Go Ruck?
- Thread starter Tatonka
- Start date
I did one in December 2012. Some policemen who have never served in the military wanted to do one. We didn't have enough people . We had 12 and one of those was too short to reach the log. One quit shortly after we started.He was not a policeman.
It was 1AM and cold. We got soaking wet after being smoked for a little while. The guy walked off saying, "Fuck this!" We covered almost18 miles in 12 hours. For almost half of our ruck, we didn't have a log. We still stopped at certain points and did pushups and stuff like that.We had to do buddy carries. My buddy was 260 pounds. Uphill about60 yards. Four times up and down.
You should have a team weight, an American flag, and a weight provided by the cadre. You will have to cross danger areas, tactically. Or, we did.We did stop a couple of times for short periods and we stopped at a baseball field to drop our log off. Then we low crawled around the bases, wrestled a little, and duckwalked and bearcrawled around the bases. We had to make a litter out of a couple of jackets and some fence poles and carry the big guy I mentioned earlier. Then we picked up some sandbags at a construction site and carried them for a while
While this is going on, the team leader positions will rotate among your team. For civilians who are not used to this type of stuff, it is eye opening. You will have to assemble in formation, do caterpillar pushups, do everything as a team and move as one while carrying your "wounded" etc. Military guys are used to this. Civilians are not. Sometimes it can take a while to get them on the same sheet of music as everyone else.
It was 1AM and cold. We got soaking wet after being smoked for a little while. The guy walked off saying, "Fuck this!" We covered almost18 miles in 12 hours. For almost half of our ruck, we didn't have a log. We still stopped at certain points and did pushups and stuff like that.We had to do buddy carries. My buddy was 260 pounds. Uphill about60 yards. Four times up and down.
You should have a team weight, an American flag, and a weight provided by the cadre. You will have to cross danger areas, tactically. Or, we did.We did stop a couple of times for short periods and we stopped at a baseball field to drop our log off. Then we low crawled around the bases, wrestled a little, and duckwalked and bearcrawled around the bases. We had to make a litter out of a couple of jackets and some fence poles and carry the big guy I mentioned earlier. Then we picked up some sandbags at a construction site and carried them for a while
While this is going on, the team leader positions will rotate among your team. For civilians who are not used to this type of stuff, it is eye opening. You will have to assemble in formation, do caterpillar pushups, do everything as a team and move as one while carrying your "wounded" etc. Military guys are used to this. Civilians are not. Sometimes it can take a while to get them on the same sheet of music as everyone else.
For some reason, I couldn't get everything in my previous post. Anyway, the tasks you perform are missions given to the team. Some will be wounded. You may make litters and you may do firemen carries. Distance carried is up to the cadre. The log carry was to simulate carrying out a crashed predator drone. Sandbag carries were to resupply a position with ammo. I'm sure you are getting the idea now. All the cadre are special operations veterans and all are combat veterans. They try to incorporate tasks from their deployments and they talk about leadership and duty and teamwork during the ruck.
You will have a smoke session after the meet and greet.
We mainly stayed on the streets, sidewalks, and parking lots. We did have a short woodland movement. We all wore running shoes except one guy who wore Vibram Five Fingers. He said later that was a bad idea. We drank beer during and after the ruck. That was due to our cadre. He was a 3rd Group commo guy. We all wound up buying Goruck GR1 rucks buy you can use any ruck you like.You will need some gloves. I used Mechanix gloves and they were fine. I am almost positive you will happen upon a large log or pole that will have to be carried. Amazing how that works out. Since we started at 1AM, we needed headlamps. I lost mine in a large fountain. I am glad I didn't take my Petzl. I took a cheap Walmart light. My sternum strap and bite valve broke and were lost in the parking lot where we were doing the buddy carries. Even though it was cold, I didn't change clothes or socks after getting wet. I kept my toboggan dry and changed gloves. That kep me going. Just have fun and enjoy it. If you don't think you are in shape, go to the Goruck site and check out their PT program. Try to keep up with everybody and keep their spirits up. Make sure everyone takes a turn on the log. We had one guy who didn't want to get under it. He did. Don't be afraid to call somebody out who is not doing their share.
You will have a smoke session after the meet and greet.
We mainly stayed on the streets, sidewalks, and parking lots. We did have a short woodland movement. We all wore running shoes except one guy who wore Vibram Five Fingers. He said later that was a bad idea. We drank beer during and after the ruck. That was due to our cadre. He was a 3rd Group commo guy. We all wound up buying Goruck GR1 rucks buy you can use any ruck you like.You will need some gloves. I used Mechanix gloves and they were fine. I am almost positive you will happen upon a large log or pole that will have to be carried. Amazing how that works out. Since we started at 1AM, we needed headlamps. I lost mine in a large fountain. I am glad I didn't take my Petzl. I took a cheap Walmart light. My sternum strap and bite valve broke and were lost in the parking lot where we were doing the buddy carries. Even though it was cold, I didn't change clothes or socks after getting wet. I kept my toboggan dry and changed gloves. That kep me going. Just have fun and enjoy it. If you don't think you are in shape, go to the Goruck site and check out their PT program. Try to keep up with everybody and keep their spirits up. Make sure everyone takes a turn on the log. We had one guy who didn't want to get under it. He did. Don't be afraid to call somebody out who is not doing their share.
The events may run a little longer than what is advertised. I did the standard challenge, which is what you are doing, I think. Back then advertised as 8-10 hours. Took us about12 to 13. Not exactly sure. If you do it with friends and really participate, don't cop out when you need to carry a team weight or get back on the log, it won't be bad. It is doable. It can be a lot of fun.