A custom cane. I know it’s silly but I get a lot of compliments on it. It’s hand crafted in Ukraine and it has a steel sculpture of Thors face adorned on the front.
If you’re someone like me that is going to need that for the rest of your life, why use some cold looking medical device or that stupid “hurry cane”? Nah I’d rather it be as beautiful as it is functional.
I've taken it on all my travels so far and it makes for a great conversation piece and a great way for others to broach the uncomfortable topic of my accident or walking impairment. Most people will ask about the cane first before asking me why I need it. Prior to owning the custom cane nobody asked me about anything.
Probably it doesn't quite count as a gadget, but repurposing my old PC as a home server. Firstly it makes a great mass storage solution making all my media accessible from any device, no matter what architecture it is and what apps it can run. I also self-host Home Assistant, Syncthing, Radicale, Navidrome, Jellyfin and UrBackup. The ten years old 2 core Pentium with 8GB of RAM can do it all, it's much cheaper to run than half a dozen subscription services and I have total control over my data and privacy.
Bidet for sure. A good one in the $300-400 range. It is such a gamechanger to always have a clean ass. And without TP, the toilet never clogs and you aren't spending extra on TP. Also helps with hemorrhoids if/when you get those, as TP is really rough on your asshole/not good for you.
I still have some TP for guests, but with the dryer built in, it really isn't needed.
Also, a bidet is a lifesaver if you like extreme hotsauces. Basically, it's the only piece of daily furniture that makes me go "God, I'm so glad I bought this" for literal years since I got it in the pandemic. No cold toilet seat during winter. Heated seat that doesn't slam. Hot water. Hot air blow dryer. Self-cleaning.
A countertop water boiler. It turns out I go through just about 4L of tea a day and now I spend a lot less time boiling water. And when you refill it and it comes to temperature it plays Fur Elise
edit: typo
This one seems silly, but one really useful cheap thing I bought that I use much more than I thought I would is an electric kettle. (I should point out I'm in the US) I use it to make iced tea, my wife uses it for hot tea, and we both use it for boiling water for whatever cooking project needs it. We have a gas stove, and it takes about twice as long to heat up a liter of water as this kettle. It uses a normal US 120v outlet and I think it draws 1,000w. (Edit: I looked it up and it's 1,100 watts)
A good pair of headphones and a decent amp and dac to power them. It's like discovering music all over again.
My personal recs: Modhouse Argon Mk3, Hifiman Sundara, Sennheiser hd6xx
Last time I needed new headphones for going out, I bought a Shockz bone conducting headphone.
While the specific one I bought was the wrong choice (the Run I got is slick but needs a proprietary charging cable instead of the USB-C the Move uses, and they sound 100% the same), overall the concept is really good. I enjoy hearing people around me, for someone who more listens to podcasts and radio shows not music the quality is perfect, and I can wear these on my bicycle without having to worry I won't hear something.
Also, since they don't sit in the ear not enclose it it's easy to semi-forget them there as they're so comfortable, no stuffed feeling or sweaty ears. I sometimes just use them at home instead of shifting a podcast onto the sonos speakers. Just easier.
Y'all this sound crazy, but the Bug A Salt is fucking awesome.
It's worth it if you can get a black Friday deal or something under 30$ because it's just a little salt when you shoot it and there's no guts on your wall, no dirty fly swatter, no chasing, no jumping, no reaching, and you feel like a sniper hitman.
Its not a toy. That shit hurts when you get hit lol
Not for everyone obviously, but I developed a synthesizer habit some years ago, and right now is probably the best time ever for a beginner to get into it. Korg's Volca series, Roland's Aira compact, teenage engineering's Pocket Operators, Arturia's Microfreak, and Elektron's Model series are all affordable and a great way for a beginner to start making some cool-ass music. Beware developing a habit though. It only stays affordable so long.
The Panic Playdate. It’s just a really nice gaming console that is getting a lot of support from game devs. It’s one of the very few truly portable handhelds as it can easily fit in a pocket and the battery lasts forever too.
Swapped out the head unit on my 2016 car for a touchscreen that supports Android Auto. I got spoiled using a similar one in my friend's rental car. It was only $600 installed at Best Buy. It's so nice not to have to fight with keeping my phone in a display holder where I can see the map, and now I can control my phone-streamed music with my steering wheel controls. Makes driving so much more pleasant.
My espresso machine. They're expensive. I do not know why they are, but they are. I hemmed and hawed for years about us getting one and finally decided fuck it. Im an adult, I want one, we can afford it.
In 2+ years the only times I have not made myself a cappuccino are when I have not been home to do so. It is one of my most used appliances. Espresso owns.
Hanklight D4K for $50 was my first portable enthusiast flashlight. I'm currently 4 hanklights deep and they're loads of fun out in the country for spotting wildlife and general use with the open source Anduril 2 firmware (yes, flashlights can get firmware updates).
Honestly?
A fidget cube.
Fidget toys got a bad rep, especially after Fidget Spinners became trendy for the younger generation.
But just having a little thing I can toy around with has been great for my pens and game controllers, as in the before times my grabby hands would fiddle with them whenever I was thinking about shit and it was bad for their durability.
For less than a dollar? (ay, currency exchange rates) Yeah, one of the best things I bought.
Lemmy needs a community dedicated to pointless debate over which flashlight is best. I'm about to permanently borrow somebody's ThruNite T1 but it's too heavy, I miss the mini Maglite I used to carry. Phone flash is fine, yes, but I miss a flashlight/torch without a fucking login procedure involved for fuck sake.
A cheap robot vacuum.
My wife was against it, so I bought it in secret, let it run around the house during the day, and she was amazed at all the cleaning I was doing. A few months later, I let her into my dark secret, and now she loves it too.
Speaking of wife, I bought her a hooded blanket with an electric warming bag a few years ago. Within 3-5 minutes it's nice and toasty, and she's used it practically every day since I bought it.
I'd like to mention a combo:
A Nvidia Shield TV 2019 Pro and a Synology NAS, they really are the perfect combo to sail the seas, or watch legal streams if you want to.
Both gadgets have been used daily since the day they were purchased, and that is a good sign lol.
The Shield TV uses hardware since 2015, and even when some could say it is failing into the enshitification territory due to the usual crappy decisions regarding putting ads in the stock launcher, it is to applaud that Nvidia still supports this thing officially though.
About the NAS, I have a two bay unit (bad decision) but it supports Docker and it has helped me to feel attached to Linux again.
Your usual multimedia selfhosted program that you have running in your overpowered server/rack, you name it, I could probably be using it too in my humble DS218+
If I had to choose only one I'd say the Shield, because along with Smart Tube Next already is 80% of my total usage lol (plus I had my NAS turned off for months because a recent fuck up, and I didn't have a PC to check it out, which is kinda solved now).
Whirly-Pop popcorn pot. Perfect unburnt popcorn every time.
Two "gadgets" that I'm never without. My Leatherman multitool and my RovyVon Aurora flashlight. The multitool with locking blades is like carrying a toolbox on your hip. And that flashlight - it's 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide, but it can kick out a beam that lights up things 1000 feet away. Or provide enough light to read by for 40 hours. Yeah, I can use the smartphone's flash, but it isn't bright enough to show me if the two eyes reflecting back at me belong to a dog or a bear. That's important where I live.
Chulka chuks https://www.chukachuks.com one more way I can pretend i'm a musician.
Second whoever said massage gun, nail on the head.
I however developed an addiction to 3D printing, it's as frustrating as it is fun but damn have I been busy...
Aeropress coffee maker. $30? Sure I'll try it. Best coffee I've made at home besides a real espresso machine
I bought a cheap plumbers torch a little over two years ago and it's been the most useful thing I've purchased. Lights my wood stove quickly and without hassle, lights my offset smoker, lights my firepit and any other fires quickly and effortlessly. It's such a small thing but makes a huge difference in everyday life for me and my family. 4th of July is better without needing to constantly click a lighter that may or may not blow out from a gust of wind.
Years ago I got one of those iRig guitar input jacks for my iPhone. Having a wealth of tones and a basic DAW available to me for the first time really did a lot to help me expand my playing ability.
Razer Kishi controller for an old Android Phone running various emulators.
I got it as a present rather than buying it myself but my tire pressure / tread depth measuring tool gets near constant use so it’s super easy to check on my car’s tires when I need to
@Fumbles Bose Quiet Comfort 35 headphones. Though I suspect the noise cancellation doesn't work as well. Also it's been several years, I wonder if they make new ones like they used to.
On that theme: MegaBoom 3 (without Alexa etc) speaker. Awesome bass and volume for a portable, waterproof. Great for bike parties and frankly a shower radio.
If you asked me 10 years ago I'd probably not expect to love any Bluetooth devices.
Fuck Bezos, but this fidget spinner with a tiny built in knife. It's actually pretty durable and I've used both sides a lot. It's also a great fidget spinner for me since I clip my keys to my waist.
Mine are Shokz, I've had them a couple of years now with no issues at all, the battery lasts for many hours
A new bread knife
A small fan with usb port for 10-20cad. I used to get hot in the summer, so I bought a fan, soon after I started using it at night while I was sleeping, and it worked perfect. Point it to my bed, set it to speed 2 and sleep.
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