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Post: A history of soldiers & loaded carries

Kyle Aaron
husband, father, trainer - in that order
Posts 1911

11-21-21 07:08 PM - Post#914797

I came across this article talking about the history of the soldier's load.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258883795 _The_History_of_the_Soldi er's_Load

It's worth looking at in full, but this part stood out to me:

"The result was a Macedonian soldier who was a beast of burden, carrying 13.5 kilograms of grain (ten days’ rations), plus their 22.5 kilograms of battle equipment and arms: a total load of 36 kilograms"

1.35kg of whole grain a day. I'm assuming that's dried. That'd be 4,500kCal, 150g protein, and 130g fibre.

You'd use 1,500kCal a day just digging the latrines for those guys.

No mention of the rates of injuries of those soldiers on the march. We do know that in the later Roman armies, few soldiers made it to their 20 years to collect their plot of land.

Perspective is important.

Athletic Club East
Strength in numbers

Andy Mitchell
Factus non verbis
Posts 5269

11-21-21 09:30 PM - Post#914798

I would not imagine “war” to be a walk in the park activity.
What are the fitness requirements to enlist in say - the Australian forces (soldier) ?

I’m not really sure of your point in all this but for an activity, for somebody to carry a given load over distance would be an activity that only a person could do if they were, used to it.

You’ve got the luxury of finding out what that is in your own time, like “a workout “
It’s YOU against YOU

In war I don’t believe it’s a social activity

Nice legs-shame about the face

SinisterAlex
At home here
Posts 369

11-22-21 01:52 AM - Post#914799

This is from Afghanistan 2003 and Mike Prevosts article about the topic.

https://www.otpbooks.com/mike-prevost-ruck-tra ining-programs/

Dan John
Carpal tunnel from posting!
Posts 12292

11-22-21 10:09 AM - Post#914805

This is some interesting stuff. Thank you for sharing it.

Daniel John
Just handing down what I was handed down...

Make a Difference.
Live. Love. Laugh.
Balance work, rest, play and pray (enjoy beauty and solitude)
Sleep soundly. Drink Water. Eat veggies and protein. Walk.
Wear your seat belt. Donâ€™t smoke. Floss your teeth.
Put weights overhead. Pick weights off the floor. Carry weights.
Reread great books. Say thank you

Upwind
IOL rocks!
Posts 404
Upwind

11-22-21 10:30 PM - Post#914816

While the weight of loads carried was the focus of the article, it reminded me of a subject I started thinking about when I was a Boy Scout, back when Adam West was Batman—how people carried their loads.

My first backpack back then was an object of lust from the Boy Scout catalog: olive drab (all outdoors gear then seemed to look like WWII), all canvas, even the straps. In wet weather the backpack and everything in it, including the cotton flannel sleeping bag I had to spend the night in, got soaked and heavy.

Even when dry, carrying loads in my first Boy Scout pack hurt. The straps weren’t padded and dug into your shoulders. My next backpack had an aluminum external frame. The straps were padded, and it had a waist belt so your hips carried most of the load. By then, the counterculture was in bloom, and so was camping. Lots of manufacturers since then have been improving the design and materials of backpacks and other outdoor stuff.

in contrast, Google <Roman furca marching kit> to see how a Roman soldier carried his 50 or so pounds of gear when marching. An interesting take on loaded carries.

Kyle Aaron
husband, father, trainer - in that order
Posts 1911

11-23-21 12:53 AM - Post#914819

Yes. This had the advantage they could drop it on engaging the enemy.

This is the gear: http://www.imperium-romana.org/marching-kit.html

And for all its modern nonsense, the show Barbarians does depict their gear reasonably well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heFDaSS5I7Y

They must have either had massive calluses on their shoulders, or else put some kind of padding there. Having that there all day would be brutal.

Athletic Club East
Strength in numbers

Chris Rice
Old hand here on IOL
Posts 702

11-23-21 09:23 AM - Post#914830

I read somewhere that the raised "heel" on shoes was designed by the Roman soldiers to offset the weight of the pack - no idea of the truth behind the story but kind of interesting.

Dan John
Carpal tunnel from posting!
Posts 12292

11-23-21 12:46 PM - Post#914838

Yes, the stiletto heel was no only a delicious fashion statement (it's not well known that the word "FABULOUS" was invented by Roman troopers to describe the advent of the heel) but very helpful in given a certain "pop" or "wow" to the Centurion's ankle.

Sadly, an entire Legion was lost advancing on a cobblestone street. History books ignore the terrible details of The Battle of the Catwalk.

There is a song that details some of this battle:

I'm a model, you know what I mean
And I do my little turn on the catwalk
Yeah, on the catwalk, on the catwalk, yeah
I do my little turn on the catwalk

Daniel John
Just handing down what I was handed down...

Brian Hassler
IOL rocks!
Posts 616

11-23-21 03:15 PM - Post#914844

It's a little known fact that the original motto for the US Marine Corp was going to be "semper conversus in deambulatio", but with the limited salaries of enlisted men, it was decided that they should go with the shorter "semper fi" in order to save money on tattoo costs.

Steve Rogers
Carpal tunnel from posting!
Posts 6158

11-23-21 03:16 PM - Post#914845

Chris Rice Said:

I read somewhere that the raised "heel" on shoes was designed by the Roman soldiers to offset the weight of the pack - no idea of the truth behind the story but kind of interesting.

My understanding was that raised heals came with the invention of the stirrup to make it easier to stay in the saddle in mounted combat.

"Coyote is always waiting, and Coyote is always hungry."

JDII
Carpal tunnel from posting!
Posts 7319
JDII

11-27-21 06:08 AM - Post#914918

SinisterAlex Said:

This is from Afghanistan 2003 and Mike Prevosts article about the topic.

https://www.otpbooks.com/mike-prevost-ruck-tra ining-programs/

As a young troop I was given the 240 to hump along with the rest of my s**t. Now the major issue with that is that I was (and am) the smallest dude in the unit. I'm pretty sure they did it on purpose for a laugh :)

Pepper
At home here
Posts 296
Pepper

11-28-21 09:16 AM - Post#914944

Upwind Said:

While the weight of loads carried was the focus of the article, it reminded me of a subject I started thinking about when I was a Boy Scout, back when Adam West was Batman—how people carried their loads. ...

I was a boy scout, too. And when we went on Fahrt (I was one in Germany), we would spend weekends throughout the year outside in the countryside, hiking. About three times a year we did longer tours -- twice for a week, about, and once in summer for Grossfahrt, three to four weeks in another country. We carried all of our own stuff, of course, which came to about twenty kilos for older teenagers including tents, water, and food. We would usually switch water bags and guitars between us. We ate like monsters, were strong for our ages had great work capacity -- we could just keep walking -- and nobody ever lost weight. Good times.

Andy Mitchell
Factus non verbis
Posts 5269

11-28-21 07:20 PM - Post#914946

When I was a kid (and Adam West was Batman) I used to walk to school and back with a bag FULL of books along with sports gear.
The walk to school was faster.

I think we’re all a little soft…
My backpack in scouts was much lighter especially towards the end, minus food (cans of rom piper)

Nice legs-shame about the face

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