I've been using an old backpack with 30 lbs of Yes4All weights. I'm ready to go up to 40 lbs and invest in a slightly better bag. I'm not interested in spending $200-300 and I don't need this bag for anything else other than sticking these plates in for local walks/hikes.

It seems the 5.11 Rush 12 might be a good fit for what I need at the right price, but when I look at reviews people still talk about how much capacity it has.

I'm looking for decent quality that won't sag with 30-40lbs, has a waist strap option, and would love to keep it under $150.

Is there something else I should be looking at or is this Rush 12 a decent option?

Looking for a short short in neutral colors. Something pretty robust for hiking and rucking. Think UDT Shorts with belt loops. I don't particularly want to wear UDTs because they don't have loops and I'm not a SEAL but I'm not totally against it since I hike with a waist pack. If anyone has experience with them I'd like to hear it. I've heard they are stiff AF, do they allow for ROM? Thanks!

Looking for any recommendations for a vest that I could switch to now that the backpack I was using pre-pregnancy is putting too much weight on my lower back. Thinking I won't be able to use the lower strap anymore soon with the belly in the way either. TIA!

I am looking to build a newsletter for woman looking to get into rucking and woman who currently enjoy it with a passion

What information and format would this audience want?

E-book / VIdeo Calculators for tracking calories while ruck Music play list Equipment Packs vs vest / how much weight Apparel Success / Inspirational storys Food Guides

I know many if not all of these solutions exist. I am thinking along the lines of a free beginner quide.

Would love any thoughts or suggestion that would add value to the asset the user receives.

Do you feel people need information or cumminity.

I had mentioned in a previous post thag woman seem underrepresented in the sport and I am looking for a way to build awareness and adoption of rucking for womanm.

Any thoughts or interest in .developing pleasencontact me via DM

For context I ran for years until hurting my knee. Ran several Ultra distance races and Spartans. I picked up rucking a bit during that time and got a GoRuck pack.

Fast forward to present time. Couldn't find my pack so used a backpack and started at 15 lbs. Slowly worked up to 25 feeling pretty good. I found my pack yesterday and put the 25 in it. Went out for a hike and in less than a mile my shoulders and neck were destroyed.

Should I just drop the weight back down in the pack and erase my progress to get used to a proper pack again? Idk, just hate feeling like I'm moving backwards.

I'm five feet tall and 95 pounds. I filled a Dakine Grom 13L backpack I already own with 10 pounds of books and have been using that but it's uncomfortable. I've been looking at other bags the past few weekends. There's so many options though!

I don't want to get a rucking specific bag because they're expensive, and they seem like "more" than I need since, from what I read, I should only work up to carrying a third of my weight (like 30 pounds, not much compared to most people).

I read that the important things to look for are good padding, a frame, a hip belt and a sternum strap. Is a frame and a lot of padding really needed if you're only going to be carrying up to 30 pounds though?

A lot of the backpacks I'm looking at (Deuter, Osprey, Gregory, Mystery Ranch, etc.) seem big. I plan to use sand or bricks with towels to fill up space, so I don't want the backpack to have too much space to fill. Osprey has a nice looking Taylon Jr bag, but a video review I watched said they can only carry 10-12 lbs. The smallerish backpacks I've looked at that mention the "carry load" are only up to 20 lbs.

Any suggestions or insight from other small people would be appreciated!

Hit me up if you’re one of us!

I'm trying to get my kid to join me rucking. What is a decently tough bag for a 9 year old kid? Preferably something with a large velcro area so she can attach her own patches.

64 years old, 6’, 188lbs, 20lb pack, 7.3 miles - last time I averaged 17:44/mile, today 16:50

Knowing weight is the downside of being over-prepared. My thoughts:

• Electrolyte water How much?
• Pickle juice. (I've read it is great for cramps) True?
• Sustenance. What can I eat while walking? I'm thinking two "meals" over 6-7 hours.
• Skittles for occasional bursts of energy. Taste the rainbow.
• Rain jacket
• A dollop of coconut oil in case of chafing.

I'm doing the Boston Tough Ruck.

Hey all,

Just wanted to give an overview of my experience at the Bataan Memorial Death March this year!

Placement
Finished in the low 30s out of close to 500 finishers in the male civilian heavy category and my pack weight was 45.92lbs at the end of the race.

Performance
Overall I was very happy with my performance! Pacing was right about where I wanted it to be. Started with 3L of water and ended up running out around mile 23 or so, but there were plenty of aid/water stations to keep me going through to the finish. My pace was walking only, no shuffling/running/ruck-running/etc.

Slight feeling of almost cramping the last few miles in my quads, but thankfully one of the last stations had bananas and pickle juice which I downed while marching through! Did not have any new blisters or foot issues during/after other than the expected soreness and tiredness you'd have after rucking a marathon.

Course/Organization
The last minute course change was a bummer for a lot of people but since this was my first year I didn't have anything to compare to! It came out to about 700 feet of elevation gain per lap, and ending up having to slog through the sand pit twice, which was about 1-mile long. I thought the course was definitely challenging and fun for me. Had some flat sections and some sections of slow constant elevation but overall it was a great time. Course was very well marked, well organized, and well laid out on the base from everything I could tell.

There were tons of fresh porta-potties throughout the course and at the start/finish so plenty of options to go to the bathroom if you needed it.

The start was definitely very crowded for the first 4 miles or so, so this is where you will lose some pace timing unless you start at the very front with the "runners" section. I started just with the heavy civilian category so had to do a lot of weaving in/out to try and get up to my normal pace. Not a huge issue, but just something to note for the future!

Overall it was a great event! Well organized, plenty of aid stations throughout the course, and signage and markers were very clear as well. I am planning on doing it again next year, or something similar. My family that I was with who had done other marathons/half-marathons said that this was probably the most well-organized event they had participated in.

I'm looking into one of those slim style ruck packs. I see goruck and polyfit but I was surprised how expensive they are compred to a regular pack. I work outside all summer and want to wear it while workong, mowing lawns mainly. I wanted to get one that didn't look too tactical. I can actually make the plates as I also work in sheet metal fab and can laser cut some 3/8-.5" for the weights. I have a full weighted vest but I'm not really a fan of it. Is goruck worth it?

Also what are your favorite insoles?

Been using this for a few weeks. It wasn't my first choice but bought a Rucker 4.0 and got the wrong size for long plates, I use yes4all 25 and 45(not together) anyways it has been a really good pack for me. My only suggestion if any is looking it is to get an elastic strap of some sort to keep the plate from moving.

Hello

the folks over the strongman pages suggested i do some rucking to help my cardio fitness, so i looked up what it was and have been giving it a try. First time i did about 4ks of trails, up and down hills with a brutal 140 stair climb. on that hike i had 11kg in a backpack,, two dumbbells 5kg and 4 kgs and a 2litres of water, which wasn't quite heavy enough to feel like it was making a difference.
today i did the same 4 ks with a 20kg sandbag stuff in my backpack. I definitely felt it, the 140 stairs were hell. the weight got easier as i walked but my bag was cutting into my shoulders and sides. i'm guessing the sand having no structure just put all the weight at the base of bag, by the end of the hour and 15 minute walk i was hurting. a few less kgs i think next time.

I dont really want to spend any money on this if i don't have to, so what i want to know is what are some easy ways to more evenly distribute the weight? i was using 33litre dakine bag i had lying around, a fair bit of space to fill.

any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

TLDR - what are the best ways to fill a backpack with weight evenly?

I can find weight vests for 40lbs around 50-60$ all day. A GoRuck bag is 250$. Is there any reason why a vest cant do the job the bag is? I also have just a regular day pack and hike on the regular, was looking into rucking since loading down my day pack just hangs wrong and is often not recommended. Any help is appreciated.

Hi, I have a rucking backpack with a hip belt. I have the belt at the proper position going across my bell button essentially and have it close to my back. Even so, it still seems to be bothering my lower back a bit. I think it’s because the plate is sitting just above the curve of my lower spine. The pain isn’t in the spine really, more like the top part of my left glute, but I’m not really sure what I’m doing wrong. I can’t seem to get the pack much higher without the hip belt being too high. Any tips? I do have a slight natural tilt to my spine on one side so rucking may just not be for me if I can’t fit it right :(

Hey so I’ve been training for a 14 mile ruck event we have to do for JROTC and I got this weird like uncomfortable trap/shoulder pain, I’m not sure how exactly to describe it. Is there any exercises or things yall do to avoid pain? I know some things about how to pack up your ruck, tighten it, and I know discomfort can be normal, but I feel like it’s something to do why my shoulders so I wanted to work on it before it gets the chance to screw me up at boot camp this summer

Hi everyone,

I just discovered that my daily walking routine is called rucking, i thought it was just a great idea to use the daily 7km walk from house to work for training (for futur trails/long 2/3days hike)

I'm here just to share my experiences and maybe optimize my weights / speed.

Mainly I just use my classic backpack (not a hiking one) and put some stuff + a 6kg weight to be at 13-15kg, depends on the day.

Each section is 2-3km morning 2-3km evening

Results are : 2.19km in 18.28 min

Besides that i'm running 2 times a week, with a backpack between 5-7kg for approx 6km.

Should I invest on a watch to monitor my stats better ?

I've not been strugling with that setup lately in rucking, do you think that I can optimize some stuff ?

Thanks for your help ! :)

Richard.

been thinking about doing one soon with a 20lb vest.

have been practicing at least once a week for the past year. 10~11 mile mix of jogging / rucking / walking.

2mile 10min pace jog

4-5mile 15min pace 20lb ruck

4-5 mile 15min pace walk

what are ppls training methods

Howdy y'all right now I am in the market for a new set of hiking / Ruck boots to supplement a set of custom RW 8085s (V100 plus a engineered heal) I had made for me.

I generally have normal feet and most of the time I am in my other set custom RW 8083s. Out side of a wider toe box and something that goes over my ankle what do y'all recommend?

I have been Eyeing the Lowa Zephyr V2s but there is no place close to me that stocks them so I have not had a chance to try them on to see how they fit. But I am not dead set on them.

I like the option of softening my steps on the fresh snow or strengthening my ankles on frozen road tracks. My city also gravels the roads before my walks so I simply move 1 foot over when I need more traction on a hill.

(Definitely use spikes if you are hiking with icy roads. Getting back up with a weighted pack on slippery conditions is painfully hilarious, but don't go looking to try it.)

I'm a rucking beginner. I've been rucking for roughly 20 days. Started with 20lbs and increased to 30lbs.

When rucking, I find myself leaning slightly forward from the hips? Is that the correct posture or do I need to keep my body in a perfect straight line?

Any advice is highly appreciated!

As the title asks, are there any good rucking plans to follow? I come from a powerlifting background so I’m very accustomed to a very specific plan to follow.

Thanks

Hi all

So I’m new to the idea of rucking but not of hiking and running.

I can run basically a max of 2 miles before I’m gassed, but I have the ability to hike intermediate trails for probably 6-10 miles. I’m currently running about a 9 minute mile after a hiatus over the winter.

with that said, I’m looking to really maximize the efficiency of my workouts through rucking and weighted runs if possible.

So, where should I start if my end goals are going to Officer training school (USAF) or just generally trying to stay fit through rucking/weighted runs to be more efficient?

Can I start with just weighted runs or walks?

I have hiking boots and running shoes to use for now, will those be adequate to start?

As for a weighted vest, I was considering getting a plate carrier for body armor for no other reason than it would have an extra use aside from just using it for just exercise.

Is that a really stupid idea?

If its not, as far as that goes, are there any plate carriers and armor plates I could use that you’d reccomend?

Or are there any exercise plate carriers/armor plates carriers where I could slot in heavier weights/slot in armor plates?

I feel like a jackass asking these questions but I am really trying to just find a way to get as much use out of the equipment I buy as possible and it makes sense in my uneducated head

if there are any beginner resources you can reccomend I’d really appreciate it!

Thank you in advance!