If that were the case I'd have a closet full of bell bottoms in putrid colors, an external frame pack, blue poly tarps and still be running around in pink Nikes.

Thank goodness for changes of fashion and silnylon.

Can you say Tube Tent and blue jeans?

Brian, you are a very experienced hiker and so are a lot of others here, so I'm paying attention.

I do have a couple internal frame packs and I do like them. It's not that I'm against the internal frame. But I think external frames are underestimated.

My pack for a 4 day trip weighs about 24 or 25 pounds including food and a lot of water. At that weight, I don't even notice it's there, so the type of pack become less important to me for hiking. I've never felt any imbalance even with a heavier load of 43 pounds or so before I lightened up.

Right now, I find the organization easier in my external frame packs easier than the internal frame. Maybe after work that out, I'll prefer the internal frame. But or what I call big bag loads like the grocery store each day, I prefer the internal frame packs.

With shoes, I average 3.6 mph on roads without stressing. With the boots I average 3.9 mph. On trails with the boots, I average about 2.9 mph with the boots. (As measured by GPS.) The boots are simply easier to walk with for me. Modern combat boots are much different than the old black ones. The ones I have are designed with a sole that takes the impact and transfers the energy to the next step. It's something I can really feel. They are a soft leather, so there are no blisters. The side have an insert like the jungle boots but unlike jungle boots which are designed to let water out, they are completely waterproof.

The boots are great for doubletiming, but are not so good for a long stride. There I'd rather have trail runners.

Hopefully not too much thread drift here (and apologies if so), but that's quite interesting. I certainly know that individual variances and preferences can be quite far apart, but it kind of blows my mind that you walk faster on roads in any sort of boot than you do in shoes. I imagine in part it depends on what shoes and what boots are being compared, but still.

I'm not questioning your data here (!), it's just a bit of a surprising conclusion for me. In part, it's because trail runners (shoes) tend to be lighter weight, and I would think would typically provide more energy transfer than a typical boot.
I guess maybe DARPA has been spending some of our tax money to good effect if current issue combat boots are that good!

Lowe Alpine...although I am biased as I have one...