Well, we are all back from the August FTX. There were 10 of us in all including some visitors from out of state. Myself, Impact, Tire Iron, Lugnut, Correia, Riz, Strat, Different and his wife, and Penguin. All in all the initial feedback was positive on the weekend.
There were several learning experiences. First, humping around the neighborhood with 80lbs means you will be able to do 50lbs in our AO. The steep and unstable terrain play hell on your hips and legs joints when humping even a light load.
Second, the selection of good gear makes all the difference in the world. Impact had some major gear failures with the standard GI 782 gear. Also making sure you have a good pack and pack it correctly is a big issue. I did not take the big pack out this time, I used my smaller German pack. It looks like my big pack will now be regulated to long term mounted use, and cold weather ops. More on the mounted ops later.
Third, Water and bringing enough of it can not be stressed enough. We had a close call on Saturday as a team ran out of water during a patrol. You have to make sure you have enough water with you when you leave your ruck at the LUP. Water is heavy, but without it you WILL die. Getting a few canteens and a Camel Bak of some kind is not an option, it is mandatory if you want to survive. The CB allows you to hydrate over a long period of time instead of pounding down water when you take a break. You can re-fill from the cateens until you get back to the LUP. Also on the same note, electrolites are also a MUST HAVE. Getting a canteen full and sipping from it on breaks will dramaticly improve your condition over the course of the day. By drinking only water you do not get the other things the body needs, and it can kill you.
Fourth, distances can be very deceptive in these foot hills. Getting a good map and orientating yourself as you move is a very good idea.
Fifth, walking sucks, especially under a heavy load. We covered between 25-30 miles by my calculations over the three days. Most of it was up very steep grades. No way to get around alot of it, but the hike in could have greatly improved our condition later on if we had trucked in. But we would not have gained some very valuable info about the AO. That said, moving to the AO and around the AO by vehicle can greatly improve your effectiveness and extend your range of operation. If your AO permits, I highly recommend getting an ATV or SUV that you can use for off-road and troop movements. It also allows you to also carry much more in the way of supplies and as we learned, can be used to evacuate casualties to safety. Next year we will work on operating from a mobile platform. We saw many ATV's while out there, and when being operated in a rational manner, they can get VERY close to you before you know they are there.
I had a great time and hope everyone else is hurting as bad as I am 8^). I look forward to everyones comments. If you did not make this one, you really need to get out in the field for a weekend with someone who knows what they are doing and put yourself and your gear thru it's paces. If you have not done this a good bit, I promise you, you will learn alot from the experience. And there is no substitue for field experience.
There were several learning experiences. First, humping around the neighborhood with 80lbs means you will be able to do 50lbs in our AO. The steep and unstable terrain play hell on your hips and legs joints when humping even a light load.
Second, the selection of good gear makes all the difference in the world. Impact had some major gear failures with the standard GI 782 gear. Also making sure you have a good pack and pack it correctly is a big issue. I did not take the big pack out this time, I used my smaller German pack. It looks like my big pack will now be regulated to long term mounted use, and cold weather ops. More on the mounted ops later.
Third, Water and bringing enough of it can not be stressed enough. We had a close call on Saturday as a team ran out of water during a patrol. You have to make sure you have enough water with you when you leave your ruck at the LUP. Water is heavy, but without it you WILL die. Getting a few canteens and a Camel Bak of some kind is not an option, it is mandatory if you want to survive. The CB allows you to hydrate over a long period of time instead of pounding down water when you take a break. You can re-fill from the cateens until you get back to the LUP. Also on the same note, electrolites are also a MUST HAVE. Getting a canteen full and sipping from it on breaks will dramaticly improve your condition over the course of the day. By drinking only water you do not get the other things the body needs, and it can kill you.
Fourth, distances can be very deceptive in these foot hills. Getting a good map and orientating yourself as you move is a very good idea.
Fifth, walking sucks, especially under a heavy load. We covered between 25-30 miles by my calculations over the three days. Most of it was up very steep grades. No way to get around alot of it, but the hike in could have greatly improved our condition later on if we had trucked in. But we would not have gained some very valuable info about the AO. That said, moving to the AO and around the AO by vehicle can greatly improve your effectiveness and extend your range of operation. If your AO permits, I highly recommend getting an ATV or SUV that you can use for off-road and troop movements. It also allows you to also carry much more in the way of supplies and as we learned, can be used to evacuate casualties to safety. Next year we will work on operating from a mobile platform. We saw many ATV's while out there, and when being operated in a rational manner, they can get VERY close to you before you know they are there.
I had a great time and hope everyone else is hurting as bad as I am 8^). I look forward to everyones comments. If you did not make this one, you really need to get out in the field for a weekend with someone who knows what they are doing and put yourself and your gear thru it's paces. If you have not done this a good bit, I promise you, you will learn alot from the experience. And there is no substitue for field experience.