I'm used to the army, when I'm packing for field stuff, I know that no matter how much I pack for luxury my kit and equipment will still be 80% of the load minimum. Would I rather hump 80 lbs 20 miles and have a miserable night, or hump 85 lbs and have hot coffee and a single person tent I can jerk off comfortably in? Easy choice for me.

When I go hiking with my family I pretty much just carry emergency supplies and the liquor stash, knowing we'll be back to the tents by nightfall.

Long and short, you remove weapons armor and ammo from the picture and it's a lot more impactful to play with the weight. Shaving 5 lbs off a 20 lbs load can let you go 5 more miles when it's for leisure.

We often do a mixture of both. I train all summer on a grueling unmaintained trail carrying jugs of water, just so that I can go on amazing backpacking trips without them being hard. When I'm at peak fitness, a hard rated trail is easy, and that's the way I like it.