toejam

I've also looked hard at the Zeus Exo. It would probably be fine up in the Rockies where it's cold every night. It's got ventilation problems and looks to me like it would be miserable to use in Texas, especially with 2 people in it. The 2-person lightweight tent that's always gotten the best reviews since I started backpacking is the Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight, which you can get for $140 at Campmor. The Kelty Zen is similar and has been discontinued, so you should be able to find them cheap.

For lightweight solo hiking I usually take a tarp, which is a very light tent. That's usually in the Rockies where bugs aren't a problem. If you can go with a 1-person tent, the Coleman Exponent Inyo is one that gets a lot of good reviews and less than $100.

L.e.d. flashlights won't use up a set of batteries on a 2 week trip. I quit hauling spare batteries when I got l.e.d. flashlights.

I've never been able to convince myself I should carry a pillow backpacking, but once the stuff sack my head was on was hard enough that I lost circulation in my ear. The skin sloughed off and I had big ugly scabs on it for a week. So I don't begrudge a person a pillow, but I'm more careful how I pack that stuff sack I lay my head on.