very good question!!
I went through those thoughts and choices when I changed from tarp-tent (about a pound and a half) to hammocks (clark w/tarp probably close to 4 pounds) and when I went from a GG vapor ki pack (2 pounds) to an Aarn pack (close to 4 pounds).
My clark and the aarn pack are both more bulletproof than the tarp-tent and the GG pack. Plus they almost double my weight that I carry. But what I've found in the field actually carrying them and using the hammock is that I'm way happier with the weight on my back and in the mornings I'm pain free!! I'm still testing everything that goes inside my pack, if it doesn't get used on a trip, desicions have to be made on the next trip of if I really need to carry that item. To me, bulletproof means an item is gonna work everytime I use it. I use the pack and some kind of sleeping system on every trip and I don't want them to fail. I also use a pepsi can stove, it's not bulletproof in that it can be crushed. So I take pains to make sure it's protected. But in using it, it's never not worked, so sort of bulletproof (crushable but works all the time & very light wieght). Compromises have to be addressed in whatever gear you carry. And you need to know what kind of issues you personally have. For example, I like my hammock to be more bulletproof, I just tend to feel "safer" in it and that tends to cause me to fall asleep, well at the speed of a bullet!! Is it just my "perception" of safety, well maybe?? Every person has to make the choices of what they will carry, what to them has to be bulletproof and what they could live without if it were to fail. This is my main reason for do so much testing with my hammock & quilts.
TinaLouise
my clark weight also included an UQ, I guess my tarp-tent weight could also be upped if I added my treking poles and a hu-mong-gusly thick sleeping pad that I had to have just to be able to sleep in it!!!
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