[masklinn]

> 1. no chest strap to help distribute the load. I see a waist strap which is nice, but chest is generally the bare minimum

Chest straps don't distribute the load, they prevent the shoulder straps moving to the outside. It's a comfort thing (depending on where you prefer your shoulder straps to be) and not necessary at all. For hiking the waist strap is in fact the bare minimum, the primary load-bearing should be the hips, not the shoulders.

And this has limited relevance for ultralight since there should be very little load in the first place.