• three@lemmy.zip
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    2 months ago

    One of these stainless steel bars of “soap”. It’s for getting onion and garlic smell off your hands. I was skeptical when my partner bought it, but it totally works. Rub on your hands under cold water and it’s like you never even looked at the garlic.

  • Vinny_93@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Oh man, there’s this German company Beurer that makes simple equipment for medical home application. They make this sort of zapper thing, which is battery oper and it just heats the shit out of a little ceramic plate. Put that on a bug bite, it heats away the irritation. No more itch, no more venom in your body, just gone.

    I am no longer careful around biting bugs. Keep in mind it’s not supposed to work for stingers.

    I figured for 15 euros it’d be too bad if it doesn’t work but I now can’t imagine not having it.

    I’ve since also bought a TENS/EMS machine of theirs and a laser hair removal tool is underway for my wife.

    I completely trust this company based on just two products.

    • Lemminary@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Oh wow, there’s a product out there? I’ve been heating the back of a spoon on the stove and applying it directly to the skin for a minute all these years. You gotta do it carefully, but it works very well!

      Nerdage

      The mechanism relies on denaturing the mosquito proteins injected with the bite. Meaning the heat causes the proteins to loosen up and deform so they no longer interact with the surrounding tissues in the same way.

      • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I’ve just run a spoon under the hottest possible tap water. It’s hot enough to work and it’s not hot enough to actually burn you

      • Hubi@feddit.org
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        2 months ago

        I’ve been using a spoon and a lighter like a heroin addict all this time…

    • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
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      2 months ago

      I got a device from a competitor (the original company’s devices are >20€ nowadays). Worked great, too, but its longevity sucked - the next year, the ceramic plate didn’t get hot enough anymore, even with fresh batteries. Yet another example of “buy cheap, buy twice”.

    • chunkystyles@sopuli.xyz
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      2 months ago

      I don’t have a device for this, but I do the same thing by running water as hot as I can stand over bites and it works.

      • Vinny_93@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Not sure what you mean by this. Are you just trying to gage some reason because it’s a German company? They made heating pads, heated blankets, stuff like that.

  • KoboldCoterie@pawb.social
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    2 months ago

    A roll of really heavy duty velcro. The kind that can, for example, stick a sledge hammer to a wall. It’s about $12 for 5 feet or so, and about a 1" piece is sufficient for most tasks, so it lasts a very long time. I use it for all kinds of stuff; it’s amazing how many uses for it you find when you have it.

      • KoboldCoterie@pawb.social
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        2 months ago

        A lot of small things. I have some velcro on the wall in few rooms that I can stick a tablet to, for example. I’ve got velcro holding down a few items on my desk - a USB hub, speakers and the like, that I want to move sometimes, but that were commonly getting knocked off (by the cat). I’ve got a small whiteboard and a few places I can stick it, so I can use it to sketch something up and take it with me to our workbench, for example, and not have to precariously balance it.

        All things that could be solved with other solutions, obviously, but the heavy duty velcro just happens to be a one-size-fits-all solution that leaves no permanent marks and is very convenient to set up.

      • Geometrinen_Gepardi@sopuli.xyz
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        2 months ago

        I have a IKEA pergola on my backyard and I’ve been trying to come up with a way to attach some plastic paneling on top of it without drilling. This might be it.

    • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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      2 months ago

      Last time I did install work we used double sided Velcro for cable management. I snagged a roll and made a jig to split it in half with a box knife to get twice as much and I’ve still got a ton left over a decade later. It’s really handy stuff to have around and better than zip ties in most applications I use it for.

    • Valmond@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      How do you get the velcro to stick to the wall so you don’t rip it off if it’s so strong? (And no, don’t just say more velcro!)

      • KoboldCoterie@pawb.social
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        2 months ago

        It’s velcro all the way down!

        It sticks with adhesive, and I don’t doubt it would rip wallpaper right off, but using adhesive remover before trying to pull it off lets you work it off slowly and not cause damage to paint or surfaces.

      • KoboldCoterie@pawb.social
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        2 months ago

        That’s pretty funny. Unfortunately for them, I and probably almost everyone else don’t really care about their brand identity, so I’ll keep calling it all velcro. I’ll also keep call all tissues Kleenex, and all adhesive bandages Band-Aids, and all the others that have become synonymous with their product. That’s what they get for being too successful, I guess.

  • TheFlopster@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I bought a reusable tote for like $3 in the section at the front of Target where they stick all the cheap stuff. It looks like it’s made of woven burlap. It says “Going to Market” on the sides. It’s shorter than the standard reusable tote, but a reasonable width.

    I bought it on a whim and thought it would sit in my trunk after I forgot about it. I use it all the time, and I’ve gotten a ton of compliments on it at checkouts of various stores.

      • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Isn’t everyone a better off Ted fan? Some people just don’t know it yet.

        Actually, I just realized that I have only seen Portia de Rossi in two things and they were both fucking killer. Maybe I should watch ally mcbeal…

        • toynbee@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          As for what they are, the green text in my screenshot.

          How depends on how you access Lemmy. In my client, Connect, I expand a comment, tap the three dots to the right of it, and click “add user note.”

          • ɯsnN@piefed.zip
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            2 months ago

            Aww, sadly I’m iOS and not Android, so I can’t use Connect nor I guess user notes.

            • toynbee@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              I can’t comment on your particular client, but I suspect most of them should support it in some form.

              It looks like Thunder is available for Android and iOS. I dont really use it but I do have it installed, so I took a look. It has a “user label” function that looks pretty similar and is added through the same basic process.

              Note that I am very much not an expert on Lemmy and even less so on anything Apple, but I bet a way can be found! And if not you always have the option of submitting a feature request to the developer of whatever app you do use.

              Good luck!

      • Cenzorrll@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Its incredibly useful. Kind of interesting to recognize an unhinged jackass from one thread being normal a week later.

        • toynbee@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          It’s too bad I don’t have a note about you, because I feel like that would make this more contentious but probably interesting.

          If I were going to make one about you, and you were as honest as you think you can be, what do you think it would say? I haven’t looked at your post history and I don’t remember your username from elsewhere (sorry), so I’m genuinely curious how you’ll choose to represent yourself.

    • Little8Lost@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Chopsticks are also nice to mix fluids in a bottle because for some they are long enough
      I also started eating potato chips with them, can reach deeper in + clean hands

  • hakase@lemmy.zip
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    2 months ago

    $20 bread maker I found at at a thrift store. There’s no telling how many hundreds of loaves of healthy, fresh baked wheat bread I’ve churned out of that thing over the past two years, especially now that we’re grinding our own wheat too.

    • VetOfTheSeas@discuss.online
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      2 months ago

      I got a bread maker for free. I asked my coworkers and THREE different people said they had a bread maker that’s just sitting there, unused as gifts that they don’t want.

      • leadore@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I’m one of those who gave my bread maker away. The problem was when I was making bread with it, it was so good I’d quickly eat it all up and kept gaining weight, so I stopped using it.

  • ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠@slrpnk.net
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    2 months ago

    Wool poncho. I’ve used it to stay warm, stay cool, as a groundcloth under my sleeping bag, as a blanket, as a pillow, as a decorative throw, as a cat bed, as a picnic blanket, as a beach blanket. It’s incredibly useful and versatile.

    • Krauerking@lemy.lol
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      2 months ago

      There is no way you got that for $20. I keep meaning to get one since I love my wool coat I got at a thrift store but they are never that cheap.

        • Krauerking@lemy.lol
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          2 months ago

          Oh 2003? Nah $20 stretched hard back then, especially if it was a thrift store. Man even as a kid I could get so much stuff with $5 at a thrift store, I think I literally got a PC and a DVD player for like $10. Nobody was trying to maximize profit on every thing cause more was on the way.

          Hasbrown at McDonald’s were .80¢, they are now $2.70. That $20 was more like $67.50 in actual purchase power.

  • vaionko@sopuli.xyz
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    2 months ago

    A Victorinox Swiss army knife. Bought it used for 10€, and it has everything from a very good blade to screwdrivers, a bottle opener, pen and tweezers. Always in my pocket in case I need it.

    • drhodl@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      It’s weird, but despite owning a couple of nice pocket knives, I almost never have actual use for them. My tactical torch though, is freaking amazing, and given my shitty old eyesight, I use it every day.

      • ikidd@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I’d be lost without my pocket knife. I use it daily, I’ve even gutted a moose with it.

      • vaionko@sopuli.xyz
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        2 months ago

        Oh yeah a torch is also one of those things that you’ll never catch me without. Though mine is quite a bit over the $20 mark.

    • Veltoss@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      One of those tiny sd ones? I have a couple and love them. I carry a skeletool cx now but if I had to carry only the little victorinox I wouldn’t complain.

      • vaionko@sopuli.xyz
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        2 months ago

        It’s a Climber, a 91mm model. Just small and sleak enough to be bearable on my keychain. The small ones are missing screwdrivers which I use quite often

  • nebulaone@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago
    • 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
  • Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org
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    2 months ago

    Opinel carbon steel pocket knife. They’re awesome. Cheap, robust and easy to keep sharp. Just need to oil the blade every now and then for corrosion resistance and you’re good to go.

  • jinwk00@sh.itjust.works
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    2 months ago

    A screwdriver kit with multiple head tips, can repair almost anything as long as I am given some schematics

  • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
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    2 months ago

    One of those cocktail stirring spoons with a long, round handle. Makes stirring a glass full of ice extremely easier compared to normal spoon handles. In contrast, I found mixing glasses and cocktail shakers fairly optional (and those tend to be more expensive than $20 anyway if they’re decent quality).

    • toynbee@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      A swizzle stick?

      Apparently there’s a collector’s club for these, but none of them displayed in photos were the twisted kind, so I didn’t link there.

      • Obituarykidney@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Not a plastic swizzle stick, a bar spoon. They are stainless steel and have various ends. This is the teardrop, makes stirring ice easier. There’s also a coin (flat disc on the end that op was talking about), that is used for muddling and can also be used to stir ice, and the trident used to get garnishes out of jars like cherries and olives. Source: I am a bartender

        • toynbee@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Ah, I’m no bartender but every cocktail kit I’ve had has referred to them interchangeably. I was thinking of the spoon style but ironically ran out of metaphorical spoons while trying to find a good example. Thanks.

          edit: Added missing words.

  • BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    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.

  • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    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.

    • VetOfTheSeas@discuss.online
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      2 months ago

      Be careful with a stungun. It requires close range confrontation, and It’s not effective if the assailant is drugged up or heavily drunk and ignores the shocks.

      Mace gives good distance, and pepper in the eyes doesn’t care about the stimulants in your blood stream.

      Also practice with it. A large number of people carry self defense tools and choke under pressure/fail to use it correctly during situations.

    • Jmsnwbrd@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      This has been “useful” to you? I hope mostly the flashlight and not the tazing homeless people part.

      • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Go judge someone else. It wasn’t my decision to turn whole cities into mental institutions. It was Ronald Reagan’s.

        • Jmsnwbrd@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Hahaha. Who said I was judging you? I hope you don’t need to be using a tazer often because it doesn’t sound like a fun existence. It sucks that we have homeless people in the richest country in the world, but that doesn’t mean homeless people can’t be dangerous. Take a chill pill please.

          • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            Apologies.

            Every time I mention I had a run-in with a homeless person, some self-righteous SJW discounts my experience and infers that I must have been in the wrong, though I was just sitting on a bus minding my own business on the way to work. My city has fare-free buses, so we end up having a lot of close encounters with untreated homeless people. (Also why I carry a stun-gun instead of mace, so if I have to use it there’s no chance of friendly fire.)

            So I figured you were another one here to cast aspersions, and I have a short fuse with it for sure. My mistake.