Since this thread got bumped I will continue. I used to be a kitchen-sink kind of guy, hauling 20-30 kilos in different monster frame packs. But I have done a 180 on that now, and feel that this has forced me to take my skills to a whole new level. First of all, replacing a mountaintent with a basha reduced my load and also gives me a different sleepeing experience. I've replaced trangias and optimus novas with only fire, I used to cook fire before as well, but now I use it exlusively. This might not reduced the load so much since stainless is a lot heavier then aluminium, but no wind screens and no fuel reduces space at least. Replaced axes and different knifes with only a leuku and a single swede saw blade kept in the cooking pot. Used the leuku before as well, but together with a axe and smaller knife for the big chops and delicate work respectively. Came to the conclusion that the big shops are easier to do with a saw (!) and that delicate work kan be done with a big 9" blade with some training (albeit, maybe not with the exact same result). Instead of the 70-120 liter frame packs I use a 60 liter light weight pack (900 grams) which gives the same carrying comfort as any heavier pack I've tried (mostly because the load is lower). I still use woolen clothing, and haven't gone UL in any way but I think that it's a shame I insisted of carrying a lot of stuff for ``comfort'' all those years.
Of course, now time is an issue, instead of taking of the axe sheath and cutting up wood I now have to make a saw frame, or find a good baton for the leuku (which doesn't chop as good), instead of putting up the tent under 5 minutes, I know have to construct a shelter (often I don't even have a basha, just using spruce), instead of a roaring gasoline kitchen I have to look for wood and face the fact that I will smell like a forest fire. But as I said, my skills have evolved a lot. I try to stick to the fire steel, even though I carry a box of matches as a redundant system.
The only weight I have a hard time cutting down on is the sleeping stuff. This summer I've been playing around with a bedroll and a woolen blanket, which is the exact opposite of the UL concept. And during winter it is hard getting away with less than 2 kilos (maybe if there extremely good snow condtions so you could rely on sleeping in snowcaves).
Might add that I'm 1.90 tall and weighing in at 95, and pretty fit, so there is no medical or fitness aspect of my load reduction, just testing myself and my skills.
