Gotta Spend More Money

"I'm usually hiking with my wife, so no need to suggest that I buy a smaller pot or replace the 2 person shelter with a bivy sack."

Ah, bummer. You wouldn't be interested in the MLD cuben grace solo I'm thinking of selling then…..

BTW, I see you have a bandana, so why the dish sponge?

Nunatak Arc Edge w/a few ounces of overfill- 14oz
Nunatak Skaha Plus vest or jacket-6 or 9.5oz
Ti-Tri Inferno
cuben mid
iTP A3 EOS- 9gm, 80lumen– see goinggear.com

is your budget gasping for air yet?

You could always try hammocking. By the time you get a good hammock, winter underquilt, and spinnaker tarp with doors…

What about a lighter two person shelter? Something like the Gossamer Gear Squall Classic, for instance, would still give you reasonable wind/rain/bug protection for less than half of the weight of the Carbon Reflex.

EDIT: Woops! Sorry, I missed that part of your original post.

"I see you have a bandana, so why the dish sponge?"

Well the sponge is only 2g (less than 0.1oz), it works better for baked on food and it allows me to keep my bandana dry so I don't have to put a wet bandana in my pack. Plus this way I have the option to use the Bandana for drying the dishes and a dry bandana is more comfortable to wear.

"Nunatak Arc Edge w/a few ounces of overfill- 14oz
Nunatak Skaha Plus vest or jacket-6 or 9.5oz
Ti-Tri Inferno
cuben mid
iTP A3 EOS- 9gm, 80lumen– see goinggear.com

is your budget gasping for air yet?"

The Ti-Tri inferno could be fun to try…hmm..

I was going to get a cuben mid, but now I'm thinking that the cuben version of the Haven tarp is going to be better because it uses two trekking poles for more headroom and the weight is similar.

That flashlight is sweet….tempting for sure.

What about a lighter two person shelter? Something like the Gossamer Gear Squall Classic, for instance, would still give you reasonable wind/rain/bug protection for less than half of the weight of the Carbon Reflex."

I'm definitely going to do this. I've already sold the Carbon Reflex 2. I'm thinking that Six Moon Designs upcoming Haven tent is going to be amazing. There is going to be a cuben version of the tarp for ~14oz and the net tent should weigh about 18oz, so it's about 2 lbs plus stakes I'm guessing. Details on this won't be out for another 1-2 weeks and the cuben version is going to be even longer unfortunately. I'll probably buy the silnylon version first and the upgrade to the cuben tarp when it comes out 6 months later or so.

Seriously? This is a joke right.

How about buying nothing? That's my suggestion.

I'm joking about wanting to spend a lot of money…I'm not trying to spend money just for the sake of spending money. I do seriously want to get some ideas for how I can improve my gearlist though.

You could donate to the "Rich needs to get to Kathmandu this spring" fund. :)

"I'm not trying to spend money just for the sake of spending money"

Nothing wrong with it if you did. It's your money.

I'm mainly looking for more ways to flesh out the functionality of my gear list (but shaving weight is always good too). Lately I've found that a few small items I've added have made a big difference on the trail. For example, I added the TinderQuik Sparker & Firestarter and that has made starting fires in damp conditions way easier. It's a great use of 0.6oz (case, sparker & 10 tinders).

Another example is the 0.5oz MLD Bug Head Net that I think will come in extremely handy in the spring. I had some annoying bug experiences last spring and I think this will increase my enjoyment out there considerably in some conditions.

These are the kind of things I'd like to discover more of….things that make my life on the trail simpler, lighter and more enjoyable.

It's not gear, but another small item I've recently starting carrying is pepperoni sticks. At my local grocery store they sell some that taste AMAZING on the trail and they pack an impressive 160 cal and 8g of protein per ounce. I've been so stoked on these because they're tasty, light, nutritious and require no prep time.