RFI: his n her’s ruck pack/plate combo

[Totem Polar]

Right up front, I appreciate everyone chiming in on all my questions of late, the feedback has been excellent. With a mandatory summer off from the aggressive festival schedule of the last 20 years, and a wife bouncing back from a fluke health scare, this is the time for us to be outside getting exercise and forest baths.

We’ve been going out for 3 milers most evenings, with me wearing a borrowed pack with a full 50 cal can in the radio pouch, and, aside from regularly barfing up a lung on several flights of outdoor stairs between hilled neighborhoods, it’s been pretty easy getting back in shape.

We are looking to get a matching set of rucks, with plates appropriate to each of us, to keep things rolling, 3-season. Again, I don’t know what I don’t know. Is the goruck set up the G19 of rucking packs, or is there something else to look at?

Folks here have steered me right on bears, trekking poles, socks... even stripped lowers and instapots... may as well keep mining.

Thanks in advance, ruckers.

[Cookie Monster]

I used to ruck with a Mystery Ranch load pack and simplified to just rucking with my wildland fire pack. It’s the reason I am rucking to lower the suck when I am on fires.

The weight on wildland fire packs are low so I wouldn’t recommend it.

What weight do you want to ruck? Amount?

I have been looking at the Go Ruck Rucker and the Speed Ruck. I think I want to be able to run the 45 lb plate so I will go with the Rucker. I’d like to have a pack that is ready to ruck instead of pulling the plate in and out of my fire bag.

Make sure to get a sternum strap and hip belt, I love those but my background is backpacking and the Go Ruck design comes from military where they don’t like those things. Thinking about this depending on the weight, an basic pack from REI might fit the bill.

I’ll be following the thread. I think you might want to ruck with what you got for a little while but change out to duct taped bag of sand instead of the ammo can.

I do really like the Go Ruck Ruck Plates I got. I actually got an extra 20lb one I could part with.

[kilo sierra]

If I understand your question, you want suggestions on how to carry weight while you hike/walk?

If so...My routine is to use bags of gravel from Lowes tied down on the meat shelf of a rigid external backpack frame.

These gravel bags come in 60lb units. I empty them into a 5gal bucket to approximately 1/2 and lash it to my packframe with para cord. The external frame is adjusted to fit my torso and helps to keep the weight from shifting as I encounter sidehilling, and zigzagging up inclines and down declines. After 10 days or so I increase the weight unscientifically, double handed scoops from the 5 gal bucket of gravel into the bag tied to my frame.

I do this in my somewhat hilly paved subdivision.

After 6 weeks of this, 4-5 times a week, I am feeling pretty confident carrying weight. Then I add a 4' section of 1/2" ID galvanized pipe with sand in it, capped, and carry that also. It simulates carrying weight and a rifle, and doesn't get the anti hunting snowflakes bent. It also helps me recondition my wrists and hands for walking around all day with a rifle. The last week - 10 days or so of this at max weight is an asskicker, and I have to slower and deliberate or I just hurt myself in some arbitrary way, which defeats the purpose.

8-10 weeks of this routine gets GrandPa ready to roll...The gradual build up really helps me condition my feet, ankles, knees, back, and shoulders...My circuit is about three miles in length.

In actual field conditions I do not regularly carry that much weight unless we are packing meat out. My days of 12+ mile backpack hunts are long past. This is just what I do specifically to get ready for opening day after the snow melts.

BTW...AllOutdoors.com has a really nice selection of Ruck type packs, very high quality, and expensive. They also have a training system that utilizes weightlifting plates on a external rigid frame. What I use is merely what I already have.

Keep at it.

[Flamingo]

I have a set of the goruck plates, 20 and 30 pound ones. I did not buy their pack though. I like to have a waist belt for when I am rucking. I have used several older Kifaru packs to ruck with and I really liked them, but I have a backpack fetish.

My current pack is a Hill people gear Umilindi with the recon belt. It is one of my favorites. My current longest ruck is 35 miles in a little over 12 hours. I had the 20 pound plate, some easy to eat snacks, and a water bladder that I could refill pretty easily.

Titan fitness makes ruck plates as well. They are about half the price of the titan plates. The goruck plates used to be made in the US, but I am not sure if they still are.

[Totem Polar]

I used to ruck with a Mystery Ranch load pack and simplified to just rucking with my wildland fire pack. It’s the reason I am rucking to lower the suck when I am on fires.

The weight on wildland fire packs are low so I wouldn’t recommend it.

What weight do you want to ruck? Amount?

I have been looking at the Go Ruck Rucker and the Speed Ruck. I think I want to be able to run the 45 lb plate so I will go with the Rucker. I’d like to have a pack that is ready to ruck instead of pulling the plate in and out of my fire bag.

Make sure to get a sternum strap and hip belt, I love those but my background is backpacking and the Go Ruck design comes from military where they don’t like those things. Thinking about this depending on the weight, an basic pack from REI might fit the bill.

I’ll be following the thread. I think you might want to ruck with what you got for a little while but change out to duct taped bag of sand instead of the ammo can.

I do really like the Go Ruck Ruck Plates I got. I actually got an extra 20lb one I could part with.

20 might be the ticket for my wife. I’m thinking of doing it your way with dedicated bags and just sticking with 45. I don’t do this stuff for a profession; fitness only. The mil-surp alice deal I borrowed has hip belt/sternum strap, and I’m with whomever it was Here that said hip belt above 40-ish. I did a little over 5k with +/-32 and just the shoulder straps at one point, and survived just fine, but I don’t have the shoulders to do much more than that.

[Bratch]

We have a pair of Rucker’s that we are happy with, for straight rucking and not doing calisthenics we just ordered ruck plates on Amazon. Much much cheaper than Go Ruck plates, fit in the plate holder but don’t secure in place. No big deal walking but may want to be able to shut the holder for burpees, bear crawls etc.

[Crews]

I’ve got a GR1. While it’s an amazing backpack, I did a 3 mile hike with a 30# plate and won’t ever do it again. The plate was extremely secure in the laptop compartment. Carrying the weight was a great workout, but to hell with that shoulder pressure. It was not fun; that much weight needs to be sitting on hips. Call me a sissy if you’d like. In response I got a Speed Rucker with hip belt. Can’t tell you how it would have done with the added hip belt; the pack felt super cheesy and cheap compared to my American made GR1. I returned it.

I think 30# is a good weight for the average male, but it needs to be totes in a proper weight bearing pack.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[whomever]

Disclaimer: I'm a cut-the-toothbrush-in-half kind of backpacker, with the biases that entails.

If the objective is to carry weight for conditioning, my first thought is 'whatever is cheap'.

If the objective is to have a pack, carry weight for conditioning, and maybe on short trips as well, then maybe:

https://www.rei.com/product/148590/r...45-pack-womens

Note: I have never seen this in the flesh. The better half and I have carried the ancestors of this many happy miles. Ours are decent packs, reasonably cheap, and reasonably light. Unless they have effed it up badly since we bought ours, 47 liters/2 lbs 9.5oz/$79.49 sounds pretty sweet.

As with shoes, what works for one person might not work for someone else.

We could be be sweet talked into loaning a pack for a while; we have a stable of 'em. If your better half carries one for a few weeks, she will be better equipped to head to the store and try several on.

[vcdgrips]

When I was training for Philmont in 2014, i used milk/juice jugs and 2 liter soda bottles filed with water.
I put an old Walmart sleeping bag (3lbs) into the bottom of the pack I was going to be using (5lbs) and 3-4 gallons of water containers (24-32lbs) on top, cinched everything down and hiked 5 miles in 1:15 a few times a week plus some hill work (such as they are here) and a longer hike every weekish.

I had zero cost in the “weights” and could dump almost all my weight if I had to.
GJM gave me that trick re weight (and a few others as well.)

My go to rec from backpacks tends to be Osprey as they are guaranteed for life with no ya ya from the company.

[Bratch]

When I was training for Philmont in 2014, i used milk/juice jugs and 2 liter soda bottles filed with water.
I put an old Walmart sleeping bag (3lbs) into the bottom of the pack I was going to be using (5lbs) and 3-4 gallons of water containers (24-32lbs) on top, cinched everything down and hiked 5 miles in 1:15 a few times a week plus some hill work (such as they are here) and a longer hike every weekish.

I had zero cost in the “weights” and could dump almost all my weight if I had to.
GJM gave me that trick re weight (and a few others as well.)

My go to rec from backpacks tends to be Osprey as they are guaranteed for life with no ya ya from the company.

I did this while prepping for the Grand Canyon and the Tetons and it works. However the simplicity of the Rucker with a 20-30# plate that lives in it and can sit on the shelf and grab and go has been super nice. Prepping for a backpacking trip I’d want to weight my actual pack to get in miles. But for general fitness a dedicated Ruck is nice if funding allows it. We’ve also wore the Rucker to the zoo and around town with no second glances, a full pack may look a little more out of place.