I normally toured on heavily inflated tires. At least the low end of recommended inflation, not normally more than 90. More recent info indicates this is wrong. It also indicates that narrow bike tires are wrong for heavy rider/bike/gear combinations. One question one might want to ask is why one feels like one wants to use them. I think it is an inbred feeling that they are beneficial, and more cyclisty.

The info indicates that to reduce loss you need to run 20 mm tires at as high as 150, while 37s would run at 50 pounds. Those are correct inflations at 200 pounds. Very hard tires vibrate body tissue severely which is wasted energy. Traditional tests are done on rollers and show larger tires are inefficient because of greater losses in the softer tires, from bending them. But when hard tires vibrate there is a directly similar loss through deformation of body tissue. So hardening tires is offset by moving tissue. And to boot you are taking a kicking and will be in pain, which doesn't help.

Comfort wise, packs on a bike often absorb the vibe. This reduces the pain, but obviously there is still an energy loss.