Being “forced” to go SUL (advice?)

I have started to play around with going SUL and seem to find six pounds requires very little sacrifice and 5lbs seems to start having cuts that hurt.

You have 80 ounces of gear so you have about the following for each catagoty
20 ounces for tent including stakes and ground sheets
20 ounces for a bag
4 ounces for a pad
16 ounces in clothes
8 ounces for a pack
4 ounces for a cook system
8 ounces for other stuff

You can shift weight back and forth but if you end up much higher in any of the categories you wont make it. For me my clothing alawys ends up weighing to much as by the time i add a rain coat down jacket and base bottoms I am over a lb of clothes. I also bring an neo air small to sleep on so my pad is 9 oz.

I'm not yet at the ultralight level, much less SUL. But in my opinion the pack is a special category weight-wise. If a pack weighs a few more ounces but does a superior job of transferring the weight it might be worth it.

After all, the goal should be comfort, not hitting an artificial total weight goal.

[Jimmy Stuart voice] Nnnow, nnnow, hold on there just a second. That's about it? Let's have the whole story with ALL the items and weights.

Announcing that your aren't an alky or tarp person pretty much shuts the door on getting to what I think of for SUL base weight, like 5 pounds. You can always get lighter, but not SUL. You gotta get outside the box a little if you want to get that light. Starting with an empty pack that is nearly 3 pounds is NOT going to get you to SUL Nirvana! UL maybe. I'm of a mind that any kit can survive one heavier item, so a stove or a heavier pack won't break the dam and make SUL run all over the floor, but do that a couple times and you'll start an avalanche :)

The techniques have been pretty much the same for years:
Chuck all the extras and spares
Use the lightest, highest performance materials you can find (and afford)
Look for multiple use items
Minimize, minimize, minimize

To me a "true" SUL kit hinges on:
*taking absolutely nothing that won't keep you warm, dry, fed, hydrated and alive.
*Quilt
*Spartan sleep pad
*Polycryo or other SUL ground cloth
*Minimalist tarp shelter: Cuben Fiber or Silnylon, the lightest lines and stakes. Add insect head net as needed.
*Minimal cook kit: small Ti pot, spoon/spork, alcohol or Esbit stove, MAYBE a light cup. Menu to suit.
*Recycled water bottles and chemical treatment
*Minimalist tools and navigational aids: tiny light, compass, barely-a-first-aid-kit, knife/razor blade, etc.
*Minimalist hygiene kit, with everything in the smallest containers.
*Spartan clothing kit. If you are wearing everything when it is coldest, you have it right.
*Backpack to suit

Truth be told, I like a few pounds more and I also prefer a pack with a frame. I use an Osprey Exos 46. That REI Cruise is a 60 liter pack, right? You can get by with much less and still get a weight-transferring frame. A smaller pack will put a lot less torque on your lower back and weigh less too.

Best of luck with your back!

Anything beyond that requires a nice quilt, cuben shelter, then again if you would have just bought the best gear in the first place you would be better off.

Getting your big 4 down as low is possible is priority #1.

I think it is absolutely vital to consider your question in the context of where you trek, the time of year, and expected climate. For example, a 6 lb base weight doesn't work in the Canadian Rockies.

Can uck wrote: "… a 6 lb base weight doesn't work in the Canadian Rockies."

Why?

An average baseweight of 6-7 pounds is just that, an average. It is common sense to assume that variable change in location will change baseweight (ie extreme conditions).

Because temps in the summer range from 30c to -2c and necessitate more clothing and a warmer sleep system, many passes require crampons, requirement to carry bear spray, etc.

No, 6-7 lbs is an extreme low and not an average.