Yeah this is what I had been referring to about reducing weight "letting you downsize". You need to drop enough that a less-efficient carry is COMFORTABLE, not just squeeze stuff into a lighter but less comfortable pack.Another thing with weight is where you are carrying it on you. I fooled around trying to get rid of carrying a pack and carrying the stuff on me. The issue is the "perceived weight" didn't seem any different than carrying the pack even though my setup was likely a couple pounds lighter. The pack distributed the weight across me far better and therefore was more comfortable. Also wasn't limited to what I wanted to pack with me on a given day.
If you can go all the way down to walking around the woods with a pocket full of bolts - that's streamlined. It you're hanging 10 pounds of crap off of your saddle to save the weight of a pack? That's a false economy for sure!