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It's just minmaxxing, some people enjoy it, some don't. The trends and consumerism is awful and the gear companies are ruthless marketers, but at the end of the day it's all just equipment to make your time outdoors more enjoyable / possible (for instance, you might be buying super lightweight aluminium crampons that fall apart when walking on rocks, but you couldn't cross that alpine snowfield without them).
Think of a videogame like dark souls
If you just want to get through, you use the basic weapons, armour and tactics that work for you. Maybe you find a better weapon or improve it a bit, but at the end of the day the skill is on you. These are often called "quality builds".
These are the average /out/ists
If you like fashion souls, you probably wear all kinds of random fun shit because you enjoy it. It might be less effective but it's more fun for you to use ludicrous weapons and cosplay armours, and get into a character. Arguably, to win at the game you need more skill and temerity than the normie since your gear choices hamper you.
This is the "larper", the people who bring kuksas, the backcountry gourmand chefs, etc
Then there is the minmaxxer. Best at one particular niche skill, which they have usually specialised into from a lot of experience. "Glass canon" builds, extremely high dexterity etc.
This is the ultralighter or minimalist, who builds their gear around maximising a particular niche role, which often leaves them at a disadvantage with other situations, but the non-consumerist crowd are usually very skilled too so can "make do" even with totally unsuitable gear. Think: poncho tarpers, bivy-only travellers, low gear bush crafters, people who walk in shorts in winter, bare footers, long distance runners etc. A special breed.
