I have previously run my tyres softer but then had a few punctures and you do go faster if pumped up hard!
Perhaps disingenuously, you don’t, especially offroad.
Big tyre, lower pressure, supple sidewall = faster and more comfy.
Even the roadies are waking up to this, high pressures and skinny tyres are only faster on super smooth surfaces (ie: the track and/or VERY smooth tarmac)
If you’re getting penetration punctures then that was likely co-incidence rather than lower pressure that caused it, if you pinch puncturing then look into tubeless, or riding smoother 😉
Just out of interest what pressures are you running them at, and how much do you weigh?
For ref, with my onroad/offroad/tourer thing, with a 77kg me on top, runs 38mm tyres 35/45PSI when unloaded, and 40/50 when I have all 4 panniers on or the trailer attached. Only had one puncture in the last 1000 miles and that was when I rode into a pointy rock in a quarry, at speed, with 20kg in the panniers, so entirely deserved I think.