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
Cast iron skillets.
If you season and clean them the right way they will outlive you.
I’m using the same one that my parents owned for 30 years and hope I will get another 30 years of usage out of it.
We have one my great-grandma got before WWI that we use several times a week.
Same goes for carbon steel. Unless you’re frying sticks of dynamite they are practically indestructible.
I think there’s only 2 ways to actually kill a cast iron pan. Dropping from a height that causes the brittle metal to break, or putting lead in it. Obviously no one puts lead in their cooking vessels, but small pots are/were used to melt lead to pour in bullet molds, so if you find an old used pot, it’s good to check for lead.
Also, ceramic linings can get chipped.
You can mistreat bare cast iron horribly, never seasoning it, washing it in the dishwasher, or whatever, and it won’t get irredeemably damaged.
Unless you put them in the dishwasher
If someone puts my cast iron in the dishwasher the cast iron will still outlive them
Thats the beauty of cast iron though. Even putting it through the dishwasher doesnt ruin the pan permanently. You just have to re-season it.
As long as you don’t use a heated dry it’s pretty much fine tbh. If any rusts you just wipe it down or sand it and re season