I was wearing some Uniqlo puff jacket the ul community recommended on a trip to Italy. I brushed up against a pillar at some ruins and it snagged on the rough material and exploded into a cloud of down that the heavy wind blew all over a crowd of tourists.
Now I wear sturdy cotton, linen, leather, denim, and the extra weight is just a couple more calories burned.
I have hundreds, possibly over a thousand hours on mine and it is significantly more delicate and expensive than the Uniqlo one, which I had owned previously.
To me packability and efficiency reign supreme, and I just reflexively know I’m wearing a delicate item and react accordingly to my environment when I wear it.
It’s similar to the sunglass paradox. For many years, I owned fairly cheap pairs and lost them often. Then suddenly I spent $300 on a pair of Oliver Peoples… had them for 10 years, finally gave them to an ex-gf who loved them more than I did.
You can in fact change semi-reckless behavior when the quality of the item dictates it. Perhaps the extra anxiety isn’t worth it, but this is an article about one bag travel - which I do - so it fits.
Now I wear sturdy cotton, linen, leather, denim, and the extra weight is just a couple more calories burned.