The data are irrefutable: a hiker schlepping a fifty-eight-pound pack will expend roughly the same energy over ten miles as a hiker carrying a ten-pound pack will expend in thirty miles. When it comes to load carrying, location matters, too: weight on the feet—say, boots—requires between four and six times more energy to move than the same weight on one’s back.
This is true, but I still refuse to hike without ankle support. Heavier, yes, but I've rolled an ankle one too many times to go without it.
