I managed to do this successfully by going from taking a wad of toilet paper to taking the little pocket packs of kleenex. I know how many were in it, and it's easy for me to "ration it out" effectively.



Yeah, I'm about there too..



I have a real hard time with this. I take them sometimes and not others. I tend *not* to in the rockies, but then end up annoyed at myself if water levels are high and I have to make a lot of crossings... Grrr.



Yep. when in doubt I think about how much I really use it. If I am going to use it, I'll take it.



Oh I know sometimes the doo-dads are tempting, but really, when you look at these things yourself you're going plus or minus a few pounds of stuff on a base load that (if I had to guess for you) without food and water and fuel you're probably sitting around the 15-20 pounds mark - depending how heavy your ice axe and crampons are.

I guess I'm not talking about an ice axe and crampons trip. I'm talking about how I've seen people fitted out by store salespeople for a regular 4-7 day backpacking trip with nothing technical or exposed.

However I guess that yes, a lot of this is the upselling on the "doo-dads" - the expresso machines, the sam splints, the chair adapters, the lanterns, the rambo knives, the sun showers, the outback ovens, the list goes on an on.. So do the doo-dads breed the need for the expedition sized pack and load, or does the 90 litre pack enable the doo-dads - or are we really just faced with the reality of people who don't know better will automatically try to recreate "home" in the bush, complete with lattes, muffins, and video games...