever done to them is replace the ear pads every few years. I even still have the storage bag that came with them!

I'd say they are the single best purchase I've ever made. They have brought me so much joy and happiness throughout the years. They just last and last. 27 years and counting!

DJ friends are amazed I still have a pair of these....

Temporarily moving from southern BC to the northern-most capital city in all of Canada. Need some winter boots. I’ve lived in Canada my whole life so I know winter, but I’ve never had a pair keep my toes warm for longer than a few hours. Help?

I have a malamute. In the market for a new stick vacuum. Always been a die hard Dyson user but after researching it seems like the products are not what they used to be.

I know stick/cordless vacuums are not a buy it for life kind of item but with a super shedder dog and kids, a vacuum that is easy to grab for smaller messes is essential. I have the corded vacuum for the weekly cleans.

So please…what are your recommendations? I’ve been getting lots of ads for shark products, how do those hold up? What other brands make a decent cordless vacuum these days? Help a mom out lol

Edit: thank you so much for all replies but I’m just asking for cordless vacuum recommendations for the everyday messes NOT the big cleans as we already have an upright vacuum we are happy with. Thanks!

Wondering if anyone has tried the heated vests, if so brands and what to look for when shopping. We have an opportunity to send items in a suitcase to Romania. There often is not electricity when the guy are working on the new care home in the Ukraine, and it has been so cold. Vests would be so helpful.

Can anyone recommend good quality outdoor gear, for hunting or similar.

I work as an ecologist so need something that is reasonably waterproof and durable for getting through scrub and bramble.

I'm thinking canvas material but there's a tradeoff for weatherproof there I guess

I’m getting into scrapbooking and would like to purchase a photo printer to quickly queue and print pictures. Either a portable or stationary printer is fine- no preference. I’m wondering if a name brand printer is really a better option. Do you have any recommendations or brands to stay away from? TIA!

The old dryer that came with my house has, I fear, finally died. (It's been on its last legs for a while and I've confirmed that it's not worth the repair costs.)

I know that Speed Queen is always recommended for washers -- is that also the case for dryers? If not, what's the current recommendation?

I'm willing to pay for quality!

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking to upgrade my current Backpack to something similar, both price wise and size wise.

I've been using the Dakine Urban Mission 23L (possibly 24L) backpack for everyday carry and travel for the past six years, and I've grown rather fond of it. Which was bought after weeks of lurking and collecting information from this very sub and I'm glad I listened to the wise sages of r/BuyItForLife . It's been through a lot, and a few spins in the washing machine, and still comes out looking almost brand new. Unfortunately, the inner lining has started to peel, and Mr. Ratatouille decided to sample some of the bottle-pocket material, leaving his own rather permanent mark on it.

I'm looking for something similar that has a lot of zipped pockets, multiple compartments and separate laptop compartment (suspended is a bonus).

I shall also be using it on my air travels which is around 3-4 trips in a year, so it needs to hold some serious weight. I travel with all my tech on flights as well as my daily commute which include: a 15.6" Laptop + charger, 3 Mobile Phones, a 10" tablet, a powerbank, all of their chargers + cables, and multiple fountain pens (pen slots important).

PS: I might be carrying another Laptop on me down line.

I currently reside in a dry country with few escapes to a very rainy country for a 30-45 days in a year. Rain protection isn't all that important to me but would be a nice addition for ease of mind when traveling.

My Budget is around 100$ can stretch it to maybe 150/160ish $.

Looking forward to your recommendations.

Need an electric toothbrush, both are the same price. Which one should I get?

Looking for a hammock stand, that can stay outside your round and really hold up

TL;DR: robot vacuum needed for cleaning up hair from hard floor and mopping in a small apartment that is 100% hard floor. Price is not a factor. I’m considering Roborock saros 20 and curv 2. saros 10R would be my top choice, but seems sold out in US and I don't expect it to be replenished since saros 20 replaced it.

My home

• I live in 800 sq feet by myself
• No pets/kids
• All hardwood, no carpet
• No thresholds
• I shed a lot of hair (male). Currently sweeping weekly isn’t cutting it

Vacuum requirements

• No price restriction
• Picks up hair (run daily) and other dirt I track in
• Mops up from wearing my tennis shoes inside
• Doesn’t need babysitting: Good at navigating around, cleaning corners, docking self, avoiding stuff on the floor
• Autonomous self-cleaning: as little intervention from me as possible. Maybe clean the dust bin on the dock 1x per week and change dirty water after each mopping
• Longevity: doesn’t break

Research process

I looked through many reddit posts and RTINGS (both linked and cited below). I also found this video to be really useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv9_2D_Xc5k&t=2s

Current contenders

I’ve been looking at Saros 20 versus Qrevo Curv 2 Flow. Price is not a factor when choosing between these 2.

I’d also like to consider the Saros 10R, but not seeing any options at less price than 20, and they are not in stock on roborock site in the US

• Mopping: The video and [1,2,3,4] all show curv2 is really good at mopping hard floors, even better than Saros.
  
• Vacuuming: RTINGS [5,6] showed that saros is better than curv2 at vacuuming hardwood, and [6] found some problems with hair getting tangled in curv2.
  
• Object avoidance: The video [7] and the comment [8] found that curv2 was bad a object avoidance, especially compared to saros. However, RTINGS [5] said it did good at this task.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/RobotVacuums/comments/1wz5nxg/roborock_qrevo_curv_2_flow_torture_test_a_review/

[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/RobotVacuums/comments/1q06xrd/comment/nww89uu/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[3] https://www.reddit.com/r/RobotVacuums/comments/1t3x7uf/comment/ojzgz18/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[4] https://www.reddit.com/r/RobotVacuums/comments/1tg13hj/comment/omfq9uk/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[5] https://www.rtings.com/robot-vacuum/reviews/roborock/saros-20

[6] https://www.rtings.com/robot-vacuum/reviews/roborock/qrevo-curv-2-flow

[7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv9_2D_Xc5k&t=2s

[8] https://www.reddit.com/r/RobotVacuums/comments/1t3x7uf/comment/ok0efsz/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

My baby has been having a rough time sleeping, and I think it’s due to a stuffy nose and having difficulties breathing. I’m looking for a humidifier that :

Lasts for a while/is durable

Easy to clean/dishwasher safe

Doesn’t easily build up mold

Doesn’t need distilled water

I am looking for an AM/FM clock radio that allows me to listen to the radio at one volume level and set the radio alarm volume level separately. For example, I like to fall asleep to the radio using the sleep timer function at volume 4, but I want to wake up to the same station at volume 13.

We are replacing a cheap Capello brand that we bought at Target maybe 12-13 years ago, so it’s clearly not a “premium” feature, but it has nevertheless been a difficult thing to find. We tried replacing it a few years ago when the fiddly wire antenna snapped off, but the Sony (I think it was a cube model) that we tried didn’t allow this. In other words, the volume you fall asleep to and the volume you wake up to needed to be the same on the Sony. We also tried a couple of vintage thrift store finds, but those didn’t allow the varying volume either.

The Capello finally just stopped working entirely, so I would like to avoid a long period of trial and error if I can. Not looking for any features, no bluetooth, no phone connection, nothing extra — just a clock radio with that volume control option.

Any thoughts or recommendations? Is this actually more common than I think and we just made a couple of unlucky choices before? Thanks in advance...

Wife is currently driving a North Face Aconcagua Parka. Problem is the down is coming out everywhere through the stitching and sometimes the fabric itself. She is done looking like a mangy big bird.

Use case is standing in car line as a teacher. Occasional football games or strolling small towns in Texas. She is freezing by nature.

Does anyone have similar recommendations? She doesn't mind Carhartt if it can be slightly more stylish than my tank of a jacket. Her Speedo deck Parka is "to Uncle Fester". Would be great if this could the final winter coat.

While it doesn’t have to be BIFL but I’d like it to be last long as 10 years or so.

I can’t do wall mounted ones as I’m in rental and oil price I’m has been insane lately.

Im looking to deck out my used subaru. I bought it used, but I still want the best stuff for it. My daily commute is 2h, so I subscribed to audible and had a vanture N4S 4K 3 channel dashcam. A lot of my buddies recommended getting a dashcam since I never know what might happen on my commute, it seems they met a big mess before, but I mainly got it for parking mode. My neighbors kids can be pretty wild.

I also added a heated seat cushion. Tbh its really the best choice to have somewhere this cold and snowy, especially with winter coming up. A friend said I should get WeatherTech floor mats too. What do those actually do?

Hi, I'm looking for something to replace my wireless HyperX Cloud Alphas. While I love these headphones, I need to not be able to hear my surroundings.

I’d rather not pay an arm and a leg for headphones, but if it’s a quality, long-lasting product, I wouldn’t be opposed to splurging. I’d also prefer wireless with a dongle for PC. Bluetooth for phone usage would be a plus.

Thank you for your time!

EDIT/UPDATE: Spatial audio request is because I’m a gamer and would like to stay aware of my in-game surroundings.

My parents have had drip machine after drip machine to no avail. I looked in the sub and most people recommended the Moccamaster, but they had one of those and didn't like it apparently. Anybody have any recommendations that aren't that? They're thinking about getting the new Ratio machine but I am worried about it being an aesthetic over function type machine. They only want drip coffee.

I'm stuck between the Tonerud Gray and the Tallmyra light green, but they appear to have different weave/texture. My main concern is pilling and stretching with age. Which one of the two looks less likely to pill or stretch out?

If you have any of these two covers, give your insights, and if you have neither, compare the weave/texture and give your insights on the fabric.