The max weight is a bunch of bullshit on the ultralight gear.
Last time I moved I showed up the day before my stuff did, I slept on a camp cot I had bought for which I was 90% of the max weight. I used it on a carpeted floor for one night, it bent in two places. If I’d put the damned thing across a root it would have looked like a pretzel the next morning.
I’m not sure I understand the point…
I don’t think many (if any) backpackers are taking a camp cot with them? I imagine most are using an inflatable sleep pad or a foam sleep mat.
It's all of a piece.
The designers forgot that a human is a live load!
"Up to" does seem to be a perfectly distributed load that doesn't ever for instance toss and turn, or sneeze.
Apparently I'm not a spherical cow.