In an effort to improve our current (and future) reviews we’re going to be implementing a new rating and summary feature. At the end of each review (coming #soon for most) there will be an overall grade (out of five stars) based on four standardized categories. The categories will be:
- Quality: Overall build quality of the gear.
- Design: How the piece of gear looks and feels.
- Usability: How easy it is to use for its intended purpose.
- Value: What you get versus the overall cost.
The intention of this is to give everyone a clear indication of the gear that works well and is preferred. You won’t have to read through a long review if you simply want to know if something is quality or not. Just look at the review score (each category is worth 25%) and you’ll know what we think.
Alongside the categories will be a pros/cons area, a “Used For”/”Tested For” section, and a one or two sentence summary to drive home exactly what we like and dislike about that piece of gear. The pros/cons will be in bullet format and will contain what we feel are the most important aspects of the review. The “Used For” entry will tell you if the gear was used for events, every day carry, or both. Let’s face it… gear used in a GORUCK event takes a different kind of beating than gear used for normal work adventures. Finally, the “Tested For” section will let you know how long (or how many events) we used the gear before writing the review.
One of our favorite additions is the “Tested For” section. I read a lot of online reviews and sometimes I wonder just how long someone used an item before writing about it. With our new review format you’ll never have to wonder because it will be written right there.
If you’re curious what this all will look like here is a preview for tomorrow’s review of the GORUCK Side Pocket.
