Weight v’s Comfort v’s cost. The hiking compromise

I have found when planning a multi-day hike these three factors have become a big part of my thinking when it comes to what I take. Obviously I want to be comfortable when hiking and camping for multiple days, it is not all about suffering. Unfortunately the more comfort you want when camping requires more suffering when hiking as the weight of the pack becomes heavy. I am not the first person to do this and therefore many companies have created great products which cater for lightweight backpacking however this does cost more. Hence, the big compromise between the three factors. 

Research I have done suggest a pack weight of 20% of your body weight and that the main four items which weight the most will be the bag itself, tent, sleeping bag and sleeping mat. Therefore spending some money on these four items seems reasonable to minimize the weight, also a good nights sleep is determined by 3 out of the 4 of these so adds to the comfort element.

My example of this is a sleeping bag. I have a nice sleeping bag which is comfortable down to zero degrees centigrade but weights about 1kg, I could use a lighter 500gram sleeping bag which is only warm to 5 degrees and packs a lot smaller. I could then spend a large amount of money and get a 450gram bag which is warm down to -3degrees. This is personal preference on how warm do I want to be at the end of the day versus how much space does the bigger bag take up and weigh. 

I have found that all the other bits and pieces which become necessary when walking and camping soon add up to quite a bit of weight and it is worth weighing all of them to see where several grams can be saved as they soon add up. Saving a few hundred grams on a smaller power-pack or lighter footwear for camp means the different between a full and empty bottle of water.  A big consideration is also, will it fit into the bag itself? How do I pack it? What will I need first/last?

     

I have now packed and unpacked my bag multiple times, weighting it as a total and weighting individual bits to see what can be saved.
I am now down to the final few days before leaving and have switched to throwing everything which fits in the bag as last minute things occur to me. Probably not best for the weight element but will improve the comfort, for example a pillow!