But a U.S. infantryman today carries gear weighing just as much, if not more, than it did in World War I. "When we're successful on making something, such as weapons, significantly lighter, an infantry guy is just going to carry more bullets," says Jerry Whitaker, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center.
At the moment all of our gear is weighed, labelled, and staged at the helicopter pad.
His sledge contained 80 days' worth of food, fuel and survival gear, and weighed more than 150kg – nearly double the weight of his slim but muscled frame.
After much grunting and strapping stuff to the outside, I managed to squeeze everything into my pack, but with all the technical gear, it weighed 50 lbs or so.
He dragged along a sled of gear that weighed 375 pounds at the start of the journey, containing a tent, cold-weather sleeping bags, solar panels, skis, a satellite phone, freeze-dried food and other items.
Samsung's Gear Live weighs 59g and LG's square G Watch 63g, by comparison.
In rubber boots, carrying a backpack filled with gear to weigh, measure and swab for fungal infection any frog she finds, Richards-Zawacki slogged a few hundred meters down a narrow gorge of the Rio Farallon, peering at the banks covered in moss and fern, water dripping from springs and waterfalls.
If I could just carry a telephoto zoom and a small macro as well as my smartphone, instead of a massive bag with DSLR gear that weighs about 50 lbs, I'd consider that very much worth my while.
The slimmed-down version of the Gear VR weighs just 0.62 pounds, and it's compatible with a wide array of Samsung's current and previous lineup of smartphones and phablets so more users can partake in the Gear VR experience.
While individual legs aren't all super complicated, the facts that you're operating on much less oxygen in your blood, way below freezing, with gear that weighs you down, in clothes that encumber you, and on little sleep after weeks of getting there, conspire to make an Everest summit super hard.
