>>516599To me it has way more to do with the given setting and your requirements regarding comfort. I got some UL gear and love to use it, but only in summer, with halfway fair weather and in "more easy" environments. Europe here, if I go for a stroll in southern France or Spain, the weather will be fine, maybe an occasional thunderstorm but thats it, I can resupply every 20km if needed be and my mobile phone has net in case I run into troubles. Sure I bring my UL tent, the light backpack, the small mat and cooking gear only for boiling water and maybe rehydrate something if needed. Clothes also the just the minimum, a softshell at max. Pack weight is light and it is just a walk in the park.
If I go to Scandinavia, something like Sarek, I bring the full monty, weather will be unpredictable, an arctic storm can pin me down for half a week, rain, wind and even snow can come in hard in mid July, I need to be able to cook in my tent and wait out storms, the tent needs to withstand high winds for a long time, mosquitoes will eat me raw, a bug net is crucial, so I bring the tunnel.
Next shop is a week away so I need to carry lots of food, and of course I need full outer shell and mid layer, also a good down bag and mat. In that case I get my 80l pack and haul 50lbs+ of gear.
I met some dieharders who went trough Iceland with a tarp and UL gear, but they where pushing their luck hard imho and had a couple real shitty days because of their choice of equipment.
