The Mogadishu Mile 5km

In late September I was browsing some of the articles on ITS Tactical. One of the posts in particular caught my eye, the Mogadishu Mile. Of course I was familiar with the reference after reading Mark Bowden's book and seeing the film Black Hawk Down. What really surprised me was that this year was the 20th anniversary of the Battle of Mogadishu. I remember vividly a photograph in the Toronto Star portraying a dead and bloated American soldier being dragged through the streets. I was horrified to say the least. That was a lot for a pre-teen to handle. What I didn't know at the time was that there were Rangers only six years older than me that had fought in that battle.

Arc'teryx Axios 35 - Review

About a year ago I contacted Arc'teryx in hopes of finding a pack that would be rugged enough to survive the GoRuck Challenge. With the recommendations of the Axios 35 and the Nozone 35 I had some good alternatives to the GR1 that GoRuck sells. Why wouldn't I just use the GoRuck branded rucks? I didn't like the idea of not having a waist belt, load-lifter straps or sternum strap. Sure it would be tough as nails, but I figured I'd want to be as comfortable and as efficient as I could, so distributing the load to my waist was definitely appealing.

Shopping at Triple Aught Design

If there was only one store I could go to whilst I was in San Francisco it had to be Triple Aught Design. I have been following their work for some time now and was eager to see what the store was all about. To tell you the truth, I don't know what to expect. The surrounding stores were hip fashion shops so I figure in its own right TAD fit right in, albeit to a different demographic. I was two steps into the store before the guy behind the cash pointed at my shirt and said, "GORUCK! I actually have that up on my screen right now!" I immediately felt at home.

Lessons learned from the downtown Toronto flood

On July 8th, 2013 about 126 millimetres of rain fell on downtown Toronto in two hours. I have been in a few downpours in my lifetime and didn't think too much of it as I was biking from my office in Liberty Village to Harbourfront Centre pick up my daughter from day camp. Luckily it was about 25°C because I had forgotten my Torrentshell jacket at home. I did however have my level 6 Goretex pants and boot covers with me.

Shadowing GoRuck Toronto Class 659

I had the opportunity to spend a night and part of the morning shadowing Class 659. Here is a short sample of what they endured for 13 hours.

Gear Guide for Surviving the GoRuck Challenge

Cadre Jason instructed us to get in the water before I ever even saw his face. I didn't want to overheat, and had made the decision to take off my level 5 softshell once we got started because standing around in the wind was pretty chilly, but I never got the chance.

Jason instructed us to start moving with "a sense of urgency", and we all knew he wasn't messing around. I cinched some of the straps on my pack as I moved with my team and felt the familiar weight I had trained with over the previous six months. After everything was said and done, my pack weighed in at 49.2lbs, but that was dry, and now it was soaking wet. My inventory was as follows:

GoRuck Training

The thought of being unprepared for GoRuck is something that weighs on me daily. I know that on their website they say, "Don't take the Challenge so seriously, Go for a run or two, have fun, and just do it. It's all mental." However after seeing all the videos on Youtube and reading some blogs, I think I'm going to have to do a little more than that.

Grenadier Pond in High Park

First snowy ride of the year

When I checked the weather report last night, it said -22°C with the windchill. As my wife groaned, I smiled and walked towards the hooks that hold all of my PCU. After getting used to biking in cold weather and seeing patterns in my cold weather clothing diary, I knew that I'd need more than just a grid fleece and a softshell.

 
On the inside I made plans to wear what I was going to wear to work, a T-Shirt, a pair of Volcom pants and a normal pair of socks. The next layer was a thin thermal hoodie from MEC. My insulating layer would be my PCU level 3 fleece. My vapour barrier would be my PCU level 4 wind shirt. My outer layer would be my level 5 softshell pants and jacket.

Applied Orange Combat Socks - First Impressions

About a month ago Applied Orange sent me a pair of High Performance Combat Socks to test and review. They knew I was training for GoRuck, and very kindly sent a pair my way to review.

The first thing that I noticed about these socks is that there is one sock labelled "L" and one labeled "R". I've never had a pair of sock that specialized before. I pulled them on, and laughed to myself remembering that they were marketed as knee-high design. They weren't kidding! These socks were designed to extend over an 8 inch combat boot.

I've never really had a problem with the durability of socks around the toe, but the heel is definitely the first place my socks start pilling and falling apart. Knowing that the toe and heel are reinforced with Cordura yarn gives me confidence that these socks are built to last. Another material that is used in the sock's construction is COOLMAX. This fabric helps move perspiration away from your foot, through the sock, where it can evaporate quickly. I've purchased a few other socks from Wigwam that utilize COOLMAX and have been very happy, so already I knew I was in for a treat with these socks.

OXFAM 100km Trailwalker - Part 1

In 2011 I was surfing around of Facebook and noticed some pictures coming through from the OXFAM 100km Trailwalker event. I saw one of my buddies with his feet taped up, laying on his back with his feet rested against the side of a car. I was immediately intrigued. I clicked through some of the pictures and was excited to see that they were still in the middle of the event and that photos were coming in as they got to the checkpoints. I was amazed. 100 kilometres is something that I had never fathomed possible. First of all I have a love hate relationship with walking. In the city, it's probably one of my least favourite things to do. After experiencing the speed and fun of skateboarding, inline skating and cycling, walking is… slow… and boring. However up north, walking is sometimes a means to get somewhere that is not accessible by car. Walking usually means adventure, not something routine like going to the store to grab groceries. Also, walking in Toronto never really required me to go further than 2-3 kilometres at a time. So seeing pictures of my friend embarking on a 100km challenge was mind boggling. The furthest I had ever gone unassisted by a motor was about 65km on my bicycle when I rode to Canada's Wonderland and back. Being the sucker for punishment that I am, and after being glued to my computer so I could see all the updates from my buddy's walk, I knew I had to try this.