things you have owned for 20+ years that you still use regularly

Just some records.

Black crocheted blanket made by my mother in around 1995, capsule wardrobe of 1950s/60s Peck and Peck separates from my grandmother’s time as one of their fashion buyers, framed sketch of grandmother dated 1930 when she studied fashion design at art college, antique candle snuffer with a gold star on top, framed newsagents’ OFFICIAL: THATCHER QUITS poster stolen from the Evening Standard ‘cage’ on the day of her resignation.

Loads of stuff, basically.

bigass umbrella from wal-mart, going on 25 years! i even lost it for a few weeks once and then got it back.

Well done, I've never had an umbrella last more than 25 days.

Hairbrush I've had since 1992 that I use daily because my hair is too thick for a comb.

― just another country (snoball)

yes, i have a cheap plastic hairbrush that dates back to when i was in high school, my spouse bought me a new one this year but i was like "nah you know the old one works just fine" and i still use it

that's the only thing i use that's that old though

- microwave purchased in I think 1993? Still works perfectly, has been in continuous use in every kitchen Ive had
- would have been my Sony amp bought in like 1989, though I did recently retire it for one that supports 5.1 and blutooth to be fair
- a solid metal roasting pan that my parents got as a wedding gift. Ive had it since I moved out of home in 89. Still use it as my go to roaster all the time, you could kill someone clocking em on the head with it.
- probably some pieces of clothing somewhere if I'm honest :/ Oh! My doc martins.

i think i've had my record speakers for about 15 years now - they're not top of the line but they sound good enough to me! they're hand-me-downs from the 70s. ("Allegro" brand)

Despite moving internationally several times I have a kitchen knife and a pot that must be hitting the 15 year mark.

I have quite a few 20 year items, even my main hi fi speakers I built myself in the 90s, and amazingly even a pair of Sony MDR-v700 DJ-style headphones I have kept alive in regular use since 1999. Along with a few 35-40 year items like Swiss Army knives, etc. My toaster was an engagement gift to my parents in 1967, I've repaired it a few times and it is still going strong. Likewise a clothes dryer they bought in 1979.

I think a set of cutlery but can't quite remember exactly when I got them. Had to stick the handles back on the fork last year but otherwise use them pretty much daily. Just can't recall if they are quite that. Definitely remember using them in early 00ies. May even date back to mid 90s.
Got a couple of things I've had for 14 years that I use regularly. Stereo I'm listening to now was bought in 2005.
& I know my bathrobe was around in 2005 not sure how long before.

did the forks not cleave foru

fork handles?

I've had 2 guitars, a bass and an amp for almost 30y.
Some shirts and jackets for +20y.
And some cds (and books also but I rarely "use" them anymore !).

nothing :-/ '99 is high school for me tho, so i owned very little that's still super relevant to my life. plus i've lived in, i think, fifteen places since then, which is a lot of chances for things to get evaluated/questioned (or sold/lost/broken).

so i've got a couple of childhood keepsakes, and def some 98/99-era photos in the oldest of my photo albums, but those aren't really "used" "regularly." kitchen stuff was all lost in our house fire last year, so were at least some books that i'd been lugging around out of loyalty for a long time.

the Global knife Ed got me for my wedding is going on 13 yrs now

stereo, speakers, Technics 1210s, all had for at least 20 yrs

leather motorcycle jacket lent to me by estranged friend

p sure that's it

I'm going to have a huge list in a few years, but '99 was my high school graduation year and I moved into the dorms for the first year so the few pieces of cookware that have lasted that long I purchased the following year. I was scrubbing a pot last night that I'm reasonably sure I've had since y2k, though!

I also nostalgically bought a Discman that's the same model I owned in 1999 recently but the original is long dead.

Some furniture in our house belonged my gf's grandmother and is at least 40 years old

Also a bunch of kitchen stuff I've had since I was about 18.

Other than that I have a small clay bowl I made in art class when I was 14 that I still use to store my spare change

Realised that most of the towels I use regularly were inherited from a house I moved into in 98 when I first hit Galway. House fell through shortly after and everybody had to leave. I kept the toes.
Also that the alarm clock radio beside my bed at my mother's place was bought in the late 70s and I think still runs. Only use it for a couple of weeks around xmas though

My favorite mug I've had since 1996 or so. Some kitchen knives I got in the late 80s. The oldest shirts I still wear regularly are from 1993 and 1994. My car I've had 18 years, so almost! Guitar and amp I've had 26, 27 years and my keyboard about 35.

xp phone autocorrecting towels to toes. I kept the towels.

a paperback edition of Neuromancer which I broke the spine on in high school but keep for sentimental reasons

A Kryptonite U-lock from maybe 1989 is my second oldest possession after my baby blanket. I still use it every time I ride my bike (and it is apparently not, for some reason, vulnerable to "pen trick", unlike many other older u-locks).

this thread is useful because I keep thinking of things I've had for 20 years and no longer (never?) used regularly and, y'know, maybe they could... go

(eyes a box of records and an entire bookcase shelf of books relating to foreign languages I once had a whim to learn and never made it past p.10 of the textbook for)

My toaster was an engagement gift to my parents in 1967, I've repaired it a few times and it is still going strong.

My grandfather bought a washing machine in the early 1950s and kept it in working order for over 50 years.

Electric knives were apparently hugely popular as wedding presents in the late 50's / early 60's, and several members of my family still have theirs in perfect operation! And I think my grandma's 50's era Electrolux vacuum was still operational when she died... Participation in this thread means we're getting old, doesn't it? Excuse me, I need to go yell at a cloud

Being able to keep your gadgets in rep[air yourself is always handy. Shame its been pretty much shut out by technology advance and proprietary moves by brands etc.
Would be so good if anything you had could be fixed by you. Wonder if things will turn back that way thanks to concerns about climate change and built in disposability.

yes this is all a trick to see who will undergo the rite of carrousel

I've repaired my refrigerator twice

I've lived in the same apartment for 20+ years, so it's uh ... really the vast majority of everything, outside of my car, computers, phone, and clothing (because 20 years ago I weighed about 40 lbs less than I do now)

several t-shirts
dining room table - since moved to my home office
sewing machine
stereo receiver and cassette deck
box spring
microwave
adding machine
several sets of speakers
bass guitar
8 shelving units
two folding tables
space heater
the vast majority of my dishes and cups
several rugs

Before I separated from my wife I used to be able to walk around my house looking at the things I had repaired: dryer, washing machine, refrigerator, plasma TV, 70s stereo receiver, toaster, espresso machine, stove etc etc. I'm not good at cars though.

I still use my original 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System. Now I use a PowerPak, but still. My 2-year-old son LOVES Mega Man II.

There's a flannel shirt I still wear that's kinda sneaky because as I take the boy to his karate lessons or the girl to her friend's sleepover, I'm the only one who remembers throwing up all over it in college that one weekend.

I've got a Sony dual-cassette "boom" "box" in the garage that' will be old enough to run for president in 2020.

I've had the same turntable/receiver/speakers for 20+ years...which is probably not that unusual.

I also have this joke about the Ozark Mountain Devils being "the real OMD" that I've been periodically using for 25 years.

Daredevils...bit rusty.

The sandwich box I take to work was bought in 1996. One of my colleagues at work is the same age.

last week I got rid of that spare bed I mentioned upthread, after ~28 years

Also one half of my 20 year old Sennheiser HD-570 headphones stopped working today. The driver is broken. Incredibly I could get a replacement part but I'll be buying an entirely new pair since the old ones have been patched up often enough. One time where I tossed them on the desk and cracked the headband I repaired it with a strip of metal from a computer and a tonne of gaffer tape.

Giant sized t-shirts that I wear to bed

I have a shirt and 2 sweaters I’ve had since 1991 and still wear + plenty of stuff I’ve had for 20 years. Aside from music, I think the clothes from hs are the oldest things I have that I still wear/use.

Blue/white striped long sleeve boatneck shirt
Maroon v neck sweater I got at the thrift
Crocheted black sweater I rescued from a friend’s discard pile.

Second prize goes to clothes I got at the thrift 20+ years ago + still wear and I realize there are a lot of those.

ACTUALLY! Oldest single item of clothing not-thrifted is a political T-shirt I’ve been wearing since I was 8 or so.

It’s a special occasion wear now bc I would be sad if it died

I have my mother's nylon-string Goya folk guitar from around 1961. Its neck was snapped by accident in 1980 or so. She had it rebuilt and gave it to me in 1993. I still play it pretty frequently.

My stereo from college — still using it! I think I have so many of these things it’s hard to list so I’ll stop.

ooh yeah I still use the Onkyo tape deck I got 30 yrs ago

A GE brand alarm clock radio. It’s a plug in version with LED display. A few buttons are hard to press but otherwise it’s still going strong.

― o. nate, Tuesday, March 19, 2019 11:25 AM (one year ago)

Same answer for me, and the model's from circa 1986 and has survived about 15 moves, incredibly. (No issues with the buttons for me). When was the last time GE even made clock radios?

Also a Technics 1200 turntable bought in 1999 which wasn't even new then.
Warm-up hoodie from high school swim team circa 1985 - it's a stretch to say I use it "regularly" but I squeeze into it for a laugh sometimes.

I have a set of bike bags that I bought for a tour of New Zealand in '99 that are still what I use for commuting. One has a small hole in it (they're water proof) but still seems to do fine in the rain. The bike I used for the tour, however, is long gone.

NSF chromed wire shelving. First for kitchen storage (in a 120 yr old building without many cabinets), then tool shelving in a garage, now on casters with some HDPE liners as mobile bookshelving. It's such a standard that I expect to find accessories for the rest of my life.

A 35-year old Henkels knife set. I refer ceramic or the nakiri for most vegan prep, and I've never used the filet knife, but the chef's knife and paring knife still get pulled out regularly. Also in the kitchen of older vintage are a nesting set of stainless mixing bowls, a carbon steel wok and a couple cast iron skillets that are well loved/seasoned.

Many inherited hand/power tools. My carpenter grandfather's aluminum level. A late 60+ year old Craftsman electric jigsaw with an aerotastic-aluminum body that purrs along like the first time I used it 36 years ago.