A guy at a REI garage sale in Columbus handed me his beat up Jetboil and said something I keep thinking about
I was digging through the return bin at a garage sale in Columbus last month when this older guy picked up a dented Jetboil and said the best reviews he ever got were from gear that had already failed somebody else. He pulled out a notebook with 47 hand written entries about stoves and tents he had tested, all rated on how they broke, not how they looked new. Do you all trust long term beat up gear reviews more than first impression ones, or am I overthinking this?
Did you ever read that piece on outdoor gear sites where they send stuff back six months later and write a whole new review? I saw one where a guy's first take on a tent was glowing, then the follow up basically said the zipper died and the floor leaked. That stuck with me. First impression reviews are mostly about how gear feels in the store or one trip out. The real info comes from people who used it until it broke, because that tells you where the weak spots are. So no, you are not overthinking it, that notebook guy was onto something.