Is gear recommendations — what would you do? [v5]

I tried three different approaches and none of them felt quite right.

This came up at a meetup recently and the room was split, so curious what the broader community thinks. Not sure if this is the right place to ask, mods please remove if it is not. Mostly thinking out loud — feel free to push back hard.

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, mods please remove if it is not. Been thinking about this for a while and curious what the community thinks. Not sure if this is the right place to ask, mods please remove if it is not.