The character of adsorbed layers containing both polyelectrolyte and surfactant depends on the type of polyelectrolyte used and the surfactant concentrations, as demonstrated by several recent studies. However, the layer properties also depend on the experimental pathway. This shows that the adsorbed layers can be trapped in quasi-equilibrium states, and that the true equilibrium state is only reached over experimentally inaccessible time scales. This has to be kept in mind when comparing different results reported in the literature. The present article highlights these effects using a system consisting of a highly charged cationic polyelectrolyte and an anionic surfactant. The adsorbed layer properties were determined using mainly surface force measurements and AFM imaging. We also present some new small angle neutron scattering data for bulk complexes formed between the polyelectrolyte and the surfactant, which demonstrates the presence of a characteristic correlation length of about 37-39 Å. A similar characteristic length-scale is also observed in some of the adsorbed layers, both employing the AFM and the surface force apparatus.