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)
My tiny contribution here is to look things aimed at commercial use, not consumer grade. For example, next time you need to buy a can opener, buy it from a restaurant supply shop instead of Amazon or Walmart.
Same with electronics - instead of a smart TV from Amazon get an industrial TV from B&H or similar (they’re the kind used in store displays like the menu at burger king etc)
Bonus is they likely won’t have “smart” features or AI
Yoooo, that’s the best! Fuck smart tv’s sideways
Specifically, if you want just a tv monitor display(IE no smart tv but also sometimes no speakers or even no remote) you’re looking for what is often called a “Professional TV” usually listed under a brands commercial signage section.
For example: https://www.lg.com/us/business/digital-signage/professional-tvs you can also often purchase directly from a manufacturer these days.
Aren’t those kind of TV’s notorious for not being able to handle movement very well? Like, they can do still images no problem, but have afterimage problems if something is moving across the screen for example.
I’d also be concerned about lag, especially with how many of them will be used on mute exclusively
B&H being B&H photo?
Yes, although there may be better retailers out there. I am just very familiar with B&H from my job.
Gotcha, they are a good company in terms of pricing and staff knowledge. They are bad to their employees and the ownership is pretty racist.
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ofccp/ofccp20170814
Wow. I wonder if any similar retailers like Adorama are any better, I’ll have to do some digging. Thanks!
Thank God for markertek and dale pro audio then.
And when doing home repairs don’t get contractor grade. It’s the worst quality possible. I do extensive amounts of cooking and most of my stuff has been from restaurants supply stores, antique shops or handmade by me.
Go to contractor specific trade stores. So go to a place that specializes in plumbing contractors. It will never also have drywall and electrical.
The prices will be MUCH higher and they typically won’t help much/at all with how to do a repair. The parts will however be much higher quality.
Your first two sentences were promising, but then the following sentences didn’t lead me to where I thought you were taking me, haha
So if “contractor-grade” sucks for home repairs, what grade is actually good?
Unfortunately most items don’t have standardized labeling. You can frequently find “contractor grade” or 'builder grade" listed but you won’t find much beyond that because no one wants to put 'retail grade" on anything. You have to look at the items. Does it look like metal but it’s plastic? Trash.
It’s a bit like how you’ll see things advertised as being made of “aircraft grade” aluminum.
I’m an aircraft repairman, there is no such thing as “aircraft grade” at least in the United States; the aviation industry does not maintain its own standards for metallurgy, it uses SAE standards, and a lot of different alloys get used in aircraft for various applications. Sheet metal skin and structures is usually 2024-T3, you’ll see 6061 or 6065 in castings, hell they make pure aluminum rivets for fastening placards. So most things that say “aircraft grade” on them usually mean they’re 6061-T6 or similar. which is legal for use in aircraft construction if its properties are called for in the design. It’s just some wank they can legally get away with putting on retail packaging.
For me aircraft grade aluminum is right up there with space age technology. The space age was 50 years ago.
I’ve heard similar advice around purchasing restauraunt quantity plastic wrap, so that’s great advice!