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hey guys, i dont post much on here normally just read, one quick question though.

i know you do carry alot of weight on your backs while training and serving, but how much are we actually talking?

any responce would be greatly appreaciated thanks,


oh and any body in the swansea area up for training let me know
thanks

A genral rule of thumb would be between 55 and 69lb, (even more in Norway)a bergan is nothing more than luxuries, (travel light, freeze at night!). If you are thinking about doing load carries before you start training dont bother you will trash yourself. I was in hospital just over a year ago for an illness i was suffering from at the time , they had to x-ray my lower back and they noticed the base of my spine was irregulary worn funny old thing.

thanks for the quick reply shrek,
no i have no intention on doing load carries befor rt iv read plenty of posts on here with reasons why not to, it was just a question that was in my head an' kind of bugging me.
thanks again

im_guna_get_there wrote:thanks for the quick reply shrek,
no i have no intention on doing load carries befor rt iv read plenty of posts on here with reasons why not to, it was just a question that was in my head an' kind of bugging me.
thanks again

if you wanted to do anything just go up in the hills and take a small day sack with emergency essentials

Full marching order is 69lbs + rifle / GPMG etc depending on how lucky you are.

Though it's important to get your legs and core strong enough to load carry it's not a good idea to do this by load carrying if you get me.

Just a quick one, obviously 69Ibs is what you're carrying in training for yomps basically, where all you have to do is keep in stop and mong out, which most people can cope with. However, when you are away in afgan or wherever, weights increase dramatically. My webbing weighed around 35-40Ibs plus other bits and bobs e.g. extra link for the gun, mortars and throw away anti tank launchers etc. so you are looking at about 45-50Ibs+ to fight in plus other bits of mission essential kit which some poor sod has to carry, so some lads are trying to leg it round and fight in 70Ibs of gear! I just found the weights in training a bit misleading, especially legging it round in the field with just 4 blank mags and a smoke grenade and assuming it was the same (if a little heavier) for real!

cheers guys, i'v got to say this site never seems to fail when a question is asked

and with that sort of weight i might aswell run around with the misses on my back all day... minus the constant bitching lol

Later exercises I found you would be carrying a hell of alot in some circumstances, if you get pinged for a radio and you're in manoevre support so you get more link then you can shake a stick at and about 4 days worth of scran.

Dont start me off, i had 12 full mags, bandeliers, water, 2 HE, in my webbing plus Phos and all the other bits and bobs that go with it, i also had my trusty 9mm, leg pouches, (If i was carrying the GPMG i would have 100 on the gun, 800 link plus 2x 51 HE in my gay sack) osprey vest, not ECBA you try fire manovering or clearing buildings in that shite! Keeps you warm on cold nights though. profs and dips.

In the old days i used to man pack MILAN as well, it was so heavy that it once broke the straps on my bergan. My point being i hate it when lads drip about yomping. (you have never yomped untill you carry a tankies bergan!), then you can come and drip.

We were always being quickly out flanked by Taliban, in their rig. I would rather be lighter on my feet ditch the osprey at least, neggers helmet and take my chances. Some may think thats fool hardy, how ever our predessors never had all this crap to wear, its a real hang out to move in it never mind fight, and very uncomftable. (I am sure Medics would disagrea with that statement as well.)

What sort of exercises can you do to improve how stong your core will be at carrying loads?

maritime_marine wrote:What sort of exercises can you do to improve how stong your core will be at carrying loads?

Lower Back ( Obviously other muscle groups are used with some of the following exercises ) -
Squats, Deadlifts, Back Extensions, Hyper Extentions, Good Mornings.

Obliques -
Side Bends, Side Plank, Russian Twists.

Abdominal / Transverse Abdominals
Plank ( variations ), Ab Wheel Roll outs, Stability Ball work plus the usual suspects.

Rich.

maritime_marine wrote:What sort of exercises can you do to improve how stong your core will be at carrying loads?

Yomping is about putting up with the discomfort. It never gets pleasant.

You get better by learning to switch off from the pain.

The only thing that I've found that helps is strengthening my chest. I'm a bigger than average bloke but I've found that building my chest up a bit more means I can counter the straps pulling my shoulders back.

All a bit gay really, just gotta put up with it.

Greg.