Episode 149 | Durability

okay with that let's go ahead and get into today's discussion When we say a piece of outdoor gear is quote unquote durable, what are we actually saying about it? Maybe we mean that it survived some sort of difficult environment one time and didn't break.

Or maybe we mean that we have used the product for several years and after this use it still looks almost new.

Likewise, when we say a piece of gear is quote-unquote not very durable, we might be alluding to the fact that the fabric got a hole in it or that a guyline tie-out point ripped out, or in the case of an auto-igniting stove, that electric ignition may have failed.

In these cases, we may even go so far as to say that the gear is fragile, which is one way to define the opposite of durable.

These examples highlight the need for us to explore a common language around the concept of durability because first, durability and weight are so closely related.

It's often assumed that heavier products are more durable.

And second, durability and cost are also closely related.

So it's often assumed that more expensive products are more durable.

Furthermore, that word, durable, it tends to rear its ugly, undefinable head in a variety of ways, including user gear reviews, influencer or affiliate marketing gear reports, and of course in the marketing language of the brands that manufacture and sell the products.

All this points to the idea that durability is an attribute of a product.

And if you believe that right now, then hopefully by the end of this episode you'll have an expanded understanding of durability as a product attribute and how it relates to some other important factors that provide a broader context around the concept of durability.

And so we pose a philosophical question here.

Does durability belong to the object alone, the product, the piece of gear in question? Or does it describe a relationship between the product, how it interacts with the environment, and how we as product users interact with the product? A product has physical attributes and capabilities.

Of course, its materials and construction can withstand certain forces and certain kinds of damage, and those attributes exist whether the product sits on our shelf at home or is used in the field.

But how long the product remains useful or performant in response to wear and tear, that's going to depend on the environment in which it's used and who is using it.

So I don't think we can talk about durability as an isolated attribute of a product and not consider it to be an emergent property of the system that involves the product, its environment, and its

user.

So the relationship I want to explore today is the relationship between the product, its use case, and user behavior.

Not only should we ask how products are built, but also what are we using it for and how do we handle and care for it.

We need to understand the relationship between product, environment, and user if we are to understand how durability truly impacts the long-term performance of a piece of gear.