My grandmother and mom always used them, never with any accidents, though everybody seems to know somebody who had one blow with spaghetti sauce all over the ceiling, ha-ha. I do great northern beans and green beans routinely, foolproof every time. Once in awhile over the years, I used to be able to pick up decent ones at garage sales or thrift stores with the seal and pressure thingy in good shape, but not lately. Also interesting, I've found a few of the little pressure cooker instruction/recipe booklets that used to come with the older better-made pressure cookers. My latest one is just not as heavy or nice though it works fine (Presto, 17 bucks for a small one at WalMart, and I hated buying it new).

This is off topic, but when I do hit the thrifts or garage sales, I'm always on the lookout for small kitchen appliances as I've always had pretty good luck with them. I've got a small backup collection of crock pots (these are great for the main course and dessert), percolators and found a swell electric skillet, hardly used, for a buck. My kinfolk and friends don't laugh anymore; I've given away some of my finds and most of the time, people say how much better the old stuff holds up and where did I find it.