Brookmonroe posted what was going through my mind , the difference between hardness and toughness. Saved me alot of typing.
My personal view of the equipment situation:
The game world could have hard tools and softer, tougher tools. Hard tools get the job done faster, but break faster, and then the opposite for the tougher tools.
Secondly, Iv been posting a bit about a balanced repair mechanic , but now I think it should be more of a maintenance mechanic. The need to buy things to maintain your equipment would feed the economy by providing a market for consumable items. Another poster suggested something akin to this. Some examples would be:
Whet stones
Oil
Polish
Additional materials to slightly repair
That being said, consumed equipment is vital to a balanced economy. My idea of a repair system follows the principle of diminishing returns. With the exception of ‘Legendary’ equipment, all equipment must eventually succumb to the rigors of utilization. This would be hundreds of times faster for wood or stone, and faster for bad steel, but let’s see this example :
Fine Steel broadsword , durability 87% , repair item whet stone / hammer/tongs/ steel ingot / forge , repaired to 98%.
Same sword, again at 87%. Whet stone, more steel then before, same tools, 95-97% depending on the dice role, and so on.
Is the sword worth repairing? A good steel sword was worth a fortune in early medieval europe. This all depends on the availability of the material to make a new one AND the back breaking labor.