The Big Three is a game that was probably started by equipment manufacturers.

I hiked about 450 miles in BigSur and the Sierras using a 5 pound sleeping bag made of cotton, a canvas pack, etc and I never let the baseweight go over 20 pounds. Of course I cooked over a wood fire, but I had no tent, just a 8x10 piece of plastic - called it a ground cloth and when it rained I pulled half of it oveer me.
Jim