Ask Lemmy

I bought a Rada Quick Edge at a thrift store for $2.

Was always taught my my metal-smith grandfather how to properly care for and sharpen knives, but when I tried it out on a knife I cared little for, I found it was such a shocking difference in efficiency I couldn't help but notice.

It completely changed my relationship with knives and knife care, which was so helpful for me because I cook everything from scratch and whole ingredients. Everything, so having good knives is not kids-play for me.

It made me discover that for me, using a quick sharpening wheel and a hone gets my knives beard-shaving sharp in less than 30 seconds. I could never go back to the "right way" and I firmly joined the "dark side" of knife ownership.

Yes they destroy knives with some aggression, far more than traditional methods, but in the forensic audit it has saved me hundreds in a literal way, and hundreds of hours laboring over sharpening stones.

I no longer need to pamper knives, I buy cheap German steel chef knives on sale for $5-$20 and I throw them out in 3 or 4 years. I'll never go back. All the hysterics from knife "gurus" on YT be damned - in my personal cooking world where I have 10,000 Km on my knives and cutting board, I could give two shits what they think. Nobody better ever give me a $300 knife for a present because it's going back in the box.

Dual-wheel sharpener and 14" hone is all I'll ever use from now on.

• knife sharpening steel
• squeezing bidet (made me realize how gross using toilet paper is)
• caffeine pills (extremely cheap [15€ for 180pcs. x 200mg] compared to coffee and great if you're in a hurry)
• Raspberry Pi Zero (tiny single board computer, tbh not in use anymore, but I had fun tinkering for days)
• remote controlled power outlets
• easily cleanable drinking bottle and switching to drinking tap water

A large magnet. I bought it on a whim ~20 years ago for $20 (still online for same price). I got it on a whim while buying gifts from an educational toy website. It comes in handy whenever I drop something small that ferrous or just need it to hold onto things.

My pocket stun gun was $19.99. Decided I needed a defense mechanism I could conceal after an encounter with a scary aggressive homeless man.

Also has a flashlight.

A pry bar. I use it to open cat food tins because my fingernails are not up to the task.

https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B0BRBTHK8Z

Wireless phone charger. I'll be stuck somewhere looking at my low battery life, and suddenly remember it's in my purse. It isn't the fastest charge but it is useful.

Tesa outdoor double sided tape.

That stuff is basically magic. It will stick anything to everything and you can remove it from almost any surface without leaving a mark. I used to stick a dashcam to my car window, a birdbath to my brick wall, a remote LED lamp to the ceiling (felt iffy, works great!). It's even holding a metal plate from the doorknob in place because the door is more hole than wood by now.

It beats basically every other kind of tape of multipurpose glue, and it's removable. It's kinda thick though, so you might see it, but that's also a feature when sticking rough textures to eachother.

A back scratcher. Got a pack of 4 for a few bucks after one I was gifted broke. I'm old and have one quite arthritic shoulder, so half of my own back is unreachable. It's especially shitful getting an itchy back at night, but now I don't need to get up to relieve it. I use it every day, and every day I bless the person who first gifted me one.

Got a second-hand Walmart folding table + chair set at the beginning of my PhD, I think the entire set was like $15 or $20; it was the only furniture I had that lasted my entire grad school

A basket/bowl thing for keys, wallet, and whatever one carries around. No more hunting for them when walking out the door.

A bottle opener shaped like a key so it fits neatly between my other keys on my keychain. I thought I lost my keys once and I was way more upset about that than my actual keys, despite it probably being pretty easy to find on Amazon.

Pair of hook earbuds. Cheap no-name presumably Chinese brand, but they sound great and don't fall out of my earholes.