20 pounds would wear me out these days.
Amen brother, Over the last few years I've changed packs a few times (keep getting them smaller), got shed of all my redundant gear, and have gone truly minimalist on the rest, while making sure that I have everything I might need to survive most emergencies and still be reasonably comfortable.
When in my prime I used to hump about 40 pounds regularly, when I started to feel hampered my load out was about 25 pounds (less food and water), and that was getting too heavy, now my pack (less food and water) is down to between 10 and 12 pounds, it's meant the difference between being out and staying home, it was a challenge reducing the weight, but, as some of you know I was into 18th century period trekking for many years which required a truly minimalist trail kit, so looking back on what sustained me back then was a big help in adjusting my kit today.
I'm not packing ultra light and not into weighing everything I pack, I just chose the lightest gear within reason, cut down on the amount of gear that I carried such as extra tools, cordage, and cookware, for a whole season I kept a log of what stuff I used on my hikes and what didn't get used, anything that wasn't life saving or not used regularly got discarded except my well stocked first aid kit and spare batteries for my head lamp, cutting my pack weight in half was a real game changer for me.
