Almost everyone who's used underarm crutches agrees: they are terribly designed. They're hard on your wrists, they cause falls, they cause nerve damage. This is why almost every country in the world has abandoned them. Except the U.S., where if you go to the hospital with a leg injury, you're most likely going to leave with adjustable aluminum crutches. In this third installment of our series exploring how gear gets made, we look at the fascinating history of why better designs for crutches haven't caught on, and whether or not they ever will.

Dispatches: Can We Please Kill Off Crutches?

Brought to you by the editors of Outside, this podcast applies the magazine’s long-standing literary storytelling methods to the audio realm. Each episode is either prompted by a feature from the archives or simply inspired by a theme Outside has explored. The podcast’s first series delves into the science of survival in some of nature’s most extreme environments. Presented by PRX and Outside magazine.

Dispatches: Can We Please Kill Off Crutches?

Outside Podcast