Rant: my lightweight tent obsession was slowing me down, not helping

I spent 3 seasons hauling a 2.5 pound shelter through the High Sierra, bragging about ounces. Then last August on the JMT, a guy with a 4 pound dome tent passed me at dusk while I was still fiddling with trekking pole stakes in a windstorm. That moment hit me: I was trading setup time and sleep quality for a number on a scale. I switched to a freestanding tent for a trip in the Smokies last month and got camp set up in 6 minutes flat, no cursing. My pack gained 2 pounds but my pace actually improved because I stopped stopping to fix flapping guylines. Are there others who ditched the ultralight cult and feel stronger for it, or am I just carrying extra weight without seeing it?

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1 Comment

leo_fisher20d ago

Feel you on this one hard. I did the same dance for years until I realized my "system" was just a bunch of extra steps I hated doing twice a day. Sometimes the lightest gear is just the stuff you don't have to wrestle with at the end of a long day, and that's a trade worth making.