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What are the "AK-47" of items? (cheap, durable, just works) (reddthat.com)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

317 comments fedilink hide all child comments

This is not a conversation about guns. This is a conversation about items that have withstood abuse that are near unbreakable.

Some items I have heard referenced as AK47 of:

Gerber MP600: It's a multi tool

Old Thinkpad Laptops

Mag lights

Toyota Hilux

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Pinecil soldering iron. Cheap (only $26!), open source, portable, usbc powered. Even more powerful than $100 ones. I love that thing

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Open source soldering iron? How does that work?

[–] [email protected] 70 points 1 week ago

The tip heats up enough to melt solder.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

it has software for the temp control and such

specifically: https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

It has a display and even bluetooth. The Firmware is open source. The schematics are available.

Imo open source is not that important for an iron unless you want to add a klingon translation. But the iron is pretty good, although it is often rather >50 bucks including shipping.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Open source might be important if we want to run DOOM on it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Open source is good because it means it can be maintained even if the manufacturer shuts down. One of the biggest issues with keeping older tech alive and in a useful state is proprietary firmware.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago

Sure there is this one guy who changes the oled to a different one bacause his screen broke and the old one has been difficult to source. Most people won't fix a 30$ iron. Especially since you need an iron to fix it...

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It has some fancy features to allow for custom heating presets among other things. Also, it means you can easily repair/modify the hardware for whatever reason you might come up with.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Also, it means you can easily repair/modify the hardware for whatever reason you might come up with.

The ironic part is that you’d need a second soldering iron to do that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Thanks for the suggestion, I was looking at buying another soldering iron. I'm using a really obscure brand one that I got from my dad and that I have been using since I was around 8 (30 years ago).

I can only get replacement tips in South Africa so was looking for something with more support.