Posted: 7/23/2013 9:06:54 AM EDT
Four of us are going to do an overnight in a fairly remote area soon. My b.o.b. is full of extras and doubles as a camping pack. I am using a Maxpedition Vulture, with three extra pouches strapped on. One has health and hygiene items, one has fishing gear, and one holds a nalgene bottle. This bag holds a LOT of gear. 
All four of us are middle aged, and are not in the best of shape.  . I'm hoping that this little jaunt will be a wake up call to all of us to focus on our physical fitness. I enjoy taking brisk walks, usually about 3 miles, and the last few trips I have carried my pack. This morning, I did 4 miles in the humid late morning heat, with no problem.
If I were to have to b.o. on foot for real, I would have to walk about 45 miles. This trip is only going to be about 1/3 of that. Pics of trip and list of gear to come. 
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Just a tip. I'm well over 50 and backpack a lot. Just take the essentials, dump the "extras". You'll have a much more enjoyable trip with a lighter pack. I don't think I've ever heard someone say that they wished they were carrying another 10 lbs of crap with them.
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Quoted: Just a tip. I'm well over 50 and backpack a lot. Just take the essentials, dump the "extras". You'll have a much more enjoyable trip with a lighter pack. I don't think I've ever heard someone say that they wished they were carrying another 10 lbs of crap with them. ^ Good advice here. I'm 23 and hike backpack frequently. I'd dump all the fishing gear, doubles, extras and replace them with chow and h20. I don't have much water in my AO so it's the majority of weight in my pack. |
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Well, the good thing is our area is full of creeks, rivers, lakes, ponds, and swamps. I have three days worth of food, Nalgene bottle and a hiker pro water filter. Gsi outdoors halulite micro dualist, ENO double nest with atlas straps, poncho liner, folding shovel, headlamp, paracord, handful of bic lighters, dryer lint, socks, boxers, gloves, wool hat, handheld flashlight, pen, sharpie, roll of tp, small pack of wet wipes, extra shirt, a tarp from Thereisnospoon, compass, extra batteries, two extra pistol mags. I'm just going from memory, but that is about it. My pistol and multi tool are on my hip. I doubt it will get below 55 degrees at night this weekend, so the poncho liner is just insurance.
I say middle age, but we range from about 38-50+. The fishing gear is a Pennrod, and its just a small box with a few lures. Worth it because of all the water around. 
I finally weighed my pack, 29.2 lbs. I'm 6'1", 250, so that is not a heavy pack for me. 
When we get back, I will add an AAR. |
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So I have a friend who lives down the road a bit, who runs a fitness camp, three mornings a week through July for his kids and others by invitation. Kind of a pre pre-season for football season. I dropped my son off, came home, rucked up, and planned on walking back to his house. My wife was going to pick us both up. I knew I had to hurry, because it goes from 6a - 8a. I left my house at 0615hrs and hustled down the road. I even double-timed it for a few stretches. I walked into his yard at 0805 hrs.
Seven. Point. One. Miles. Woot! Not bad for a 40 year old fatass, huh?
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Quoted:
I knew I had to hurry, because it goes from 6a - 8a. I left my house at 0615hrs and hustled down the road. I even double-timed it for a few stretches. I walked into his yard at 0805 hrs. Seven. Point. One. Miles. Woot! Not bad for a 40 year old fatass, huh? That's excellent, just under 16 minutes a mile. I haven't had to do a road march in years and you have to maintain a 15-minute mile for 12 miles, but we do a lot of backpacking...usually shorter trips 20-50 miles on the AT (and a much leisurely pace). I can average about 12-15 miles a day for several days, but I can stretch it out depending on the trail conditions and elevation changes. Do make sure to take notes and post your AAR. The best way to refine is through experience and lessons learned! ROCK6 |
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Seriously. Hiking long distances with any wieight is difficult
I'm climbing 14 k high mountains and all I can carry is a cliff bar or two and 4 l of water. My trusty Kirku backpack is too heavy and my sleeping bag 1.2 lbs is a haul. My dreams of being a mountain man , carrying an ar and 1500 rounds have come to a end. Heck my single item binoculars -1.9 lb is a real hassle So unless you take an entire six months a plan to fight in Afghanistan and train for it don't expect to do well at this prep. Its easy to get discouraged. Try cutting the load minus food and water to 3-4 pounds starting out. Results will ferry depending on physical fitness |
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Quoted:
That's excellent, just under 16 minutes a mile. I haven't had to do a road march in years and you have to maintain a 15-minute mile for 12 miles, but we do a lot of backpacking...usually shorter trips 20-50 miles on the AT (and a much leisurely pace). I can average about 12-15 miles a day for several days, but I can stretch it out depending on the trail conditions and elevation changes. Do make sure to take notes and post your AAR. The best way to refine is through experience and lessons learned! ROCK6 Quoted:
Quoted:
I knew I had to hurry, because it goes from 6a - 8a. I left my house at 0615hrs and hustled down the road. I even double-timed it for a few stretches. I walked into his yard at 0805 hrs. Seven. Point. One. Miles. Woot! Not bad for a 40 year old fatass, huh? That's excellent, just under 16 minutes a mile. I haven't had to do a road march in years and you have to maintain a 15-minute mile for 12 miles, but we do a lot of backpacking...usually shorter trips 20-50 miles on the AT (and a much leisurely pace). I can average about 12-15 miles a day for several days, but I can stretch it out depending on the trail conditions and elevation changes. Do make sure to take notes and post your AAR. The best way to refine is through experience and lessons learned! ROCK6 Motivation helps. The fastest part of my 2nd longest hike was after realizing I wouldn't make it back home if they closed the park gates before I got there! (That was after puking from going up and down a mountain too quick!) |
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30 lbs is ideal for your size, weight, etc. figure in a real SHTF you'd have a rifle and pistol + ammo for another 10-15 lbs. and you're set.
Before you go, visualize each stage of the campout. OK...you've just walked 10 miles and are developing a blister.... have you duct tape? Perhaps you should have pre-treated your skin....dry socks for tomorrow? You reached camp. No water. Do you have enough until tomorrow? You're 3 miles from where you want to stop and a huge thunder storm rolls through...can you set up a tarp/poncho shelter quickly? You've made it, lit a fire, cooked your dinner, boiled water for tomorrow's breakfast and coffee and cleaned up. Now....have you a change of clothes, soap for hands, towel, wet wipes, bed roll and something to keep comfortable? Doing these little exercises helps you see what you might need before you need it. |
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Quoted:
30 lbs is ideal for your size, weight, etc. figure in a real SHTF you'd have a rifle and pistol + ammo for another 10-15 lbs. and you're set. I forgot to mention that a hip belt is really recommended if you aren't using one. Anything over 20 pounds will really strain your shoulders and back...putting the majority of weight on your hips will allow you to go further, longer with a lot less fatigue. ROCK6 |
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Well, this trip did not turn out to be what I expected it to be. First off, we didn't all use our b.o.b.s. one guy used a different, larger framed pack for camping. One guy used an EDC bag, a Targus book bag type. I knew we were getting away from the original idea when we drove to our planned camping location the night before and stashed a cooler of beer on ice in the woods.
So we started off at about 0930hrs, and it was a fine morning. After drinking a quart of water, I filtered some pond water and drank a quart of that throughout the morning. Fine and good. Ripped open a vacuum sealed pouch of trail mix for lunch at about 5.5 miles. Along the route we saw herons, a young red fox, frogs, toads, and plenty of deer tracks and coyote tracks. At mile 8 we were all getting pretty warm, so we took a break. When we started rucking up again, one guy felt really weak and lightheaded. We gave him some more time, but he wasn't feeling any better. After a while, we knew we were done, we didn't want to turn a small issue into a large issue. Me and another guy walked another two miles and ran into a couple on four wheelers who went and found our other two friends and brought them back to camp. With everyone feeling pretty tired, we ditched the idea of sleeping in the woods, retrieved the beer, and drank our faces off. . It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as we had some pretty serious thunderstorms roll in that night.
I was not sore the next morning, and could have gone hiking again if it wasn't for the hangover. 
If I can find my USB cord, I can include some pics. |