Well....yeah.....you're right. "Ultralight" is two things. 1) a loosely defined term, dependant on many things. Where, how long, experience level, woodcraftyness, etc. and 2) describes a life long 'process', not so much 'products'. It took (and takes) me years to learn what I really need, and what I'm willing to do without, all to make walking in the wilderness a fun experience. I'm skilled in the desert and forested areas near Texas. Drop me in Phat's neighborhood and I'd be lost...gear ignorant, and likely a heavy backpacker again, until I learned.
So, I think describing this website as "ultralight" is accurate, if you keep in mind it's all a continuous process, based on personal levels. Jumping straight into super-duper ultralight, based on someone elses definition, is a good way to be very uncomfortable or....dead.

I'm currently re-reading all my mountain man books. Big Sky, Give Your Heart to the Hawks, etc. ALL of those books describe a process from 'greenhorn' to 'mountain man'. Those old guys weren't about a fun walk in the woods on an established trail.
All their learned skills were life/death survival and many of those skills carry over to what we do today. They got so good at it that they preferred the life in most cases. It's exactly what we're striving to do...learning to prefer what most people would consider uncomfortable.

So, Glenn, call yourself 'ultralight'. Sounds to me like you've shaved about 50% off your pack weights. That's big!


Fun test for everyone, next time your in the grocery store. Head to the dog food isle. Pick up a 25# sack and heft it onto your shoulder. Put it down and pick up a 50# sack and do the same. I use to hual over 50# of junk in my pack. Today, 25# seems heavy.