[timtimmy]

In my university days I climbed Mt Fuji at night for the sunrise in jeans, running shoes and a little tiny pen light. At the top there were people with small oxygen tanks (understandable, there are legitimate medical concerns for some). I'd do it differently today. :)

I'm ignoring the point of the article, but I'm currently in a country with a strong hiking culture. Everyone is decked out with every piece of hiking gear imaginable for a short trek up a hill (2 hour round trip?). It's a bit of a status thing. Well... maybe there is a connection to the article. Do we sometimes avoid simple tools in startups because of ego/status concerns?

[shanemhansen]

I think you are right.

But a gentler answer is that if you don't know what you need to do the hike, you ask around for best practices and probably end up following some that are overengineered.

The people like you during your hike, in my experience, fall into two groups. Either they've had so much experience that they know exactly what works and what doesn't work for the conditions or they kind of got lucky.

[timtimmy]

Thank you for the gentler perspective, and I do think it plays a role.