Quick - without mentioning any gear, what is lite philosophy? thanks Theres lots of lite lists, and lite gear, but do you think there is a lite "philosophy" which allows you go lighter? Perhaps meditating to allow you to walk down the trail without actually touching it(?), but short of that about the only things that I can come up with, and I may not agree with them, are:
Lighter is safer.
You're less apt to be injured with a light pack.
You can go further with a lite pack.

Again besides these I could add "multiple use items" are lighter, but for instance my Gerber multi tool weighs 7 ounces, but I have a 3 ounce pair of needle nosed pliers and a 1.8 ounce gerber LST knife that provide those functions that I might need the "multi purpose" tool for and each is a more specialised tool than the multi tool. So I personally use the idea of finding a single item that completely covers a particular usage need.
The last thing I would say is that your brain becomes more multi purpose with experience and you might learn about capabilities of some of your gear that you never suspected. A truely generic item would be great, but would a tooth brush, pocket knife, butane lighter, first aid kit, hat, and gloves be able to hold enough water? grin
Jim
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.