I'll agree that there have been some pretty elaborate FAKs shown here on the forums, but I believe most of the larger ones were for BOBs, professional use, home use or for the office. Two that I can recall in the last couple of years were EMTs showing what they carried in case they ran across something when they were off duty.

In the case of BOBs people don't know when they'll be able to resupply, get medical attention from a professional or what family members or they themselves might need for an indeterminate amount of time. So, it's understandable that these FAKs are pretty large and detailed.

My BOB FAK is about 5 pounds. I take it when I go camping with friends because I've taken up the job. I put it together from the experiences of camping with the same 10 to 15 people for the last 20+ years. This year the only thing that was needed from the kit was Zanfel Poison Ivy Cream, 2 Anti-diarrheal pills, several ibuprofen, tweezers, baby powder and a bandaid. Other years we've needed burn cream, a SAM splint, Ace bandages, heat packs, cold compresses and more.

You're right that none of the things from my FAK we've used on these trips have made the difference between life and death. What they have made a difference in is fast comfort, halving the time to get one of us to the hospital or saving one of us from having to leave camp to go to town for supplies.

My hiking FAK is pretty small and has a few items to tide myself or the group over until we get back to camp or until we make it to professional help.

As far as I'm concerned people can take as much or as little as they feel is necessary, but I don't have to agree with their choices.

As for the Ultralight Hiker community, I can only comment on direct experiences I've had, try to make that clear and don't think these few examples represent the whole.