thing is, compared to the stuff I had to carry in the German military in the 1980s this is actually progress. The weight isn't much higher, but at least they now have hip belts and frames in the packs - that was unheard of in 1983. GoreTex? LOL - who's gonna pay for that new fangled stuff? Everything was pretty much 1950s technology and had to serve the primary objective to last for multiple soldier generations, not be functional or comfortable.
For example, to not freeze to death, we had to bring our own down sleeping bags to stuff inside the useless rubberized army bags when in winter training, but anything that was visible to superiors had to be standard issue (and with that inadequate at best - cotton everything, leather boots constantly wet. Trench foot, frostbite, you name it - all in "training" conditions).
Not saying things are great now, but there actually has been some progress. One thing we didn't carry then was body armor, except for a good classic steel helmet. Somehow I think I would want to have that on me, no matter how heavy.
