I was just curious how many of you have actually converted anyone to lightweight backpacking and how it happened?

My Dad has followed along with me in dropping weight but his first backpacking trip was with me and he was doing what I did. He is a common sense type and right off the bat was looking through his stuff prior to going out and chucking unnecessary stuff.

Several years ago I subscribed to backpacker magazine and remember how they used to represent UL'ers as some kind of freak show. Every once in a blue moon they would feature some article about "seeing the light" and then in the very next issue you would see the same editor carrying 60 lbs of uselessness through the Pennsylvania "wilderness"

Lately I've been making a more concerted effort to drop weight and have been trying to convince a friend to drop his pack weight by getting rid of all the just in case junk. I hope to shock him this summer with my lighter weight gear, spring in my step, and no loss of comfort. He thought I was walking his booty into the ground before....

I am hoping he will see how much more enjoyable it is to be able to look at the scenery instead of suffering and staring at his boots as we scramble over peaks and passes.