testing myself.. didnt do that great.

[PT945]

I now realize I am out of shape and need to work on my endurance.
I wanted to see how I would fair, in a walk carrying my ghb, it weighs just under 18 pounds. I decided on 5 miles for my walk, because that's about the average distance I am away from home give or take a mile. I also wanted to do this on less than normal sleep and not having eaten breakfast, I did this to give it a SHTF Type twist.
I have never carried my bag on my shoulders its always in the truck .
Here is what I learned from this experience.
1 shoulder fatigue at 2.4 miles, so I need to look into a more comfortable bag.

2 I need to walk more than I have been.

3 hitting someone's dog with an asp is not a good idea if the person is outside. Tell this story later.

4 I didn't get any leg fatiguing. But my hips and glutes burn a little. I was very winded so stopping smoking is on my list.




4.

[Diesel]

Awesome analysis, more people need to do this.. and 18lbs is VERY VERY light

Work on it! :)

[PT945]

Awesome analysis, more people need to do this.. and 18lbs is VERY VERY light

Work on it! :)

Your absolutely correct, that is a light pack. And I too think more people should do this. It really pays to find your weaknesses now not when your life depends on it.

[Brother Bill]

I started a thread not long ago about this same thing. I have a bush bag that comes in at about 10lbs without water and I try to get out at least once a week. I take a small hike and then set up camp to work on skills ie; fire, shelter, knot work. Even with doing that I seem to have put on a few lbs. and the wife and I have started a workout plan..

[Echo2]

I did a 12 miler with the scouts last fall....with a 25 +/- pack....

At first I though I wouldn't make it.....then I was afraid I would.....those kids tried to kill me and the cop we had with us wouldn't do anything about it but laugh.

Very correct on having good straps on your pack.....internal frame is nice....and a belt is the bomb....lets your hips help.

I have taken a small fanny pack and modified it a bit so that I can clip it on the front....to disperse the weight a bit.

The one thing it taught me is....making the hike is a bitch.....and would be more so with the weight of a long gun.

[Diesel]

I'm actually thinking about writing an article on this topic..

Many of us really most, have these incredible robust BOB or INCH packs, loaded to the gills with supplies , which is great! BUT many weigh in 70-120lbs depending.

Alot of people have shouldered these packs, looked in the mirror and said "I'm good to go"

But untill you have walked up your first hill, after 1/4 mile with 100lbs, you have NO CLUE what you have gotten yourself into.

I camp and hike alot, i'm VERY fit muscle wise... but when it comes to cardio that a whole other story.

For grins I grabbed my INCH one weekend to go camping, about 110lbs , 3 mile hike in mostly up hill, and I honestly didn't think I was going to make it. Thoughts of ditching my pack and coming back, thoughts of puking, resting every 5 mins etc..

the moral of this story is USE YOUR GEAR! Practice with your loadout, put it to use. We all have visions of grandeur about SHTF throwing on our BOB, prob grabbing a few other things and hoofing it out, when infact many of us probably can't hike 5-10 miles of Terrain even without a pack.

[PT945]

I did a 12 miler with the scouts last fall....with a 25 +/- pack....

At first I though I wouldn't make it.....then I was afraid I would.....those kids tried to kill me and the cop we had with us wouldn't do anything about it but laugh.

Very correct on having good straps on your pack.....internal frame is nice....and a belt is the bomb....lets your hips help.

I have taken a small fanny pack and modified it a bit so that I can clip it on the front....to disperse the weight a bit.

The one thing it taught me is....making the hike is a bitch.....and would be more so with the weight of a long gun.

I have a nice internal frame pack that weighs in at close to 40 pounds that I've carried about 2 miles to a primitive camp site and I swear it didn't feel as bad as my ghb does.

[PT945]

I'm actually thinking about writing an article on this topic..

Many of us really most, have these incredible robust BOB or INCH packs, loaded to the gills with supplies , which is great! BUT many weigh in 70-120lbs depending.

Alot of people have shouldered these packs, looked in the mirror and said "I'm good to go"

But untill you have walked up your first hill, after 1/4 mile with 100lbs, you have NO CLUE what you have gotten yourself into.

I camp and hike alot, i'm VERY fit muscle wise... but when it comes to cardio that a whole other story.

For grins I grabbed my INCH one weekend to go camping, about 110lbs , 3 mile hike in mostly up hill, and I honestly didn't think I was going to make it. Thoughts of ditching my pack and coming back, thoughts of puking, resting every 5 mins etc..

the moral of this story is USE YOUR GEAR! Practice with your loadout, put it to use. We all have visions of grandeur about SHTF throwing on our BOB, prob grabbing a few other things and hoofing it out, when infact many of us probably can't hike 5-10 miles of Terrain even without a pack.

I need to double my daily walking from 2 to 4 miles up to 4 to 8 empty. And may start doing a once a week walk with my 18 pound bag of 2 miles the progress from there.

[Diesel]

If you really want to do yourself a service load that pack up, add bricks add weight, make that thing weigh 30-40 if you can.

Then when you have to really hike it out with that 18-20 it will be a piece of cake, you will be glad you did it

[Echo2]

My good friend who went into the Marines, Said that a lot of the guys would try to pack light for the hikes...and leave out different "weighty" items.

One of the things that was common to leave behind was a spare of boots.

They went on a 5 mile march with rucks and when they got to the 4 mile mark....the DI said for all to toss their boots in the support vehicle and don the "spare pair".

He said it was about 50/50.....he however had been in the 50% that had left them....but had tossed a set of Teva's in his pack....and was allowed to wear them for the rest of the hike....some of the others were not as fortunate.

Moral is to only cheat when you have a back up to what is needed.

If you want to practice weight wise.....toss a couple...three extra water bags in there.

[PT945]

If you really want to do yourself a service load that pack up, add bricks add weight, make that thing weigh 30-40 if you can.

Then when you have to really hike it out with that 18-20 it will be a piece of cake, you will be glad you did it

Good idea. Double the weight and distance sounds like me new plan.

[Skyowl's Wife]

Double the weight? Go ahead, put 70 lbs on my back. I'll get pulled over backwards and lay with arms and legs waving in the air like a dying cockroach while I try to roll over or sit up.

Suspect this is why SkyOwl has said we'll shelter in place.

Comes from flying a computer for 20+ years.

[PT945]

Double the weight? Go ahead, put 70 lbs on my back. I'll get pulled over backwards and lay with arms and legs waving in the air like a dying cockroach while I try to roll over or sit up.

Suspect this is why SkyOwl has said we'll shelter in place.

Comes from being 60 YO and flying a computer for 20+ years.

Now if you do ever try that PLEASE have SkyOwl video that for us. My initial plans are to stay put but there is always that chance something may happen that forces me to bug out.

[Diesel]

Double the weight? Go ahead, put 70 lbs on my back. I'll get pulled over backwards and lay with arms and legs waving in the air like a dying cockroach while I try to roll over or sit up.

Suspect this is why SkyOwl has said we'll shelter in place.

Comes from flying a computer for 20+ years.

We call that TURTLE

lol, happens to some people more often than you'd think

[Diesel]

Good idea. Double the weight and distance sounds like me new plan.

Awesome, let us know about your progress... I bet this will do wonders for you