Learn

What a pack does to your body, where our numbers come from, and how fast armies marched. Every claim with its source.

• How the plans work — A ladder of weekly long rucks that ends at a standard, moved by each ruck you save and one tap after it.
• What a pack does to your body — Energy, heart, bones and joints — what the studies show, and what they do not.
• How we count your calories — The model behind the number, and why it is an estimate.
• Start light: load, blisters, heat — The few rules that prevent most problems.
• 12 miles, 35 pounds, 3 hours — The US Army foot march standard behind the Expert badges.
• Europe's march traditions — Nijmegen 1909, Norway's 30 km, the Bundeswehr's 15 kg badge.
• How fast armies marched — Vegetius' Roman step, the run back from Marathon, and a myth.
• How to pack a ruck — Where the weight goes, how the straps share it, and what counts toward a standard.
• Walking with weight — Posture, steps, halts and feet — what the foot march manual says.