Good Products that Stay Around for Decades

Good Products that Stay Around for Decades

Some products that I have used for decades -

Afrin 12 hour nasal spray. This is the most effective over the counter medication that I know of, delivering complete relief within a couple of minutes that lasts for maybe 10 hours. Thankfully you can still get the small .5 ounce bottle without the new pump that forces you to use a full dose when you don't need it. I like the small size for travel.

McDonald's fish sandwiches, Egg McMuffins, and French fries. The last fish sandwich that I got was awful - tough and chewy, apparently due to sitting in a heater for a long time. It may be a while before I try again. Egg McMuffins are my favorite breakfast. I leave off half of the English muffin. (I rarely eat breakfast, mostly just on trips.) Doesn't hurt to add avocado if you have one.

Original (plain) Cheerios are about as good as you can get for low sugar, high fiber, and good taste. Original Cheerios has 4.4 grams of sugar per 100 grams. A side note - there are now 14 other versions of Cheerios (at least), ranging from 21 to 34 grams of sugar per 100 grams.

Uni-ball liquid ink pens, plain black plastic. .3mm ball I think - not noted on the pen, threw out the boxes - rats. Resilient pocket clip. Nice feel. I keep about twenty of them, spread around my home, car, jackets. One is almost always easily found when I need it.

X-acto hobby knife, number 11 blade in a number 2 handle. The number 2 handle (large diameter, solid aluminum) shields the bottom of the number 11 blade (meant for a small diameter handle) from slicing your thumb. And it is more controllable than the number 1 handle. Wonderful. Used for over 50 years.

Mitutoyo dial calipers. My 1970 calipers still work well, but I switched to a metric unit model for my violin shoulder rest. You pick it up and use it. No waiting for electronics to initialize. No battery to wear out (or fall out on the electronic calipers that I tried). I like pure mechanical devices.


Other products, I would have used for decades, but they were killed or ruined by the manufacturer -

Gildan large gray crew socks. For size 12-15 feet. I don't have big feet, but I hate tight socks. The gray ones are not as tight as the black ones, something about the fabric. These are no longer available. When I finish the ones that I purchased in advance, it will be a decade of use. And I would have purchased a lot more.

Many running shoes fall into this category. Nike, Saucony, Asics have made wonderful shoes that were replaced by junk. I'm using Brooks Adrenaline now. It changes every year but has, so far, retained its important attributes.

I used Glide dental floss for many years. It worked well, never broke, had a very nice case. Proctor and Gamble bought Glide. The new Glide breaks regularly. Useless.

Lee jeans, maybe 40 years. Fit me just right. Then they changed the cut, without notice. Couldn't they have kept "Lee Jeans Classic".