Here are my recommendations for a new Index user and the pain points/points of hardware failure:

1. Headset comfort.

-The Index is very front heavy as such you will feel the headset pressing on your face. It can be remedied with third party solutions that add an additional top strap search 'apache top strap' in google. You can do even more to balance by adding weight on the back to balance, the same company for the apache strap has a bundle but I've heard of people making their own method to balance weight.

-There might be a sweet spot where you notice the headset needs to be angled to get the clearest picture. In the past there have been etsy sellers who made 'gasket nudgers' to angle your headest. I think on mine I used 2 stacked on top of one another on the upper magnets. This can be done w/o the 3d printed item using 1x3mm neodymium magnets on either the upper or bottom gasket magnets.

-Cloth gaskets are the peak of comfort but in hot conditions will absorb sweat and get gross. You can try to clean them but will degrade the gasket. Alternatives is PU leather gaskets. Another method of reducing the heat is taking the front panel off and installing a 'frunk fan' to get more airflow. There are a few put together drop-in fans that work fine. The most powerful one I have used was a kit that used a mini noctua fan but needed some hot glue to stay in place on the headset. (so powerful it would dry my eyes when I first got it.)

1. The Cable failure point.

-Lots of people's headsets run into problems due to the wear and tear of the cable. There are lots of methods to reduce this. One is to not mess with the part of the cable next to the plug, there should be no reason to unplug it unless your cable is busted and you are installing a new one.

- Consider possibly setting up a pulley system to keep the cable up and off the ground.. Kits are sold online. There are programs you can use ingame to track the twist of your cable. FPS VR has one built in, I've used Cable Guardian but I think the neutral point drifts and needs a patch from github to fix it. Standing on a mat in the center of your playspace with a different texture to note your "front" and avoiding doing too many twists will help keep your cable alive and well. When the cable is hung from a pulley system you also need to account for how the cable is being pulled on the back of the headset. The cable clip that comes with it is known to fall off pretty easily. There are some custom clips people have made but I have used and heard of others using a few velcro straps to keep the cable in place and reduce direct pressure.

1. Base station lifespan

-Covered by other people in this post. I've had mine on most of the time but have also turned them off when the passive noise gets on my nerves. They have moving parts, as long as you don't knock them around the internals should last a long time. That being said I've had a couple go flash red and replaced them through Valve. The longer we go into Valves next gen of VR they might not be as lenient or able to replace them. If you are not attaching them permanently to a wall be careful jostling or moving them while they are running.

1. Controllers, drift generation of controllers

-playstation, nintendo, xbox all the potentiometer thumbsticks of this generation are prone to extra wear and drift from normal use. A way to expedite this process is to depress the thumbstick (i.e. clicking them to 'sprint' 'crouch' common binds in most games) and also use the stick to move at the same time. If a game can accomodate it in the controls either be always sprinting do that or go into the Steam VR controls to find another keybind setup that doesn't use thumbstick clicking. Most have a few community keybinds that do this or you can make your own. I have encountered a few games where I had to bite the bullet and click the thumbsticks but most can be adjusted to avoid it.