I read all the time comments like:
"Durability is a bad idea because obtaining item X is very hard"
..and I frown at those post because most of those people probably doesn't realize that a change in the game that is not a mere fix or tweak must be followed with a general re-balance of all related aspects.
It should go without saying that if tools have durability they should also be reasonably easier to replace. Of course preserving an appropriate difficulty curve for the most powerful ones.
I say +1 to items that are in general not eternal because it reflects the fleeting nature of all things Salem.
I am convinced that a lot the paranoia about the game as it is stems from the clashing difference between very hard to obtain stats and gears and the fact that a stupid mistake brings you all the way back to start. If you see a character like a tool, then this tool does break and you can't even repair it.
Regarding this, the devs already stated their intention to make it easier to replace killed characters... Thus introducing a kind of "repair" feature for charactes.
You build it (raise skills and humors), than you use it (going around doing stuff you risk being killed)... and eventually it breaks.
You then repair it (you get another character that you can re-build with less effort).
Also it makes sense that if you kill someone by stabbing him and stomping on him dozens of times his gear will not be in pristine conditions...
Also consider that artisans could ask for money in exchange of expert repairs on precious tools and clothes.