Mathematically impossible? I think you didn’t look at the useful recommendations

Starting from 16.4

tent -2.0 pounds

stakes -0.15

sleeping bag -1.2

sleep shirt -0.375

towel -0.2

backpack lid -0.16

= -4 lb

And switching to a summer weight bag

-15oz further in the bag

so that’s 11.4lb

maybe I won’t hit 10, but that‘s a 25% drop in base weight. That’s a huge change and anyone who provided useful answers was extremely helpful. They made some points I thought were valid, like one person saying the lid isn’t useful, something I was already thinking about cutting.

you don’t do UL all at once, it’s endless cuts, endless better. maybe I’ll switch to a tarp down the line, it’s not practical right now but cutting 4 pounds means I have to make tougher decisions to cut the last ~1-2 pounds.

I’m focusing on food weight too, figuring what I like to eat that gives the most weight value because going from 2lb per day to 1.5 is more weight dropped than what’s left to reach 10.

i understand frustrating, but those who downvote and respond negatively are counter productive. It makes most people less interested in listening to them