Notice the repetition of "the things they carried." How do these "things" advance or impede the story in The Things They Carried?

The "things" carried in The Things They Carried impede the carriers both physically and emotionally.

The narrator takes pains to list every item carried by the company exhaustively. Not only does he mention the wide variety of items, many of which are impractical or redundant (canned peaches and pound cake are mentioned in the first paragraph), he records the estimated weight of these items as well. The first chapter very effectively conveys the physical weight...

The "things" carried in The Things They Carried impede the carriers both physically and emotionally.

The narrator takes pains to list every item carried by the company exhaustively. Not only does he mention the wide variety of items, many of which are impractical or redundant (canned peaches and pound cake are mentioned in the first paragraph), he records the estimated weight of these items as well. The first chapter very effectively conveys the physical weight of these objects: over the course of 26 pages, the mountain of objects and their collective weight grows to a magnitude that defies belief.

In addition to survival gear, the narrator also catalogs items the troopers voluntarily carry that have an, arguably, more burdensome "weight." Love letters (from a hopeless crush), heirlooms, drugs, and comfort objects are all "humped" over the terrain, clutched through the night, and obsessed over.

All of these objects hinder the characters' progress in measurable ways. The physical weight of these items slow and tire the soldiers through their inevitable daily march. Their specialized equipment (radios, medical gear) represent their responsibility to the rest of the company, a role many of them probably resent because of the draft.

Additionally, the emotional weight creates an air of paranoia, superstition, and personal hindrance throughout the group.