Asking for a friend
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solid knives and pots/pans for cooking. Good, big ones that will survive the fucking apocalypse.
a duffel or backpack that’s tough as nails
Any cheap ass carbon steel skillet from a restaurant supply store will be completely fine and very durable. You don’t need to buy 5-ply allclad stainless steel for everything, only for recipes that use the fond for a pan sauce really, or maybe recipes that require adding acidic ingredients early in cooking.
If I had no pans I would get a carbon steel comal and a regular old stainless steel saucepan as my #1 and #2 and then probably get an Instant Pot for #3 so I can get those tasty tasty beans.
Costs money, doesn’t have any type of coating, isn’t being sold door-to-door.
Any of the 3+ ply stainless cookware from any brand these days is damn near indestructible. Same goes for cast iron if you’re willing to take care of it.
Nonstick cookware is, functionally, disposable cookware. It’s gonna last a few years with great care, but will need to be replaced after X number of uses.
Non-pan/knife kitchenware: stainless steel or glass, generally. Nylon or silicone for nonstick cookware.
Knives: people have opinions about knives. For an average chef/not-knife-nerd, most of those opinions aren’t going to make enough difference to be relevant. Decent steel for knives isn’t particularly hard to come by. If you know how to chop veg and such, and find a knife that feels like it fits your hand well, you’ll probably be fine. Find somewhere to have it sharpened periodically, learn to use a honing rod. Restaurant brands like victorinox, mercer culinary, dexter russell will do just fine if you know how to use a honing rod, and are very cheap at restaurant supply stores. Mid-range consumer-focused brands like Zwilling/Henckels or any cookware brand are generally fine. Fancy-pants knives like global/wusthof/shun are $$$$ and worthy of actual research and thought and hands-on time before buying.
Nobody really needs a “knife set”, at least not as seen on big box store shelves. Get a big honkin’ chef’s knife and a little paring knife and go from there.
Stay away from serrated blades except for bread and maybe tomatoes; you’re not gonna be able to do your own maintenance on them or really get them properly sharpened anywhere so they’re in the same category as nonstick cookware.
I like your takes. Regarding knives, best thing I ever did was take a knife skills class. Probably could have also watched a bunch of YouTube. But my cooking satisfaction went way up after learning to be competent with knives.
Also I’d add a Dutch oven to your equipment list. Beyond braising and stews, I use mine a lot for making bread.
Depends entirely on what you have. I’d say a used eReader and a VPN is one of the absolute best bang for your buck entertainment methods, but you can get by with your phone for reading if you don’t read much. An Aeropress is fantastic for those who like coffee and don’t have anything for making it. A good pillow, socks, shoes, and underwear goes a very long way, as does a comfy hoodie and sweatpants for lounging. Most of these can be quite inexpensive. If you’re vegan, a good quality blender is night and day for making sauces and creams, milks, etc, or even a gym membership or set of dumbells can be massive for your fitness goals if you have any, along with a scale for you and a scale for food if this is something you personally want to do. No personal responsibility bullshit.
Try to think of what’s missing from your life, any habits you wish you had to supplement your life or any you think need improvement, and go from there! This answer varies from person to person.
If you live in a place with leaded paint painting over it or wallpapering over it will help your health to some degree. As a spoiler those waterproof peel and stick drawer liners from Dollar Tree make a reasonable wallpaper. If you rent beware of the stick, some of the peel and stick can really get stuck on if you leave it for a bit even though its supposedly a safe temp deal. For more decor improvements blinds/blackout curtains make a difference, especially if you have peeping tom neighbors or work on shifts. A lot of blackout curtains are nice to have in summer, they really do make the room feel cooler.
Good sheets/pillows and maybe a mattress topper, again more of a sales watch deal. Using a mattress topper I was able to get more life out of my 15yo mattress.
Tools are always good to have on hand.
My list could be some mix and match, or you could spend $500 on each.
Shoes/boots
Proper bedding/a good pillow
Percussive massage gun
A good office chair or your most frequent seating
Ergonomic keyboard and mouse
Pressure cooker
A cordless vacuum
Air fryer
A good dog or cat
