-Good year welt leather boots in general last a very long time. I have a pair of chippewa boots that have lasted me since 2016 and they're still good. Haven't needed to resole them, they're very comfortable. I've worn them maybe 20-30% of the time(I let them rest at least a day between wears).
-Straight razors and DE razors last a very long time, and they can both be significantly cheaper than regular disposable razors and electric shavers.
-PIAA silicone windshield wipers (I think many silicone based wipers in general) are as BIFL as can be for windshield wipers. I think I have the same pair on my car from 2016.
PIAA silicone windshield wipers (I think many silicone based wipers in general) are as BIFL as can be for windshield wipers. I think I have the same pair on my car from 2016.
I was very disappointed with PIAA wipers when I got a set.
Expensive, and while they did last slightly longer than the 1-1.5 years I usually expect from wipers, from day one, their performance was noticeably worse than all but the cheapest common brands. Basically they never, ever actually cleanly wiped away all the rain. Streaky and leaving trails of water from day one.
So yeah, they lasted longer, but it was at the level of half-worn-out blades anyway, so to me, it was basically a wash on price of one set of PIAA vs two sets of some other brand...and with the other brand, at least I'd get the two honeymoon phases where they were brand new and working fantastically.
I think you should try another pair and complain to PIAa. My wipers wipe water amazingly, even now. I can imagine some wear over time, but the fact that yours were not wiping well to begin with tells me it may have been a faulty instance (or their quality has dropped significantly recently).
Regardless that's a shitty experience
Since then, I went back to Bosch, which are consistently great, then two summers ago I had a windshield crack that led to replacement, and the replacement company (Safelite) also recommended new wipers (to avoid any glass reside embedded in the wiper scratching the new windshield) and I took them up on buying their own brand to replace...and they've been oddly good.
Not as good as Bosch to start, but better than PIAA, and then they've gone on to last almost two years at a pretty good performance level.
While I'll probably go back to Bosch in the spring, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these Safelite wipers to anyone.
(My luck: it'd turn out that Safelite uses PIAA for their wipers. 😝)