I have lived on trail, hiking thousands of miles a year with a backpack filled with food, water, and shelter. To hear the claim that hiking with a 50lb pack has

I have lived on trail, hiking thousands of miles a year with a backpack filled with food, water, and shelter. To hear the claim that hiking with a 50lb pack has the "same perceived effort" is absolutely untrue for me. The difference between 0lb and 20lb is significant. The difference between that and 50lb is monumental. For me, rucking a 50lb pack after about 30 minutes feels like I'm taking hallucinogens, and not in a fun way! Time slows down to a crawl, I can't really understand audio language or even really form thoughts at all. It's like my whole brain stops working and I am nothing but resistance to getting crushed into the ground. I can ruck a 20lb pack for 20 miles a day for weeks, but even that took a lot of training. Doing that with 50lb feels like it would be impossible. Maybe my 135# body has some limiting factor. That being said, I love taking out a 50lb pack just to clear my head. It's like forced meditation.