5 Military Rucking Rules Every Backpacker Should Know

The military term for hiking while carrying weight is "rucking." As you might expect, this is a major concern for the military, as soldiers are required to wear body armour and carry weapons, ammo, water, communications equipment, and other equipment in military backpack when on patrols and operations. For military operations and people, rucking performance and injury prevention are critical.

Many mountain activities, from day hiking to backpacking to major mountain alpinism, require movement over the ground when loaded. We uncovered five rules that are just as applicable to mountain sports as they are to combat operations after analyzing the military's previous studies on the issue.

Here are the military rucking rules on your next backcountry adventure:

1.A pound of weight on your feet equals five pounds of weight on your back.

2.An extra pound on your feet means a 5% increase in energy expenditure.

3.Every 1% of your body weight in your pack adds six seconds to your mile time.

1. A pound of weight on your feet equals five pounds of weight on your back.

According to a 1984 research by the US Army Research Institute, this ancient hiking rule still holds. They looked at how much more energy was expended with different types of footwear (boots and shoes) and found that moving at a given pace takes 4.7 to 6.4 times as much energy when weight is carried on the shoe versus the torso.

In practice, this means you could carry half a gallon of extra water (just over 4 pounds) if you buy a pound lighter pair of boots, which isn't difficult to do; and that's a lot of water. Consider the energy savings of backpacking in light trail running shoes instead of hefty leather backpacking boots throughout a seven-day journey.

2. An extra pound on your feet means a 5% increase in energy expenditure.

Heavier footwear has an impact on you in more ways than one. Heavier boots are stiffer and less responsive. When you strike the ground, your body's stretch reaction is less effective.

However, 5% doesn't seem like a lot, so how does it transfer into run times? So, depending on how long you're running, 5% would slow your mile speed down by 30 seconds. However, the quicker you try to run, the more than 5% will affect your results.

3. Every 1% of your body weight in your pack adds six seconds to your mile time.

Carrying weight in your pack, on the other hand, isn't free. Each 1% of your body weight carried in your pack adds 6 seconds to your mile time. If you weigh 150 pounds, adding 1.5 pounds to your pack slows you down by 6 seconds every mile. On a long journey, decreasing your pack weight from 40 to 30 pounds saves you 40 seconds per mile for a 150-pound hiker.

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