GORUCK Training, Other, Reviews

Best Training Gear for GORUCK

3 min read

One of the best things you can do to prepare for a GORUCK event is to get comfortable being uncomfortable. This is best accomplished by training with heavy, odd shaped, and annoying items.

Listed below are my favorite GORUCK training toys.

Jerry Can

Only $17 on Amazon! Click to buy.

I HATE JERRY CANS! No matter how much you think there is a good way to carry it, there isn’t. When they are full, they are heavy and awkward. As the water level goes down, the water movement makes it unbalanced. It just sucks.

Now, the sweet mil-spec jerry cans that your cadre will bring to the event will run you $50. This blue version is the spitting image of the military one but at better than 1/2 half the price at $17.

For the price, this is a no-brainer training tool. Buy one now.

Logs

They are heavy and kill your shoulders. But, from a training perspective, this is a great tool for one reason: It is FREE!

If you’re on the hunt for a log, just keep your eye out everywhere you go. Whenever you see a tree service cutting down or trimming a tree, just ask them for a spare log or two. My experience is they’ll happily give you whatever you want.

Another great way to find logs is on craigslist. Just go to your local craigslist and type in “wood” or “logs” and there you go. There are lots of people who have downed trees and just want to wood gone.

For me, I have a couple of partner logs (seen above) and a few individual size logs. Having different sizes and weights keeps things interesting and, again, they are free!

Sandbag

Click to shop for sandbags.

There is no way around this; sandbags are expensive. But, this is a great training tool for both rucking and working out. You can throw the bag on your back, carry it a few miles, and then do all kinds of fun workout stuff whenever you arrive at your destination.

I’ve tried a few different sandbags and (go figure) GORUCK Sandbags are the best. I love their handle configurations, and the fillers are almost bullet proof. Of course, what’s even better is the lifetime SCARS warranty covers them. After nearly a year of constant abuse, I finally busted my filler bag doing 50 over-the-shoulder-tosses. GORUCK sent me a new one for free.

If you only buy one, I recommend the 60# sandbag.

Tractor Tire

I’ve never encountered one of these at a GORUCK event, but it is one of my favorite training tools to pull out when I gather together with my weirdo friends on Saturday mornings. It is big, heavy, and uncomfortable. So, picking it up and going for a mile walk is super fun.

You can usually pick up one of these bad boys on Craigslist for like $40-$50. Or, if you know someone with a farm, you can probably get one for free.

Kettlebells

Click to shop for Kettlebells.

Kettlebells are my favorite way to train my grip strength: grab two heavy kettlebells and go walk a mile. It pretty much sucks.

Amazon has a ton of these things for sale, and you can probably find some on Craigslist or at your local sports store. But, they are no doubt a great way to train your grip to endure carrying heavy stuff over distance.

Anything Else?

So, that’s my go-to list of training tools. What do you use? What am I missing? Drop your training toys and ideas in the comment section below.

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11 Replies to Best Training Gear for GORUCK

  1. Cheap ‘sandbag’ option I love is old school canvas topload surplus duffel lined with contractor bag and filled with 2 40# bags of wood pellets. Total cost about $15. Cut off long shoulder strap and securely bind the top. There’s enough fabric to get a grip on but not enough that it doesn’t suck.

  2. Take a bag of Quickcrete, wet it down and wait a week. Home made rock! Full bag is about 80 pounds.

  3. When picking logs its important to know what type of wood you are using…you will look like a rockstar if you hump a 4′ white pine log which is very light as opposed to trying do the same with a 4′ oak log. I do have an unfair advantage as I am a tree man and drag logs all day lol.

  4. Pvc pipe filled with sand and capped. Use rubber coated work gloves to carry. Great alternative to logs. The ticks are already out this year so this may be a viable alternative. Also, a wheel barrow with two 5 gallon water jugs filled 2/3 and a concrete block or two. Secure jugs with straps. Go for a few miles. Your neighbors will be very curious as to what you are up to, trust me.

  5. Just made a “baby seal” and it is an awesome tool. Take a tractor tire inner tube (I used a 40in one to make two bags). Cut it in half, use industrial zip ties (for A/C ducts) to close one end, add Gorilla Tape around the 3 zip ties holding the one end closed, add gravel or wood chips to get to the desired weight. I made two (1 @ 45# and 1 @ 65#). Total cost about 30-40 for two. Our F3 group loved them!!

  7. Slosh Pipe. 10 foot 4″ PVC Pipe filled with 2/3rd (or so) filled with water & capped. Makes for a fun “coupon” to carry.

  8. My crib midgets normally make great coupons! Best thing is that they slowly gain in weight as I train!!!

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