My partner and I have recently come back to hiking as a regular pastime after a couple of years away, mostly due to her being ill (gullain barre syndrome - bugger of an ailment).
In that time away it has been rather eyeopening to see how UL has entered into the hiking mainstream. Judging by some of the review sites and blogs, you'd be forgiven for thinking that UL wasn't just here to stay, but the norm. "What, you're hiking with a 2KG 2p double-wall tent? You idiot! Cuben fibre flat tarp or GTFO!"
Anything with the potential to lighten the load gets my attention. I've trekked too many times with 25KG+ packs; it's an achievement, sure, but it isn't really fun a lot of the time. Then there's the risk of injuring yourself, difficulty in moving off-track, etc.
The issue is more pressing now, as my girlfriend can still fatigue easily if she overexerts herself, which in combination with an existing back injury dictates a light pack for anything over a few kilometres a day. As such I'm having to carry more of our combined base load (tent, cooking gear) while still rebuilding my own trail fitness. Further compounding matters is that 50%+ of our hiking is for the purposes of fly fishing, so we need to allow for fishing 'system' weight as well (1KG-3KG, depending on whether or not we take waders/waderboots) as part of our overall carry weight... meaning other 'systems' need to, at minimum, be lightened and minimised to make room.
As such, I'm looking at UL gear - and more importantly, UL philosophy - rather seriously now.
Walking around for days with an under-10KG pack has great appeal - naturally - and who wouldn't see the appeal of waking up to a magnificant vista from a mostly open tarp shelter? But my initial reaction - and that of my partner and a fishing buddy who's keen on multi-day adventures out the back of the Western Lakes - is what works fine on your typical US forest trail doesn't necessarily translate to your typical Tasmanian multiday hike. Our weather is definitely the colloquial 'four-seasons in one day' and, with perhaps the exception of the north and east coasts, snow storms in summer are a reality that simply have to be considered in order to stay safe. Alongside 30-degree C days, scorching sun and torrential rain. Up in the central plateau (my preferred playground) and especially around the Western Lakes we're talking large, flat areas with minimal trees or hills to shelter from nasty weather, kerosene bushes that would tear lightweight fabrics to shreds, boggy marshes that'd twist runners-clad ankles, snakes, mozzies....
No surprise my better half scoffed at the thought of replacing her traditional leather Scarpas, 6-year old Macpac pack, 2KG+ goose down sleeping bag and sleeping in anything other than a double-skin 2P tent.
Still, whether or not you UL hike or not, the 'product category's' existence can only benefit all hikers. Increasing use and acceptance of super light silnylon and cuben fibre will invariably trickle down to 'sub-UL' and more regular-focussed hiking products, making them lighter while retaining more durability and user friendliness than specialised gear. From what I've seen over the past 6-12 months, typical weights for a 3 season 2pp double-skin tent these days are tending around the 1.5-2KG mark... still too heavy for serious ULers, but a LOT lighter than the 3-4KG tents we considered nicely light and compact not that long ago.
Basically, one doesn't have to UL to benefit from the fad/trend/movement or whatever you want to call it. For anyone wanting to shave 5KG off a 20KG+ pack weight without sacrificing any luxury, comfort or durability, there's no lack of off-the-shelf options to achieve it easily. Just open your wallet and say "ahhh"

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Regarding the safety concerns: yes, I can see the potential for the uninformed and inexperienced to spend up big on the best and lightest, achieve an impressive overall pack weight then get into life-threatening trouble out in the bush because they've not thought things through properly. But how's that any different from the clueless buying a tonne of gear and wilting under the weight of their pack on the first day? Or tourists heading off on the OLT woefully ill-prepared for the 6/7 day hike? Any form or style of hiking does not remove itself from the simple fact that the pastime has inherent risks and people need to be responsible for their own safety. It's just a guestimated assumption, but I'd suggest that the vast majority of UL-hikers shifted over slowly, carefully and in a very calculated way, assessing, acquiring and appraising new kit bit by bit to ensure it met their own individual circumstances. Just my opinion but it would be foolish to simply go out and purchase an entire wishlist of UL gear in one hit - aka
http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/a/11136/D ... -Gear-List - and expect it all to work for you comfortably first trek out. Best in class doesn't necessarily mean best for you, after all, though I'm sure the majority of reasonably experienced hikers are smart enough to realise this.
Product-specific stuff aside, I believe the philosophy of UL hiking - minimisation, simplification and multiple uses per item - is useful to all hikers. Seasoned hikers do so anyway, regardless of their gear weight class, but for less-experienced hikers wanting to step up their game, undertake longer hikes and do so safely without excessive pack weight there's plenty to be learned and gained, with or without a pack full of titanium, cuben fibre and shortened toothbrushes. Even working with my existing gear, little of which is particularly lightweight by current standards, I've managed to shave off a good 3-4KG from my typical pack load by simplying my packing list, tossing out excessive or unnecessary 'just in case' gear, substituting 2-3 items for 1 multipurpose item and just being smart about understanding what I really need out on a hike... rather than taking along every cool doodad I bought from Anaconda, just because it is cool
I can admire the guys who relentlessly chase down those gram-weight savings - while still being safe and enjoying themselves, of course - but at the end of the day each person needs to find their ideal balance between weight, comfort, cost, safety and above all enjoyment. For some, that will mean a heavier pack than others.
A little end thought. A few hikes ago I decided to try trimming down the amount of cooking/eating gear I carry, as fitting in a full stackable double-pot/frypan lid set, with MSR Whisperlite cooker inside, small bottle of fuel, LMF MealKit AND an insulated STS 500mL plastic mug seemed excessive and was a struggle to fit in my pack along with everything else. The LMF comes with a decent sized cup that fits nicely around everything else in the MealKit, I thought, so why bother with that big, bulky, rigid insulated mug? (amongst other things). I'm hiking for crying out loud, I only need one cup. My girlfriend did the same.
Long story short: the shallow, space efficient cup wasn't particularly enjoyable to drink out of. That doesn't sound like a biggie, especially as it still 'worked' and we didn't die of dehydration, but I was surprised to find how much it ruined the simple act of wrapping my hands around a big warm mug of tea at the end of a long, tiresome hike... and what was more surprising what just how much that simple ritual meant made to our overall enjoyment of hiking (and being outdoors in general). Next hike the big old mug got packed and the MealKit got minimalised instead. I sat with my *&%$#! in the snow with wet boots and little more than the fly flap off the tent to protect me from the prevailing blizzard, but felt happy and could laugh at the daftness of it all - because I had my big warming mug of Tetleys.
Incidentally I'm not tea-mad - I drink coffee too - nor am I English or somehow genetically predisposed to tea consumption! It's just something that we both really appreciate when outdoors. When the camp is all set up, the boots are off and you're enjoying the view of the sunset, it just fits.
I may get into more serious UL hiking in time, especially for solo trips when I only have to consider myself, but that mug will come regardless...

Cheers, Ben.