The Dave analogy.

[Senior Space Cadet]

I have been on many backpacks with an older guy named Dave. Dave is a fanatic about reducing gear weight. He has his wife take the stiffeners out of his collars, cuts his toothbrush handle in half, and takes the band off of his watch and hangs it by a string. I've seen him use two garbage bags to sleep in, so he doesn't have to carry a tent or bivy.
His theory is this: all the little things he does don't make much difference by themselves, but together they add up to a big difference.
I think this can be an analogy for designing and building rockets. A number of small changes can add up to a significant improvement. Small improvements are worth trying for.

 

[Steve Shannon]

In general that’s true for all of life, but in every case you must first have a clear picture of what you want to accomplish and really gain knowledge and experience to understand which efforts result in measurable improvements and which efforts make no difference.

 

[dr wogz]

There is also the adage to design & build for the purpose in mind. Design / build it as minimalist as possible. Make every part count, and be a benefit in some way. It's easier to add if needed, than try to remove when not (and knowing should be part of the initial deign phase..)

Design to solve the main goal. The little things, the obstacles, the hick-ups, will work themselves out.

 

[NateB]

We have many "Daves" in the biking club. Some are worried about shaving every possible gram off their bike and gear. They spend a ton of money and time doing it as well. As soon as a lighter component is available, they buy it. Of course, they ignore the extra pounds on themselves. Don't be so obsessed with the technicalities of your goal that you miss the basics. And don't forget to have fun too.

 

[DaveW6DPS]

There is also time-honored engineering principle called safety margin. If you build to the absolute minmum you have no safety margin if things don't go perfectly.

It is very rare for things to go close to perfectly. You need to add strength to meet foreseeable issues.

Many rockets built to the theoretical minimum wind up being totally unsatisfactory when launched in the real world.

 

[Rocket86]

Colin Chapman's philosophy: Simplify, then add lightness.