How tough is your Oyster?

The oyster card was aimed at making travel on London's public transport network quicker and more environmentally friendly - replacing the huge amount of paper tickets we use each day.

But a few years into the scheme, just how robust is your oyster?

In garnering anecdotal evidence, colleagues in the office have told me of their card becoming bent through having it in their back pocket, then it not working. And another card seizing up after getting wet.

Here's one esteemed colleague on his experience with his little blue friend:

"It would be silly to suggest that I prefer carrying around spare change or buying a paper ticket for each journey, but Oyster cards have created a new set of problems...

Is there a greater a breach of commuter etiquette (apart from standing on the wrong side of escalators) than waiting for the very last second as you reach the ticket barrier, and holding up the long queue for several seconds more than is strictly necessary, before you start fishing around in your pockets/handbag/wallet for your Oyster card? Why can't people have it ready in their hands?

And what of the embarrassment when your Oyster card fails?

Big red letters tell you to seek assistance, the barrier refuses to open, the person behind starts tutting and you slink away to the back of the queue.

This can happen even though you have enough cash or a have valid season ticket!

This also happens on the buses. Sometimes the driver will wave you through regardless; sometimes they insist on cash payment.

In the last 12 months, I've had to replace my Oyster card twice. Once because it got wet and another time because it had split.

Even now, with an annual season ticket and cash credit on my Oyster, I'll still fall occasional victim to the dreaded red dot on the swipe interfaces.

So, Oyster cards... Great, but it's a love/hate thing."

However the majority of replies on our Twitter feed, @BBCTravelAlert, feel differently:

@CazRudd - My son's Oyster washed in it's wallet 3 times still working! For travelcards prefer paper but buying PAYG credit is easier

@MarcusBoyland - Love it. Damn tough &much prefer to the old paper tickets. Also good you don't have to take it out of wallet-signal goes thru.

@roamingray - I only use oyster for season tickets. Don't trust it with pay-as-you-go, use paper for day traversal.

And one of you has a method for not carrying the card at all:

@perching - I have removed the RFID chip from my Oyster card and have it sewn into the sleeve of a jacket

So since the birth of the plastic, what do you prefer?

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