[Paddlewise] Durability Testing

In a message dated 1/6/00 6:54:15 PM, evan_at_eeaston.com writes:

<< Wow, this could get very expensive.  I think it would be very difficult to

get quantitatively useful results>>

    I disagree, even if the results are only "in the ballpark" then that's 
infinitely better than we have today.  I suspect we can do much better than 
that.  It won't be perfect but what is?

<<To really understand the durability of a boat you have to use _many_ copies 
of the

same boat and do _many_ tests like:And then you'd have to repeat it all many 
times to prove that a particular failure wasn't the result of a boat that was 
contributing to the low end of the mean-time-to-failure curve.>>

    How many is many?  Yes, we would have to follow your description to work 
data out to the nth degree but who said we needed that kind of accuracy?  
Again, I say, any information is better than none.  I agree with the details 
of your argument but not the spirit.


<<Very expensive.>>

    If done as you have described, yes.


<<If this sounds extreme, then consider the way that cars's safety is 
determined (that is fully assembled cars).  You crash them and . .>>

    Kayaks have very little in common with cars.  Do you group them together 
because they're both vehicles? Because we sit in them both?  Again the 
details of your argument are coherent, in that limited scope, but the premise 
is way off.

<<So, what's my point?  I don't really know, I'm just blathering.  Maybe the

points are:

 - When (and if) anyone ever devises a durability test, be skeptical about

its ability to answer the question, "should I buy boat X instead of boat Y."

 - It can only be good for us (consumers) to get the word out about the

problems we encounter; this is much like the paddler safety incident

articles in Sea Kayaker and those in other magazines like Flying.  >>

    A durability test would be, as you know, and indication of relative 
durability and by no means should it be misconstrued as a recommendation for 
one boat over another.  Please try to remember the origins of this thread, 
the British boat's strength vs weight.  I asked the group about the 
durability of the NDK Explorer because I have a north american boat, with 
which I'm dissatisfied.

  I agree that the anecdotal data should be freely shared and disseminated 
throughout our community.  But this thread is about information that is not 
otherwise available nor otherwise attainable.

<< Smart people learn from failures.>>

    So true, and the smartest people learn from the smart people's failures.

    Evan, you obviously have a keen insight for the testing issues.  Why not 
help design tests that have real-World value and can be conducted at a 
reasonable expense.

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