After going nearly a year unable to walk unaided due to a bad injury, I'm working very hard to get back to my pre-injury fitness level. One thing I've since learned through rehab, for every 1-pound of extra weight you haul up into the mountains, you will add about 4-pounds of extra weight and stress onto your knee joint. I've read studies that indicate this weight can be further aplified during times of jumping and running to equate to as much as 8-pounds of extra weight on your knee joint for every 1-pound of added gear. Just using the static numbers, a person who reduced their gear weight by 10-pounds would be subject to a total of 48,000 less pounds of pressure and stress on the knee joint for every mile hiked.
I really didn't care before, but now I look at my rifles like I look at a good pack or a good pair of boots. I want the rifle to perform as needed, but I do not want the rifle to weigh more in unnecessary extra pounds if it is not needed for the task at hand. Too many good choices in rifles today without having to resort to humping a lead pipe all over the mountains.
Best
Last edited by GaryVA; 09/07/11.
�I've never met a genius. A genius to me is someone who does well at something he hates. Anybody can do well at something he loves -- it's just a question of finding the subject.�
