You don't even need to buy new equipment all you do is start to prune your gear list; leave that second pair of jeans behind. I'm convinced that may touring set ups with 4x panniers could be reduced to 2x panniers without any loss of comfort by a simple critical analysis of what is packed. This would make the whole touring experience more fun for the regular recreational tourist.
+1
For most folks just leaving home every item you don't actually use and only taking one of the items you do where possible will result in a weight savings with no drastic measures or impact on comfort.
Also there is the how much/many of an item to take. A few feet of duct tape is one thing a full unused roll in another. No need to carry the giant economy size of anything. One each of most clothing items is enough, two at most.
If you go a step further and eliminate bulky heavy cotton and cotton blend items like jeans and sweatshirts so much the better.
BTW I have also observed folks carrying more by doing what they think is saving weight. One way that happens is when they try to get clever with multi-use items. For example on a backpacking board recently I read a
suggestion for an item (newspaper) that they listed 18 uses for. With 18 uses for a single item it has to be a great idea right? Well since I normally wouldn't carry anything for any of those many uses it was just one more item that I didn't need.