That's the way I took it. And I completely agree with your conclusions too.

I think "Gear Envy" is akin to what Jim was touching on here too. There is nothing wrong with buying the toys that are made for your hobby, but we don't need to get too caught up in thinking we must have the latest, lightest, most expensive, gear.

I do have some fairly lightweight tents. The Eureka Solitaire is the lightest I have, and yes, it's a big trade off to use it instead of my exponent inyo2.

But I have less than $130 in both those tents together and I bought them new. Like all hobbies, it's fair to say that some of the expensive gear we are offered is really nothing more than jewelry.

That's fine too, but one should be aware of that when they're buying it.

Having worked on autos for many years, I think the "Indy Car" analogy is a good one. Indy Cars are designed and built to go 500 miles and not a mile more than that.

Some ultralight gear is built with the same kind of goals in mind. Weight is more important than long term durability.
So durability is engineered to last only long enough to complete the one trek you are making. In some cases that's a good and even necessary choice.

But I think that for most all of us here, especially beginners, it's neither.

Bill