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

Most of the items I own that qualify are connected with cooking. I have a cast iron skillet and a heavy maple-block cutting board, both gifts, that I've used almost every day for over 40 years. I have several steel mixing bowls that are almost as old that see frequent use. I'm sure if I spent 15 minutes rummaging around my kitchen I'd find at least 15 more items nearly as old, but not used quite as often (my flour sifter comes to mind).

Outside the kitchen, one of our cars, that was purchased new, is now 22 years old, but we only drive it about 1500 miles a year lately. It has a bit less than 135,000 on the odometer. I own a small dining table and tiny student's desk which together comprise my home work desk. I'm sitting at them now. There's even a 25-year mouse pad under my optical mouse. There's other furniture I bought long ago, too, bookshelves and whatnot.

I'm sure I could go on, but I'm old and this sort of thing is not astonishing for someone who has been an adult (of sorts) since the mid-1970s.

Not quite 20 years yet but getting there soon: a pair of Sony MDR-V600 headphones.

xpost TBF it's slightly astonishing given the uptick in planned obsolescence and the rapid pace at which things fall the eff apart nowadays.

I am currently sitting at a desk my grandma made out of an old wardrobe when I was 12 (so it's 30 years old). It has Mr T and Dragonlance stickers on the side of it (although it's the side by the wall so you can't see them). My grandma was shocked I still had it tbh but hey grandma knows how to make stuff, I've also got a CD bookshelf I made with her a bit later when I was in my teens, solid as that is. Much better than the flimsy crap I buy from Argos

The only thing that immediately springs to mind is the hand mirror I use for head shaving, whose handle snapped off long ago but whose reflective surface somehow remains intact and unblemished 20+ years and countless moves later.

I do have an alarm clock that's at least 30 years old which is sitting unused in a box somewhere but that I'm absolutely certain still works.

got tools older than 20 years as well. I bought a hammer after I got stuck in my bathroom when I was drunk and couldn't get the sliding door open so I just kicked it in and had to repair it the next day, still got the hammer, that would've been 1997/early 98. that house was a complete shithole, probably the worst place I've lived in (structurally)

I have some pots from a set of Calphalon cookwear that we bought in . . . 1995-ish? that we still use nearly every day. Ditto a set of kitchen knives -- keep a quality knife sharpened properly, it will last pretty much forever.

I've repeatedly moved to and fro across the pond over the years and naturally tend toward the Marie Kondo school of object-keeping so precious little of what I own (almost nothing) is all that old. Aside from the aforementioned headphones, I suppose there's also my plastic comb and a multipurpose screwdriver.

A Casio scientific calculator which I've had for 28 years. Remarkably, I've never had to change the battery despite the old warhorse having been regularly used for studies and, now, work. I love it.

ive a guitar in storage but otherwise yeah moving around a lot and being very young and poor twenty years ago leaves me short here

I've a "prestige english stainless" deep saucepan which is probably from the late 50's earliest - early 60's latest. When my mum was briefly living in Kerry in '65 my grandma commented on what a grand pot it was. The handle still needs tightening occasionally but is in very good knick. It is a testament to old manufacturing standards that this ting is still good.

depression

A wastebasket (used as a recycling bin in my kitchen) that dates back to my childhood. A plastic cup in my bathroom that dates back to college. The toolbox that my mother gave me as a housewarming gift when I moved into my first apartment (the tools seem to have been bought at dollar stores, so some have since been upgraded).

A frosted beer glass with The Rock on it

A smiley face coffee mug, and most of my drum gear (cymbals, drums, hardware). I've only had to replace the kick pedal really.

I bet my iPod Classic will get there.

depression

― i'm w/ tato, super hot AND weird!! (bizarro gazzara), Tuesday, March 19, 2019 10:58 AM (eleven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

How do u use it, I lost my manual ages ago

Keep pressing.

https://www.retrotogo.com/2010/11/ebay-watch-1970s-krups-wall-clock-2.html

45 years and going strong.

my cricket bag, nowadays more a sort of sack

my wife lol j/k

literally nothing

I bought a cheap plastic kettle in '98 and took it to university with me and it still gets used every day.

And our dining table and 2 dining chairs are hand-me-downs from my parents, older than me and used regularly throughout my childhood. Again, cheap stuff when it was new, but doing better than stuff we bought new when we moved in. (Could do with reupholstering one of the chairs and getting the table properly stripped and re-varnished, though.)

Been thinking lately about how various kitchen appliances my parents had when I was in my 20s were also in their 20s and still running, but my last washing machine and dishwasher died after 3 years and the repair guy looked at us like we were nuts expecting them to last any longer.

On which note, we got rid of our old car last year at 20 years old - only the bf's for 15 though so, yes, off-topic. RIP old friend - but it kept needing work and it was going to cost a lot to get it past the MOT. Wondering now if that was a good choice, though, seeing as I guess that's about the last vintage of car which is mechanically fixable for years on end, whereas our new-to-us car will likely need replacing in a few years when the onboard computer gives up. Ah, progress.

I should mention that our Maytag clothes washer was purchased in 1987 and still runs as well as the day we bought it! That was before Maytag Corp. was bought out and went downhill. Our Sears Kenmore refrigerator was purchased the same year and probably should be replaced, but it still works and we always find other uses for our time than to research and buy major appliances.

A small, old dining room table that used to belong to my parents still gets used, the stereo speakers I bought in high school, probably some kitchen utensils I inherited from my parents that I'm not picturing right now.

Definitely a few t-shirts I bought in high school, and an old flannel shirt that I still use for yard work that is at least from 1993.

i bought my speakers when i went off to university in 1979

I still have the speakers I bought when I went to college but I don’t use them anymore because the foam surrounds cracked and I’m too lazy to fix them.

I have some houseplants that are coming up on 30 years old; a drill, circular saw, lots of other hand tools; a few t-shirts and other clothes, mostly wearable only for yardwork

Oh yeah, I have a minicassette recorder I bought in '98 that still works swell. I think I've only had to change the batteries on the thing like maybe three times, it's weird.

Guitars, cutlery, my old a-level calculator will all be 25+ years old. We bought this house in 2001 so most of our furniture etc is almost 18 years old.

The Schwinn 10 speed bike my dad got me when I was 12 and not quite big enough for it yet
I'm 49 now and still use it

My letter opener - which is from 1890-ish - and I have owned for thirty years. It's the only thing I can think of.

A Casio scientific calculator

same. this one:
http://casio.ledudu.com/images/calculs/casio/machines/zoom/fx115v.jpg

a PONY tennis racket bag

and have kept around two of my oldest rackets cuz they're still fun to hit with: dunlop max 200g and wilson graphite matrix, both mid-80s models.

forgot my Onkyo tape deck

Apart from clothes?

A bureau that was my grandfather's, where he taught me to do joined-up handwriting. Now I do joined-up bills and things at it in my living room, forty years later.

Same as others although yeah moving 9 times in 6 years and never owning a home has kind of kept "keeping house" at bay. But I have some tshirts from HS and college, some tools. I came to NYC on a plane in 1998 with just 2 suitcases, have gradually brought items from parents' home over the years but mostly I moved without "stuff." Come to think of it, my suitcase is over 20 years old, and was a gift, and is monogrammed (lol) and kinda tattered but still rolls and zips and everything just fine.

Otoh I have a lot of things that I purchased already old/"vintage" that I use all the time, but I haven't owned them for 20 years yet.

HP scientific calculator, although i don't do anything scientific with it

it features reverse polish notation, so no one else can use it

like others, same house for 20 years, so many things (both fortunately/unfortunately). more worrisome would be things you have owned for 20+ years that you’ve never (ever) used. would start with many books and records, but I’m sure there are other things, like the underwater camera my father bought and never used during his brief scuba phase.

iterally nothing

― ( ͡☉ ͜ʖ ͡☉) (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, March 19, 2019 9:44 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh, how could i forgot, i have my teddy bear bobo, with a sweater that my mum knitted for him circa 1988, and a framed and signed print from the paul mcstay testimonial

https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images3/360/0914/06/celtic-fc-huge-collection-framed_360_769630afabe521c863e5d7deb27d1263.jpg

How regularly do you use Paul McStay?

A digital alarm clock I bought back in 1995, still used daily.
Another year and the trackball and keyboard I'm currently using will both be 20 years old.

How regularly do you use Paul McStay?

― Lammy's Show (Tom D.), Tuesday, March 19, 2019 12:27 PM (thirteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

he's hanging on the bedroom wall!

Quick prayer to him before bedtime.

I have a Sony clock radio cassette player that I got for my birthday in 1994 that I still use as an alarm clock. Pretty sure I've been using the same dressing gown for 20 years as well by now. Probably a couple of coffee mugs as well. My early morning routine is ancient.

I have a blanket that my mother crocheted for me before I went to university. that is probably all, since I have moved long ways a lot of times & I get rid of things every time. I don't have much that's more than 5 years old tbh (also I don't have much, period).

Loads of hand tools, small power tools and cookware. My daily-use stainless steel cookware turns 20 in a couple of months. The item whose longevity always surprises me, and makes me irrationally happy when I use it, is an umbrella I bought in college about 36 years ago.

analogue alarm clock from Argos, bought in mid-90s.
a solitary glass from a set of 12 from ikea and a solitary plate from Argos, both bought to begin my student life... the rest of the sets lost or broken over the years.
Similarly a stripey duvet set from Asda.
a teenage mutant ninja turtles mug.
a Barbie beach towel my brother bought for me when I was 17.
I use cds in the car and some of them are 20+ years old.

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.

Oh, and a 30 year old Aran wool sweater that refuses to unravel or die, and has accommodated my growing girth without complaint.

My GE clock radio from circa 1986 malfunctioned for the first time ever this morning. Set the alarm for 9:30 and it went off at 10:06 (I double-checked the setting and this is definitely what happened). Beside myself.

a couple cast iron skillets that are well loved/seasoned.

I've got a Le Creuset casserole dish that I got as a present in 1997 which has only recently started to show any kind of wear because I've only recently starting baking bread in it. Before this it mostly got stovetop use, and even though I've burned the arse out of it a million times, it has only started to show any proper discolouration now that it goes into the oven once a week at a temperature of 250.

I've just found a picture of me when I was around 2 years old listening to the hifi on headphones... And I still use that very same hifi amplifier (I'm 45) !

My stereo is definitely older than 20 years--turntable, receiver, speakers. I wouldn't say I still use it regularly, though.

A warm pair of underpants.

I've got a large Prestige stainless steel saucepan my mum give me over 30 years ago when I moved into my first flat. And it must be at least from the late 50's/early 60's because she bought it when she was living in Ireland. When I think about it, it's been an ever present in whatever house I've lived for 48 years, from London, Sheffield, Manchester to fucking Dewsbury and it sill looks shiny and good.

(x-post)

Humble-bragging that your waist size is impressively the same. (Unless you’re now using them as a duster of course)

Think my extremely basic veg peeler was in the same Argos bundle as the solitary plate mentioned upthread. Still peelin' strong.

Humble-bragging that your waist size is impressively the same. (Unless you’re now using them as a duster of course)

Ah, I genuinely hadn't thought of that! It has gone up an inch or two but I guess there's a bit of give in elastic. I only wear them in winter months and not in bed but I'm still impressed at their longevity. Well done H&M.

I think I may have had the pseudo bone handled cutlery I have been using for at least 20 years. Think they may have been bought when I was living in Dublin mid 90s. Handles have had to be reglued a couple of times and I think colour has heavily faded.
But I'm eating yoghurt with the spoon at the moment and just ate the first course with the fork.

I have a baseball style jumper thing that I think may predate the millennium or otherwise only shortly fall short of that. Also a fleece thing that I wear when its cold that I think was mid 90s

Same tweezers since 1990 (stolen from my mother).

Probably nothing at 20 years so far, my tallit will be that old next year though. Probably I should get it cleaned.

The Proctor Silex Popcorn Pumper, purchased at a thrift store about 22 years ago.
A Swiss army knife purchased in Liechtenstein about 24 years ago.
I think my Technics 1200 turntable is about 20 years old.
A melamine pot stirrer. Probably some other kitchen implements.

My wallet was given to me sometime in my teens over 30 years ago. At this point it's falling apart and needs to be replaced but is still useable.

I also have haircutting scissors of a similar age.

my refrigerator and microwave are both well over 30 years old, my washer/dryer, cooktop, oven and dishwasher over 25

Bike helmet

I've had the same bottle opener on my keychain since 1994.

a pair of scissors that belonged to my grandmother

spare bed

baritone ukelele

― Emperor Tonetta Ketchup (sleeve), Tuesday, March 19, 2019 8:15 AM (two years ago)

the bed is gone now

also adding:

Onkyo tape deck

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.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, March 20, 2019 12:07 PM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Car's up to 20 now. Thinking about this again, also have a tweed jacket that's gotta be 25 years old, maybe closer to 30. I don't wear it a lot, but when an occasion calls for wearing a tweed jacket, that's what I wear. Can't honestly say I use the '80s Cutcos that much anymore.

Almost all our pots and pans and dishes and etc. that we use every day were wedding presents, so those turn 20 in two years and I certainly still expect to be using them then.

Didn't even think of my car... still driving a Corolla purchased new in 99.

I've had the same bottle opener on my keychain since 1994.

― pplains

Winner

I have a lot of stuff in my flat but nothing goes back as far as when I was 16 I’m sure - well, no tools or technology for sure. I do still have the copy of lord of the rings my uncle gave me when I was a kid, and maybe some other books from around then, but these fail to meet the “still use” requirement (I haven’t reread lotr since)

My minidisc recorder

I bought my Hitachi 3D Super Woofer double cassette boombox (crucially with line input) in 1996 new for about £65 from a probably now defunct consumer electronics chain store. It's been busking and to festivals. Thing is solid af.

hope that planned obsolescence is becoming a thing of the past.
Would save the amount of stuff junked and causing pollution if that were the case.
Also proprietary ability to repair things as in preventing the user or a more general technician/repair shop from doing so.
Would think they would need to be steps on the route to a greener world.

I don't play every day but I still use the single French horn I got in 1970. SunRizr dusk/dawn simulator that was a gift in 2000 (happily surprised this still works), in use every day.

My wallet was given to me sometime in my teens over 30 years ago. At this point it's falling apart and needs to be replaced but is still useable.

Ditto, my wallet is 20+ years old, has seen better days but is still hanging in there. A lot of clothes I still wear, jackets mostly, that are a couple of decades old. There's a cardigan I've got that I still wear that I'm pretty sure I got from my dad, which must be over 50 years old, not that I've owned it for 50 years.

i have a coffee grinder that my parents bought me when i went to college that i still use. one button, works great

― na (NA), Tuesday, March 19, 2019 10:07 AM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink

well this finally just broke. not the motor, surprisingly, but the blade

rip big man

good excuse to upgrade to a burr grinder imho