I'm preparing to thru-hike the PCT, and so have been obsessing somewhat over gear. I'm not going ultralight; I've read and talked to enough people about their weight trade-offs that I've ended up adding literally pounds back to what's worked for me on shorter trips to balance safety/comfort/convenience against weight.

For the first 700 miles or so of SoCal my base weight (no water, food, fuel, not counting trekking poles or clothes on my back) is 18.6 pounds, and the big weight factor here is of course water, not counted in there.
Percentages break down to:

Clothes: 4.3 23.2%
H20 Storage: 1.6 8.4%
Sleeping: 5.7 30.6%
Haulage: 1.8 9.5%
Cooking: 0.6 3.5%
Electronics 1.8 9.9%
Other: 2.8 15.0%

"Haulage" for me is backpack, stuff sacks, bearbag or can where appropriate.
"Electronics" include a smartphone, solar charger, 110v charging cord, bluetooth keyboard, and an mp3 player.

For the Sierras I add more clothes, lightweight ice axe and crampons, bear can ... so base weight goes up to 22.7 pounds. Less water to carry, sometimes more food:

Clothes: 6.4 28.0%
H20 Storage: 1.0 4.3%
Sleeping: 5.5 24.2%
Haulage: 4.8 21.2%
Cooking: 0.7 3.3%
Electronics 1.1 4.8%
Other: 3.2 14.1%

After I exit the Sierras I ditch ice axe and crampons, switch to a lighter sleeping bag, etc, base weight ends up at 17.5 pounds:

Clothes: 4.8 27.3%
H20 Storage: 1.0 5.6%
Sleeping: 4.6 26.2%
Haulage: 2.3 13.3%
Cooking: 0.6 3.7%
Electronics 1.8 10.5%
Other: 2.3 13.4%


I'm more in the 15 pound range of base weight for relatively long local trips, but I'm not messing with a bounce box so I have a couple extra things to carry along as a result.

I'm sure my load won't stay exactly as described, inevitably I'll change things as I go, but it's interesting to compare the percentages. I was surprised the "Sleeping" percentage was lowest in the Sierras, but that's because other stuff increased, not that "sleeping" went down significantly. Electronics drops in the Sierras as I plan to one-time bounce my bluetooth keyboard and wall charger to the point where I drop the extra stuff.

What really makes a difference in weight is, apart from water --- food. Thru-hikers eat a lot, so having relatively more resupply points can be a bigger payoff vs. trying to shave a few more ounces here or there.