I didn't intend to imply that you shouldn't shop at REI; it features good quality stuff, it's just not oriented toward ultralight. Neither is Great Miami Outfitters, where I buy 95% of my stuff. Both serve a much broader market of hikers than just ultralighters; the apparent bias you're sensing doesn't reflect any warnings about those stores, it merely reflects the bias of most of us here in the direction of light or ultralight. But, if that's not where you want to be, that's fine, too - we all want to hike ourselves happy, whatever happy means to each person (no one's going to hunt you down and inspect your toothbrush. )

For most of us, going lighter has been a lifetime process; it probably will be for you, too. It's often driven more by experience, learning what you can do without, than it is by what new gimmick is available. (35 pounds of ultralight gear is still a 35 pound load!) I'm now regularly under 20 pounds for a weekend, and I don't use bleeding-edge ultralight gear.

By the way, check out Great Miami Outfitters - they have a rewards program that is highly competitive with REI, and you don't have to wait until the end of the year to get paid. (No, I don't work for them or get anything from them; I just think they're a great local shop for those of us near Dayton.)

So, don't let all the ultralight talk here drive you away - you'll get the respect you deserve regardless of where you want to be on the weight spectrum.