The 1/3 your body weight stuff doesn't apply to the military.

I've had rucks go well over 100 lbs. At the time I was 6' about 165. Now I'm still 6' but 195 +/-. During a series of tests we did back in the olden days, we were weighed before and after donning equipment for a jump. With rucks/weapon/ammo/unit gear/main and reserve there wasn't a guy there who weighed under 250, most closer to 300. The medics/RTOs/Machine gunners had the most weight. And yes, just my luck I was the CO's RTO.

I would like to get my BOB down to under 30 with water on board. Personally, I can rough it. DW on the other hand... let's say she has mellowed and likes some amenities. I can see carrying 40 lbs and not being too stressed. She can probably carry about 30 and be ok. What I have been doing is looking at multi-task stuff and dropping some redundant stuff. One Leatherman instead of a Leatherman, a SAK and a mil issue jackknife for instance.

As to the water issue - summer here (heck, anytime after May 1) is 90+ with humidity varying from 60-90% most of the time. Water is a no brainer, it's just how much and where can I get more.

I'm still not cutting labels outta my undies to save weight tho, lol.