I currently have the Demeyere Atlantis and it is arguably one of the gold standards of stainless cookware with simply stellar performance. It really shines with induction, which can have a tendency to be hard on cookware.

The Multi-Clad Pro (MCP) and the Professional Series are both good products. The MCP is fully clad, whereas the Professional Series uses a disc design (the Chef's Classic uses a disc design as well, but it is not as good of a design as the Professional Series). Tramontina Tri-ply Clad is also good on the entry level of stainless.

However, I would strongly recommend considering All-Clad because it is a step up in manufacturing quality compared to Cuisinart and Tramontina, and they currently have crazy good deals on factory seconds at https://homeandcooksales.com/ . These are factory-direct sales of cookware with damaged packaging (for a discount) or cosmetic imperfections (for a huge discount). I had All-Clad before getting my Demeyere I highly recommend them.

If you are flexible on pricing, I would also recommend looking at the Demeyere Industry and Demeyere Atlantis.

Honestly, it's worth it, IMHO. It takes a little time to get used to, and it can be a little frustrating at first, but once you learn it you simply do not need nonstick. Even for eggs and fish, they can be effortlessly cooked in stainless with the right heat settings and cooking fats. I eat eggs daily and have owned exclusively stainless for over 20 years. (You can also get stellar performance from carbon steel and cast iron).

If you want something that is BIFL, it needs to be stainless, cast iron, or carbon steel, without any sort of coating. Ceramic coatings can tend to have an even shorter service life than PTFE (Teflon) and, like PTFE, eventually lose their nonstick properties and will need to be replaced.

Of the ceramic offerings, the products offered by OXO are generally considered to be pretty good. However, even if you use the right utensils, store it properly, only use it with low and medium-low heat, and clean it carefully, it's realistic lifespan is a handful of years, compared to the multiple decades that carbon steel, cast iron, and stainless can last for.

5500-2 for cost efficiency and the fact that very good aftermarket filters are available that have performance equal to that of OEM.

Do keep in mind though that the 5500-2 and all of the models you noted are mainly going to handle particulate filtration (i.e., they remove particulate matter from their air through mechanical filtration). They will do very little for adsorbing odors, or VOCs, in general, as they have only a small amount of carbon, and they will have no impact on nitrogen oxides, so their chemical filtration capability is, like most purifiers, extremely limited.

None of the Winix models noted are BIFL. AirPura, AllerAir, and Austin Air make products that would be BIFL as these are using stainless steel bodies with commercial grade motors (these are also capable of tackling VOCs as they all use large carbon filters).

I would definitely recommend OXO over Pyrex or Anchor (or any brand using tempered glass) because they are much less likely to catastrophically fail when exposed to sudden temperature changes. Zwilling also produces borosilicate products as do some smaller brands.

The one benefit of Pyrex's tempered is that they do have a bit more impact resistance than borosilicate, but you sacrifice a HUGE amount of thermal shock resistance for that (and Pyrex's choice to stop using borosilicate is unquestionably one made due to costs.)

The people saying they have had their Pyrex for a gazillion years and they are great...those are borosilicate products from back when Pyrex used borosilicate on the glass they sold to consumers.

How common is it for tempered Pyrex to fail? It's not a common occurrence, but it also isn't a rarity. Further, it has caused some very serious burn injuries and I have personally seen one fail and it is quite violent (admittedly, my fault, but borosilicate almost certainly would not have failed in that situation.)

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/08/pyrex.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kxTtnPGHSo

Interesting - in the United States these are tempered and not borosilicate.

I wonder if they have multiple versions of this product elsewhere? (as I know Pyrex now apparently sells very different products in different countries.)

I would recommend OXO over Pyrex (and Anchor) because OXO uses borosilicate, which has drastically better thermal shock resistance than the strengthened soda lime glass used by Pyrex (on most of their consumer products), which has the potential to catastrophically fail when exposed to extreme temperature changes.

Additionally, the lid design OXO uses keeps food fresher as it obtains a better seal.

Most clad (multi-ply) stainless cookware should ideally not go in the dishwasher because the edge is often exposed aluminum and is somewhat more prone to corrosion than stainless steel, especially with more aggressive washing detergents. This is more of a long-term thing, as a few times isn't going to make a big difference, but over many years this can cause a problem in some instances.

I have a Dyson V15 Detect. It is 100% NOT a BIFL product, but with a bad back, the thing has been a lifesaver. Of the vacuums that were available, it had some of the best suction performance, and this was necessary because I am often vacuuming up hay, which it can handle, but is also light. Functionally, it works very well, the heads are very well designed, and it has extremely good battery life (+ a replaceable battery). Realistically, I expect around 3-6 years of service life from this type of product. If I get more, great. If not, this vacuum will have saved me a lot of back pain over the duration of its lifespan. Lupe is definitely worth consideration as well. (I ultimately went with the V15 due to the weight difference.)

I recently replaced my All-Clad D3 and Copper Core with the Demeyere Atlantis/Proline. Both All-Clad and Demeyere make great cookware with the latter being a bit better overall and really excelling with induction. Most of the utensils I use are OXO (good but not BIFL) and Victorinox. My knives are a combination Wusthof and a few smaller Japanese brands that virtually no one has heard of. I generally use my end grain maple butcher block by Boardsmith for cutting. My flatware is Liberty Pinehurst. I like these products a lot and consider them BIFL.

The breathable portion is where you are going to run into some issues. I have two pairs of Redwings I purchased in 2007 that I still wear frequently during the winter, and I purchased them because at the time I worked a physical job. Construction-wise, they are well-made and very durable--I moisturize the leather twice a year with Leather Honey, have used them with a shoedryer since the day I bought them, and they continue to still look great. But, they are not the most breathable shoe. You will not wear through the top of a pair of Redwings. When I was wearing them for 8-12 hour workdays, I would generally wear them with a thicker sock.

With any good pair of shoes, if your feet sweat, IMHO a shoe dryer is worth its weight in gold.

More like than not this would not be a very good product and would likely not make any notable difference in air quality. The lack of any technical information, combined with the price, suggest this. If price is an issue, I would suggest constructing a Corsi-Rosenthal Box, which can be put together for the cost of box fans, MERV-13 or higher furnace filters, and tape. These move large quantities of air using filters of known level of performance to make a huge difference in reducing particle counts.

Absolutely. That would definitely do the trick provided the fan is forcing air through the canister (and not around it), the carbon blend is good for VOC adsorption, and a sufficient dwell time is achieved. Many of the grow filters on the market are great for this. There are also specialty purifiers with large carbon canisters as well (on the order of 20-50 pounds), some of which have oxidizers added as well to cover certain pollutants that carbon alone cannot remove. (I am a bit of an air purifier geek.)

This is a very important question because it takes a specialty purifier to remove odors and most of the units on the market will not do this.

Do you mean a 3 meter by 4 meter room? A room that is only 3 feet by 4 feet seems like it would be a little small...even if it was a bathroom or a closet.

The unit should list CFM, CADR, or both. This is the best way to approximate how appropriate the unit is for a specific room. If it does not list this, then I would strongly advise not purchasing it. I would also want to know more details on the filter itself. For example, what kind of a filter is it, what is the filter change interval, and how expensive are replacement filters?

Finally, with the absolute minimal details listed on the box, I would assume that this system (like most of the consumer units) is going to cover particulate filtration only (i.e., particulate matter, or PM). It will not reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or nitrogen oxides, which would require a chemical filtration component that only specialized purifiers have. And as it does not remove VOCs, it will not make a meaningful impact on odors other than moving the air around (large carbon filters are needed to actually remove odors through the process of adsorption, which are available with specialty purifiers.)

If the room is 12 feet by 16 feet, that is about 200 square feet. You would be very amply covered by something like a Winix 5500-2, which would provide a high level of air exchanges even on a lower (quieter) fan setting. The 5500-2 can be purchased for as little as $150 and replacement filters are reasonably priced. Energy usage and noise is also very reasonable. Like most of the consumer filters, it covers particulate filtration but does not make meaningful impacts on VOCs or NOx.

This reminds me of days back when I had hair.

It is worth noting that I got my Demeyere from a European retailer and had it shipped to me in the US. It was much less expensive than buying from US retailers. In addition, European retailers carry the optional glass lids for the Proline/Atlantis, which are not sold in the US for some odd reason (they are excellent quality lids and are oven safe.)

All-Clad makes great products. I previously had the D3 and later the Copper Core and they are certainly good products. However, I would argue that the Demeyere is one of the pinnacles of multi-ply cookware for several reasons:

First, the amount of cladding used is greater than most other multi-ply cookware. The Proline skillets use twice the cladding materials as the D3, for example, giving it exceptionally even heating, exceptional sidewall heating, and exceptional heat retention approaching the performance of 4-5mm cast iron.

Second, they use welded handles instead of rivets, which makes cleanup easier, especially with fry pans and saute pans where one is cooking with a lot of oils.

Third, the electro-chemical surface treatment they use makes their pans perform better than other stainless cookware I have used with respect to ease in obtaining nonstick performance and ease of cleaning.

Fourth, the handle design is subjectively more ergonomic, and objectively better at staying cool over prolonged periods of cooking compared to my D3/CC.

Fifth, the optional oven-safe borosilicate glass lids that compliment the stainless lids are exceptional quality and add versatility. Having them for fry pans is especially nice.

Sixth, their sealed edges on their fully clad fry pans and sauciers greatly reduces the corrosion risk that open-edged multi ply cookware are vulnerable to over many years of use.

Seventh, the Atlantis/Proline has better warp resistance than most other stainless cookware, including the Copper Core and D3, and is an especially good choice for use on induction, which can be extremely hard on cookware.

All-Clad makes great products, but saying it is, "the only cookware worth buying in that category" is really not a fair assessment of the many great multi-ply cookware options available.

I have the Demeyere Atlantis/Proline and previously had All-Clad D3 and Copper Core. Both companies make exceptional products although the Demeyere Atlantis/Proline is arguably a pinnacle of multi-ply cookware in terms of performance and build quality, IMO. But I don't think you could go wrong with either.

This is good to hear as we are planning to buy this (and the corresponding dryer). The price seems great and the simplicity of the machine suggests it will last a long time and be relatively easy to repair. I don't need a touch screen on my washing machine and I see that is one more thing to break.

There are knives from many, many brands that are BIFL if you take care of them and sharpen using a method that does not remove excessive amounts of steel. Different knives require different levels of care in order to be BIFL--certain knives could last one person a lifetime who another would destroy in a week. For example...

Victorinox and Mercer (forged lines) make good quality knives for their price range at the entry level. They are not going to feature astounding edge geometry but use steels that are relatively robust and relatively easy to sharpen. They also have good handles for folks with arthritis and generally their handles will favor durability over cosmetics.

Wusthof and Henckel present more expensive Western, specifically, German options. Both brands offer some inexpensive lines that are not forged and I cannot speak to them, but the higher end forged lines that are made in Germany, such as the Wusthof Classic, represent knives that are very robust and easy to sharpen. Handles are generally both durable and cosmetically appealing. Again, the edge geometry here is not the best. Wustof has gotten very expensive in the United States.

Tojiro represents a bit of a merge between German and Japanese knives. They are made in Japan, but offer some models with Western style handles. They use steels that are harder than what is used by Wusthof and Henckel, but not as hard as what many other Japanese makers use. Shun would also fall into the category of mixing traits. Opinions on both brands can be a bit polarizing with respect to the cost vs. performance factor. FWIW, I personally think one's money can go further with some of the higher performing brands fitting the paragraph below.

There are many smaller Japanese brands making extremely high-quality kitchen knives. Generally, these are using thinner blades than their Western counterparts, with much harder steel with higher wear resistance (at the expense of toughness) and a tremendous deal of emphasis is placed on edge geometry. These steels are sometimes stainless/semi-stainless, but are often more reactive carbon steels (sometimes using different steels for the core and the edge) and they are easy to make absolutely screaming sharp to a level that most thicker Western knives simply cannot achieve. They will hold this screaming sharp edge for a long time if used on the proper cutting surface (for example, an end grain maple board). These knives necessitate someone who understands how to care for a knife with a thinner blade, thinner edges, and reactive steels. If they are not properly cared for, they can chip and rust quite easily.

My two kitchen knives are a 8-inch Wusthof Classic chef knife and a 240mm (9.5 inch) Konosuke Fujiyama gyuto in Blue #2 steel, both of which are at least a decade old. The Wusthof is used for tasks more likely to cause edge damage as its thicker blade, thicker edge, and softer steel makes it most suitable for such a task. The Konosuke, which is literally sharp enough to whittle hairs (and hardened along the lines of 63 HRC), is used for tasks where precision cuts are desired. Beyond that, I have a few paring knives--the one I use the most is a Wusthof Classic with a sheep's foot blade, and a few other oddities. However, the paring knife + two chef's knives cover about 99.5% of what I do with kitchen knives.

(There are many other good brands not mentioned producing both Western and Eastern knives.)

I highly recommend the Demeyere Proline. I recently replaced my All-Clad Copper Core and D3 with them and I absolutely love them. They have not only incredibly even heating, but also the heat retention approaching that of cast iron.

They are designed for all cooking surfaces but made to especially excel with induction. Further, they hold up very well to the added stress that induction places on cookware. The lack of rivets, handle design, Silvinox coating, and excellent quality glass lids (that you have to buy separately, of course) are also major pluses, as is the sealed edge. They are, however, quite heavy.

The Demeyere Atlantis/Proline is stellar. I recently upgraded to them from my All-Clad D3 and Copper Core pots and pans, and, especially on induction, the Demeyere really shines. The Atlantis/Proline is going to have about the best thermal performance and warp resistance of any stainless cookware (but at the expense of weight and price.)

If you are looking for a moderately priced set, the Demeyere Industry is one step below the Atlantis, but still uses quite a bit of aluminum and will outperform most other clad pots and pans.

The All-Clad D3 is even more affordable than the Industry. The D3 is great, although it would not have the thermal performance or warp resistance of the Industry.

It is possible to someones find both All-Clad and Demeyere on sale, usually in the ballpark of 10-15% off from retailers, and sometimes more if the maker puts a specific item on a sale. AC factory seconds can sometimes be a great value as well.

Finally, if the budget is really tight, these are good products to either, A) buy only one or two pieces at a time, or B) by used.

Do you want an automatic watch or does this not matter? (I am assuming automatic at this point but if it does not matter I have some other recommendations. Do note that if you buy an automatic, it will need to be serviced periodically.)

Automatic Seiko divers are exceptional products. I have an SKX-007 and Stargate that I absolutely love. Both have been replaced with different models but Seiko divers are still stellar, and they have product lines starting as low as a few hundred bucks. They also offer numerous models with automatic movements that aren't divers, some of which are very nice for an affordable price.

Orient, Bullova, Hamilton, and Tissot all offer some reasonably priced automatics that are well made. Longines is a bit above your price, but they make outstanding timepieces and are solid watches to buy used.

A bit above that and you could get a used Oris. I would recommend reading about their products. Their style is a love-or-hate but they make some awesome watches and are a stellar company with a huge presence in the watch community.

My duffel bags and laptop bag are ballistic nylon and I am convinced they will outlive me. I would go nylon, personally.