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This is one piece of advice that sound true and insightful, but in my opinion doesn't really hold up to scrutiny. An example of what I mean is the saying "perfe

This is one piece of advice that sound true and insightful, but in my opinion doesn't really hold up to scrutiny. An example of what I mean is the saying "perfect is the enemy of good", which directly conflicts with the above. Since I'm from the north, outdoor gear is a good example of this — there is no hardshell jacket in the world that ticks every box in my checklist. I've been through the lineup of both known and obscure companies item by item, from cheap shells to the ones that command a ridiculous premium. Finding this out has been a fun little hobby over a number of months, but realistically I don't think I'd be worse off if I just got the first one that was "good enough".

PaulDavisThe1st 7y ago
a number of months? I'm 56 and have spent some fraction of my entire life devoted to the hardshell question. For me, my current Berghaus (bought while visiting the UK) ticks every box. Just perfect. But that took 40+ years to get to, not a few months.
- jschwartzi 7y ago
  I recently discovered by shopping for one with my fiance that being a woman raises the complexity of the problem by several orders of magnitude because women have even more body dimensions for the hardshell to either crush or bag up around.
- jk563 7y ago
  Please do share the shell you got to after 40 years!
  - PaulDavisThe1st 7y ago
    Berghaus Rupal https://www.blacks.co.uk/mens/206840-mountain-equipment-men-s-rupal-gore-tex-jacket-blue.html https://www.blacks.co.uk/mens/206840-mountain-equipment-men-... (of course, they don't make it anymore, I think. But the Extrem 5000 is very similar. They added a pocket, moved the other two) For years before this, I had been reasonably happy with an old North Face goretex jacket. It last about 15 years, but had a lining and in the end the exterior water shedding ability (not waterproofness) was shot. The Berghaus is just what I always wanted: single layer, goretex, lightweight but very heavy duty fabric, the perfect hood design. I wore it to hike the 230 mile Cape Wrath Trail last year, and verified once again that it was completely waterproof, very comfortable, perfect in every way (for me, at least). If you forced me to make one criticism, I'd like a slightly larger patch of slightly softer material where the neck/hood comes up over my mouth/chin when it's fully "on". But even 2 weeks of wearing it every day (sometimes all day) in Scottish rain didn't really make that much of an issue.
woliveirajr 7y ago
Perfect it enemy of the good, but many times I hear someone saying that for some app/software and then, afterwards, complaining that the software isn't perfect. You have time, money, team to do the "good" but then is charged for the perfect.
jerf 7y ago
I don't think you're contradicting the advice. The advice was basically to find one good enough, then search a bit more. You found something good enough, then spent a unbounded search time on more alternatives. This is precisely what the advice told you not to do. You did it and are not entirely satisfied with the outcome. This doesn't seem to contradict the advice.
- glangdale 7y ago
  The thing I dislike about all these maxims is exactly what happened here. You took this: "Then, don't stop, keep searching until you find a better one." and turned it into: "then search a bit more." There was no mention of "unbounded search time" in the original maxim, and the person that you're responding to is following the maxim exactly ("don't stop until you find a better one"). Don't get me wrong - I think your interpretation is reasonable and a better idea than the original. But everyone takes these maxims and adds layers of interpretation and good sense to such a degree that you may as well have just trusted in your good sense to begin with. If the original maxim had been more actionable ("then spend no more than 20% of the time you originally spend searching to attempt to find a better one, stopping if you do so") it might be more helpful, but it loses that air of folksy wisdom that these maxims love to put on.
renewiltord 7y ago
Perhaps it works often because it coincides with the Secretary Problem often enough. Maybe running the Secretary Problem approach with a quick upper bound of how many you're willing to consider will work. I'm going to explicitly try that and see.

PaulDavisThe1st 7y ago

a number of months? I'm 56 and have spent some fraction of my entire life devoted to the hardshell question. For me, my current Berghaus (bought while visiting the UK) ticks every box. Just perfect. But that took 40+ years to get to, not a few months.

jschwartzi 7y ago
I recently discovered by shopping for one with my fiance that being a woman raises the complexity of the problem by several orders of magnitude because women have even more body dimensions for the hardshell to either crush or bag up around.
jk563 7y ago
Please do share the shell you got to after 40 years!
- PaulDavisThe1st 7y ago
  Berghaus Rupal https://www.blacks.co.uk/mens/206840-mountain-equipment-men-s-rupal-gore-tex-jacket-blue.html https://www.blacks.co.uk/mens/206840-mountain-equipment-men-... (of course, they don't make it anymore, I think. But the Extrem 5000 is very similar. They added a pocket, moved the other two) For years before this, I had been reasonably happy with an old North Face goretex jacket. It last about 15 years, but had a lining and in the end the exterior water shedding ability (not waterproofness) was shot. The Berghaus is just what I always wanted: single layer, goretex, lightweight but very heavy duty fabric, the perfect hood design. I wore it to hike the 230 mile Cape Wrath Trail last year, and verified once again that it was completely waterproof, very comfortable, perfect in every way (for me, at least). If you forced me to make one criticism, I'd like a slightly larger patch of slightly softer material where the neck/hood comes up over my mouth/chin when it's fully "on". But even 2 weeks of wearing it every day (sometimes all day) in Scottish rain didn't really make that much of an issue.

woliveirajr 7y ago

Perfect it enemy of the good, but many times I hear someone saying that for some app/software and then, afterwards, complaining that the software isn't perfect. You have time, money, team to do the "good" but then is charged for the perfect.

jerf 7y ago

I don't think you're contradicting the advice. The advice was basically to find one good enough, then search a bit more. You found something good enough, then spent a unbounded search time on more alternatives. This is precisely what the advice told you not to do. You did it and are not entirely satisfied with the outcome. This doesn't seem to contradict the advice.

glangdale 7y ago
The thing I dislike about all these maxims is exactly what happened here. You took this: "Then, don't stop, keep searching until you find a better one." and turned it into: "then search a bit more." There was no mention of "unbounded search time" in the original maxim, and the person that you're responding to is following the maxim exactly ("don't stop until you find a better one"). Don't get me wrong - I think your interpretation is reasonable and a better idea than the original. But everyone takes these maxims and adds layers of interpretation and good sense to such a degree that you may as well have just trusted in your good sense to begin with. If the original maxim had been more actionable ("then spend no more than 20% of the time you originally spend searching to attempt to find a better one, stopping if you do so") it might be more helpful, but it loses that air of folksy wisdom that these maxims love to put on.

renewiltord 7y ago

Perhaps it works often because it coincides with the Secretary Problem often enough. Maybe running the Secretary Problem approach with a quick upper bound of how many you're willing to consider will work. I'm going to explicitly try that and see.