Hydro flask - over the years, we’ve all collected wide mouth bottles. They are pretty indestructible, my son goes to a nature school. It’s outside. The bottles have a few dings.

I also had an issue with Yeti bottle, it got moldy. I called them and they sent me a new lid. Call them!

There are, but you need some knowledge of fabric, design and sewing/manufacturing techniques to be able to assess them. Get into conversations with salespeople in high-end stores. Or in a local boutique that features and promotes designers in the area. Many of those salespeople and shop owners have studied fashion (at least fashion merchandising), clothing design and/or textiles. They’ll share knowledge while, yes, trying to sell you designer goods. But “designer” doesn’t have to mean “label.”

Really? My kids beat the shit out of there’s and they don’t leak at all

All good, just sounded like you maybe had something with the stitches per inch and whatnot. I appreciate you responding though.

This is so true. Also, modern washers/dryers likely have contributed significantly to clothing not lasting as long. People wash clothing more often now because it is easier to do.

The more you pay the better you look after it !

Same here within the brands, although some will be dirtier than others, after washing it clean it tastes about the same.

I usually end up getting the big 50# bags from Costco, either jasmine for medium grain or calrose for short grain.

One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of rice cookers aren't made, or at least don't have instructions for super long grain rices like basmati.

Did you actually buy this though? I got milk crate from the side of my bodega years ago.

This is a pretty good comparison for something simple like t shirts.

https://youtu.be/TyoU3mKwd6g

I had a nice rice cooker and wound up giving it away to my sister after just going back to the steel pot. Too easy and jasmine rice just comes out better. My nephews and kid only like the rice from the pot not the rice cooker. Weird. I liked it cause it also steamed but I live in an apt.

Ask an expert. I got talking to a tailor in a beer tent which is how I stumbled into moleskins.

Welding and grinding are going to put a lot of strain on any material, I wear overclothes when I am metal working these days for that reason.

Arse pockets failing isn't something I have had with denim, but I've holed some chinos that way, for work clothes (actually for general wear to be honest) you can often darn holes like that pretty invisibily.

Sorry I can't be more helpful.

In several states, misuse of milk crates is a felony.

Completely skipped over the part where you mentioned mouth zipper! 😂

But where do you get the info about fabric weight and stitches per inch? I could figure out which numbers suit me if I new where to find the numbers in the first place. I could just test higher vs lower numbers and find what lasts, but I don’t know how to get that information.

It’s not my body shape. I do alot of welding/grinding and mechanical work so my clothes take a beating, but more than anything, it seems my jeans always fail in the pockets. The worst is when they start coming apart right in the corner of the back pocket, leaving me with a hole in the butt of my pants, cause then I literally can’t wear them anymore lol.

Ohh. If this is what you mean then what you need to do is talk to a fabric historian. (Yes thise exist). They can show you woven fabric from 100 years ago and 200 years ago vs today and you can see with your naked eye how a farmer in 1850 had higher quality clothing than anything you can get today and that’s why his clothing lasted 10 years despite being washed in kerosene and boiled vs your clothing that falls apart.

…. Yeah now that I think about it I’m sad because your question is essentially “why aren’t there scientific studies about this thing that is glaringly obvious to anyone who knows any textile history or has purchased old clothing” and I’m realizing a lot of things in the world are like that.

Edit: also your post is misleading. You asked about quality. What you actually care about is price. No, more expensive clothing is not objectively better than cheap clothing. That’s called marketing.

Ok, then I think I'll pull the trigger on one of these premium for-life rice cookers :) thanks

As someone who sews: 1000% percent. But it’s not “high quality” as in expensive it’s “high quality” as in well woven fabric and well sewn clothing. I can identify when I see it and also tell you that pretty much nothing you can buy at the mall or in a target meets this criteria anymore.

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I think a lot of designer brands are actually well made. You can usually feel the stitching, material & overall quality when you handle those pieces. I have a $1k retail cashmere sweater I got at a thrift & it’s held up noticeably better than my $100-200 cashmere sweaters (also thrifted) even with the same care. It has longer threads or something so it hasn’t gotten as fuzzy as they have. It’s not a $900 difference though.

They just are over priced even for the quality because they ALSO add a massive brand tax on top of the quality price.

Unless it's really bad, I haven't noticed too much of a difference between jasmine rice brands. And I'm Filipino. I've had a lot of rice in my life. I usually buy Asian Best with the elephant on the package since that's what my parents always got.

Can you recommend a particular kit with comes with a storage case?

Sorry, I gave up on denim as I found it too susceptible to thorns and I grew tired of darning, although it is a very forgiving fabric to repair.

You'll be looking for a higher weight fabric and a high number of stitches per inch, but I don't know what numbers those should be.

If your wearing through in particular areas because your body shape isn't what jeans are designed around (I cycle so really struggle with thigh fit) you might benefit from buying a size up and getting them tailored to your actual shape.

I've been lead to believe that denim is particularly sensitive about how it's washed so you might want to look at that aspect too.

Hard evidence? No, but better garments properly maintained very much do outlast their lower quality counterparts. The issue is very few consumers can assess fabric quality, patterning/construction or fabrication much less know how to maintain or mend items. A well made garment will outlast a poorly made one and a well cared for item will outlast one that isn’t cared for. I do think quality has gone down quite a bit because the average person doesn’t know these things and the market rewards corporations for poorly made goods.

I mean, KC tool is pretty specifically a German tools retailer, so it shouldn't be surprising that they don't carry an increasingly-present USA brand.

This is important. Price tells you very little about the quality of the clothing you are buying.

In an ironic twist, the best way to really assess what you are getting is to examine it closely in person, yet the fairly-priced, high-quality clothing mostly comes from direct to consumer brands that sell exclusively online or at best, in a handful of tiny boutiques in New York, London, and Paris.