I named my first running watch 鈥淐larence,鈥� as in Clarence Odbody, angel second class, of It鈥檚 a Wonderful Life fame. I figured the device, a green Garmin Forerunner 10, would help me find my wings while running the marshy trails of my southern New Jersey home.

Psychologists have a word for this habit of naming or assigning human traits to objects and nonhuman creatures: anthropomorphism. Even if you鈥檙e unfamiliar with the term, you鈥檙e likely acquainted with the concept鈥�70 percent of us name our cars, and 36 percent of us cop to听. (Guilty. I can鈥檛 part with my sputtery听2008 Subaru Outback鈥攁ka 鈥淪uby鈥濃�攄espite the 275,000 miles on her odometer and surf wax stains on her interior.)

We also commonly humanize animals, like the听 who 鈥渂roke up鈥� with her tortoise partner of 100 years because she needed to firmly established her boundaries,听and robots: the death of NASA鈥檚 Opportunity Rover made听.

Animals, robots, and even cars all move in human-like ways, and they all have faces or face-like configurations, something听 to increase anthropomorphic tendencies. But humanizing a running watch鈥攐r any piece of outdoor gear鈥攊s a bit more confounding. And yet plenty of us engage in this weird phenomenon. There are message boards and entire Reddit threads dedicated solely to the naming of听,听,听,听, and (phew, I鈥檓 not alone)听. Even legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett affectionately referred to his bear rifle as 鈥�.鈥�

So鈥hat gives?

The practice could come down to loneliness. Research shows that people who lack fulfilling human relationships are听 to anthropomorphize their stuff. This may hold true even as we head outdoors specifically to disconnect or commune with nature. But don鈥檛 go beefing up your Tinder page just yet. 鈥淏eing human, we know a great deal about human behavior,鈥� says Spencer Gerrol, cognitive psychologist, CEO of neuroanalytics/advertising research company , and a guy who says 鈥減lease鈥� when making a request of his Amazon Echo.听鈥淪o we want to put things in this context we understand. The habit comes partly from wanting to explain the behavior of other things.鈥�

In other words, we humanize our gear when we need to make sense of it. Consider Greg Senn, a New Mexico鈥揵ased scuba instructor听who says he treats his 30-year-old regulators and听buoyancy device听like 鈥渙ld friends.鈥� When he finds himself speaking with his equipment, it鈥檚 typically because he鈥檚 trying to figure out what has听gone wrong.

鈥淚 had problems with my dive computer while in Bonair, just north of Venezuela,鈥� Senn says. 鈥淚t was telling me my nitrox mix was wrong, and I knew it was lying. It took me five days to figure it out. Turns out听I had a setting wrong鈥攁 simple mistake on my part. But talking to the computer helped me get to the bottom of it.鈥�

In other cases, we anthropomorphize gear because we鈥檙e looking for a sentient, competent teammate who will help us pull through when things get hairy. Melissa Norberg, head of the Behavioural Science Laboratory at Australia鈥檚 Macquarie University, points to听 that suggests we humanize belongings when we鈥檙e feeling uncertain about our environment. 鈥淪omeone might anthropomorphize a kayak or surfboard when navigating potentially dangerous waters,鈥� she says.

Or, for听Tanja Rosendorfsky, dangerous climbs. The 28-year-old mountaineer听has summited peaks in Switzerland, New Zealand, Bolivia, Peru, and Patagonia. In each location, she has听spoken to her equipment when she听felt outside her comfort zone. 鈥淲hen I climb in snow and ice, I am talking to my ice axes,鈥� Rosendorfsky says in an email.听鈥淚 imagine them as friends who bite themselves into the ice to help me get up, and that calms my mind, which helps me to make safer, more solid placements. I say my ice axes and crampons are my best friends. They help me get up that mountain and feel what I feel up there.鈥�

But it鈥檚 not just scary situations that prompt this feeling of camaraderie with our gear; it鈥檚 also the celebratory moments. Without human teammates to high-five, we鈥檙e sometimes inclined to invent our own. Jimmy Valm, a听surfer in New Jersey, told me he has names for all his surfboards. 鈥淚 talk to them constantly in the water: 鈥楾hat was a great ride. Nicely done, Nesta.鈥欌��

Of course, anthropomorphizing isn鈥檛 all warm and fuzzy. Humanizing gear also renders it more worthy of 鈥溾�� in our minds, meaning we鈥檙e pained when it inevitably gets dinged or scratched, 鈥渆ven if those dings and scratches don鈥檛 really affect utility,鈥� says Gerrol,听the cognitive psychologist. The habit also means we鈥檙e more likely to hang on to old gear longer than is practical, which can translate to听.

Humanized gear gives us a window into ourselves. Because we鈥檙e more likely to anthropomorphize the things we value or the things that speak to our听, reflecting on what we鈥檝e humanized can help us determine the pursuits that most light our fire, so to speak. And听when we鈥檙e overcome with gratitude for having discovered such a passion, humanized gear gives us an outlet for that appreciation.

Kayaker Susan Servos-Sept, based in Half Moon Bay, north of Vancouver, has a 16-foot touring kayak named Daisy that she describes as听鈥渇un, cute, and gentle, but a lion when she needs to be.鈥� Servos-Sept frequently takes Daisy into the beautiful waters of God鈥檚 Pocket Marine Park, home to many orca whales and a seabird breeding colony.

鈥淓ven though I have lots of friends and great family, it鈥檚 just an amazing calmness and quality of life this inanimate object gives me,鈥� says Servos-Sept, adding she will pat鈥攐r even kiss鈥擠aisy when walking by. 鈥淎nd that feeling, I think, radiates to other people, and it helps them develop that same happiness and joy of sport. It鈥檚 all quirky and weird, but it鈥檚 also just fun.鈥�

If nothing else, humanized gear gives us an out. A compilation of 听found that anthropomorphism weakens self-control and makes us more likely to cave to temptation. So the next time you find yourself calling in 鈥渟ick鈥� to work or bailing on a baby shower because the waves are up or the fish are running, know you鈥檙e not entirely accountable. You鈥檝e got friends鈥攅r, gear鈥攚ho can share the blame.

Of course, it鈥檚 possible none of these explanations apply to you. In that case, there鈥檚 one other rationale that will account for the inside jokes or long conversations you have with your favorite camping tent or carabiner, and it just might be the simplest one:听鈥淭his habit is innate,鈥澨鼼errol says. 鈥淵ou're just being human.鈥�

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