- When:01/24/13
- QIC: The Shore
- The PAX: The Shore, Stone Cold, Black Jack, Turkey Leg, Gandalf, Moby, Peleton, Schedule C, Dora, Bugeater, Run Stopper, Thin Crust, 49er, Far Side, Strike Out, Ray Charles, Short Sale
Gear Check
17 men showed up to the Devil’s Turn this morning to find out just how tricky the Jersey Devil can be, disclaimer not-withstanding.
The Thang:
3 sane pax showed up sans ruck and ran a simple 3 miles and back.
The rest of us had all the fun:
Street Crossing.
Creek traversing.
Deep water crossing.
Deep woods scramble (including gully climb).
Creek walk.
Simple jog.
Creek run.
Ice cold squats, merkins, and dolly/flutter.
Deep woods wandering.
Hill climb (rucks overhead).
Woodsy trail run (no shoulder straps).
Simple jog back to base.
Moleskin:
Where to start? YHC probably should have started with the disclaimer this morning, but hey, if you thought this was CSAUP, just wait until we get 11+ more hours of it on Feb. 16.
Air temp this morning was about 32 degrees. Water temp, maybe 33.
This fun run was meant to test out our GoRuck gear. For example, my wool socks (thank you GOPC) kept my toes relatively warm. The synthetic glove liners on the other hand had my fingers freezing in no time. Shoes should drain water. Straps should be duct taped down. Etc… Others learned simpler lessons such as cotton absorbs cold water and keeps it close to the body. Shorts also don’t seem to work too well when joging through the prickers.
Thanks to all the Devil’s Turn FNG’s this morning: Peleton, Black Jack, Moby, Gandalf, Turkey Leg, and Strike Out. Not sure they knew exactly what they were getting into this morning, but it was great to have you out.
Next week we do it all over again, so come on out and enjoy the fun!
Tomorrow on the other hand, don’t miss the launch of Kevlar. 5:30. Somebody help me out with the location (its the same place as SkunkWorks – Tiger Rag’s 2.0’s school).
The Shore author
My socks never dried. My feet just didn’t feel that bad. Dora makes a great point below though, the most important thing is to test your own gear and find out what works best for you. Cold can be painful.
Another thing I thought of while changing afterwards, with cold hands and wet laces, it’s going to be tough to change your socks in the middle of this thing. Pick out a really good pair you like. You may be stuck with them in the middle of the night on February 16.
This was an important test, and I recommend ALL GRC toughs to stress test all your gear, clothing included. This is what I learned today:
1) My hands were warm. All I wore were a simple pair of Mechanix work gloves. The only time I felt cold was when my hands were submerged.
2) My feet were cold. Very cold. And I had Smartwool socks and shoes that drained relatively well. After the 1st creek party I couldn’t feel my toes. After the 2nd creek party I couldn’t feel my feet. Eventually the feeling came back, as I expected, but in all honesty it was a distracting pain, and I didn’t like it.
3) All my other gear performed well. Once out of the water, aside from my feet, I was nice and warm head-to-ankle. Since I have no wool aside from the socks, I’ll have to go outside on a windy day/night and see how the synthetic leg coverings hold up.
4) Gear performance is obviously affected by individual physiology: The Shore and I both had wool socks; his feet were warm, mine cold. The Shore had cold hands with double-gloves; mine were warm with Home Depot off-the-shelf work gloves.
Most valuable takeaway: you must test your gear. Don’t just take the pro’s word for it, or the word of GRC alums. Start with their advice and get out there and test. Your individual physiology may give you different results, and you don’t want to find that out come Feb. 16.
T-claps to The Shore for putting together a great test. T-claps to Turkey Leg for hanging in there with a sweatshirt and shorts.
MOTHER, that creek was cold…
/Dora
Great gear test run Shore! It was a nice and extremely little taste of “good livin” It took less than a minute in the water before my feet started to sting like I have never felt before but once out of the water they warmed up…(stopped stinging) in just a few minutes thanks to the smart wool socks. I was wearing Seirus liners and Mechanix gloves and my hands stayed pretty warm; even after the water merkins. I need to make a few minor gear adjustments and I’ll be ready to try it again next week. T claps to Thin Crust and the other poor soul who came out in shorts, cotton socks and running shoes ex
I learned that if you bang your knee on a big rock in the cold water it doesn’t hurt until much later in the shower.
I learned that no matter what you wear, you will be ridiculously cold in the water. It’s after you get out of the water that counts. Wool socks in the shoes are perfect. Non wool running tights are not awesome. The wool top base layer is great as well. Still have to figure out the glove situation. Consensus today seemed to be wool liner with a winter glove
outer layer.
I learned running with the ruck was welcomed with open arms to get the feeling back in my toes.
All good stuff. Training like that will make you man up mentally and have your mind in the right place come GoRuck time.
Make sure you dry those rucks out boys. Don’t think my bricks are wet. Hard to tell with the wrapping on but they still felt like pretty much the same weight.
Thanks for the hospitality and the behind the scenes tour Shore!
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