Load Bearing Calculator

Almost certainly, yes. Terrain feeds march speed through a separate factor as low as 0.5 on mountainous ground (line 45), which stretches march time for the same distance, and water requirement is march time multiplied by an hourly rate (line 52-53) -- so a slower, harder route means more hours on the trail and proportionally more water needed even though the distance itself hasn't changed. Recommended pack weight also drops on harder terrain (line 15), which partially offsets the load a soldier has to carry while moving slower.

Only past three thresholds. Distances of 10km or less add no distance penalty; crossing 10km subtracts 1 point, crossing 20km subtracts 3, and crossing 30km subtracts 5 (lines 25-28). Between those thresholds, adjusting march distance by a small amount does not change the recommended load percentage at all, because the penalty is a step function, not a continuous scale.

Absolute max load is computed independently of the recommended-load logic, as body weight times a flat 0.45 with no terrain, temperature, fitness, or distance adjustment (line 34). It represents a doctrinal hard ceiling rather than a situational recommendation, which is why it does not move when you change terrain or conditions -- only recommended load, the percentage-based figure, responds to those inputs.

Water requirement multiplies march time by a per-hour rate that itself depends on temperature: 0.5 liters per hour below 21°C, 0.75 between 21°C and 32°C, and 1.0 liter per hour above 32°C (line 52). Because march time also increases on harder terrain, hot weather on difficult ground compounds through both the higher hourly rate and the longer march time, not just one factor alone.