Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Backpack Training Weight

Wow. So much help. Thanks fellers.

R/R plate works pretty good probably about 30lbs

I use a bag of salt for my water softener. I wrap it in a heavy duty trash bag and tape it shut. Works great inside my pack bag.

For training muscular endurance I will choose a 30-40 degree slope and carry 40 lbs of water ballast.

For overall fitness I will load 25lbs of water ballast and do much longer hikes with angles <20 degrees.

I place an old down bag in the bottom of the pack and use 1 gal. rectangular bottles. I choose up and back routes and dump the water ballast at the top to save my knees on the descent. Descending w/ a light pack will allow you to jog or move faster when terrain allows, this helps to keep your heart rate higher and gives a longer cardio workout.

Long days on your feet w/ your hunting [not pack out] load will toughen your feet and work the accessory muscles as well as build cardio endurance. If you intend to hunt all day on your feet it is best to train for that and doing so lets you honestly test all your gear.

mike r

That'd work, that's what my wife uses.

Thanks for the LOLs and the helpful advice.

I have no problem finding weight to pack, what I inartfully asked was more about achieving a realistic backpack density and distribution. I’m lined out now. 👍

But what about the boots? And how about the rifle?

Boots in the other thread. Rifle GTG.

Sack of dog food

5# dumbbells wrapped in bubble wrap work pretty well and allow you to center the mass effectively.

I've tried water, dog food, sand, gravel, metal weights. I settled on sand bags. I buy play sand, empty the bag to about 30 lbs, duct tape the heck out of the bag. I then fill 1 gallon ziplock bags with sand, tape the heck out of them. You need to completely duct tape the plastic bags or they will wear and leak. The 1 gal bag will be 5-6-7 lbs each. I use the 30lber as the base, then add 5-6-7 lbers after that. I put a cheap sleeping in the bottom to lift the weight off the bottom, sand bags on top. That system works well. I normally start with 35 lbs about now and work up to 75 lbs by October. I start with 3 miles, flattish terrain, build to adding terrain to reach 75 lbs and 6 miles. And about August it starts to suck <G>

Assortment of ankle and wrist weights:

Link


Phil

Off season I use this;

https://www.roguefitness.com/alice-frame-and-load-trainer

Long hikes and walking the dog.

Pre-season I use my hunting pack with all the gear I will hunt with, sans rifle.

a great tool for special warfare / military preparation.


I’ll need a different mindset!

I've got a 5 mile hiking trail loop near my shack. I've got both a 20lb and a 30lb slabs of iron that I mix and match into my backpack and my 10lb Garand sans sling.

With said gear I hike the trail 6 days a week ( 1 day off for good behavior). Back at the trail head if the ground is dry or frozen I then drop for pushups, then shed the backpack for crunches.
If the ground is sloppy I head back to the shack for PT with then a final round of chin-ups.

Come October and those 1000 ft. elevation climbs I'm glad for the grunts and groans I've banked during the year...

I have used dumbells and water bottles. Never bad to have extra water on workouts and easy to adjust weight with DB's..

A cast iron stove.

A 50lb sack of potatoes does throw me off my stride when it shifts when jumping over streams.

do the same. sand bags, gal zip locks filled with sand duck taped.

Two x 2.5 gal. water suitcases, side-by side and spout up, in a MOLLE II Assault Pack.

~ 45 lbs all up.




GR