Last weekend a friend and I went out for 2 nights. We hiked 6 miles into an established camp. The next day we did a 16-mile day hike, and the following day we hiked out by a different 7-mile route. In the course of our various conversations, I told her I'd bought a Backpacking Light membership because I wanted to read some of the articles, but I thought it hadn't been a good idea because I found the community kind of depressing -- so many posts in which people seem to delight in pedantic nitpicking over details that, in the end, really don't matter much, and so little attention to the reason we backpack in the first place, the joy of it.

And in the course of those conversations over the 3 days, I found myself pointing out half a dozen little changes I'd made since the last time we went out, and saying, "I picked up this tip on Backpacking Light." Now, I have only weighed my pack once, ever, before my very first backpacking trip 4 years ago. But I noticed that this time I was able to pick it up and put it on with one hand, something I had never even been able to consider doing before. And I noticed that I wasn't worn out at the end of the day, and that I felt much more stable and nimble on the trail.

So, even though I'm sure my pack is heavy by ultralight standards, I have to thank you all for that! Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all...

Reminds me of an old joke.

Two ladies sitting at a posh restaurant.
One says to the other : I have to say that the food here is always terrible ...
The other replies : yes and the portions are so small.
Franco

Rowan, it's just a mature community that has been around for quite a long while, by internet standards. People here still talk about backpacking, a lot, but many of us also talk about what people talk about in communities. The fact that we keep coming back to talk is what counts. I think many of the people here would be fun to backpack with because there'd be so much to talk about BESIDES backpacking and gear! ;-)