All RF connectors wear with use. The RF Explorer SMA ports are subject to minimal wear each time the connector interface is coupled and de-coupled with an antenna, a SMA Cable, an attenuator or a RF device of any kind.
 
If you repeat plug/unplug operations over the RF Explorer SMA port hundreds of times, the SMA port may underperform over time and exhibit undesired attenuation.
 
To protect the SMA port for frequent plug/unplug operations, you can use this adaptor and keep it directly attached to the RF Explorer port. Then you plug/unplug other RF devices into this adaptor, not the original SMA port. After hundreds of operations, if the adaptor wear and show attenuation or reliability problems, you can just replace it by a new one and always keep your original RF Explorer SMA port intact.