Rucking with pack or weighted vest?

[Coldbore]

What is your personal preference? A pack that is loaded with some sort of weight or a weighted vest?
I have been using an older hunting pack and put a 33lb slam ball in it with 3L of water so its close to 40lbs total. For conditioning closer to hunting season it makes sense to get used to the pack weight but for early season training i have been eyeing a rouge plate vest that can handle two of their 20lb plates. It looks way more comfortable and is definitely more versatile for general exercising above and beyond rucking.
Whats your take?


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[mtnbound]

What is your personal preference? A pack that is loaded with some sort of weight or a weighted vest?
I have been using an older hunting pack and put a 33lb slam ball in it with 3L of water so its close to 40lbs total. For conditioning closer to hunting season it makes sense to get used to the pack weight but for early season training i have been eyeing a rouge plate vest that can handle two of their 20lb plates. It looks way more comfortable and is definitely more versatile for general exercising above and beyond rucking.
Whats your take?


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Weight vests are good for a variety of exercises, but I would stick with a pack for rucking. I dislike having all the load on my traps, and a vest's load does not mimic how the pack loads the body. Make yourself a sandbag for your pack.

 

[CMF]

Only ever use the pack. I don't see any point in a vest, it's not going to carry the same, and it's another thing to buy and have around.
I usually put a 40lb. sand bag in the pack, but sometimes use dumbells or whatever.
Even a weighted pack with all the weight up close to the back doesn't carry like a loaded pack with gear that hangs further off your back. If you're going up a trail and spin around to talk to someone behind you, you'll feel the difference.
Plus I feel like the pack rubs and pinches a little around the hips and gets your body and skin more used to the pack.

 

[Truck24hr]

I have a vest I use for training, but use it mostly in conjunction with gym equipment.

I do hike with it for some short stuff, but anything over a few miles I'm using the pack loaded with a bag.

 

[justinspicher]

Pack for this guy. I find a vest just isn’t the same but it’s better than nothing.

 

[voltage]

I haven’t tried a vest, but I do like rucking with a pack. One change I made last year was actually going to a goruck pack. In my suburban neighborhood, it seems to look a little less odd than a giant hunting pack. I’ve been pleased with that investment. Just don’t buy the weights from there…much cheaper on Amazon.

 

[Poser]

If you want weight for dips, push ups, pull ups, general gym stuff, a vest is far more practical. If you want to get in shape for carrying a pack around, you need to spend time carrying a pack around.

 

[Exterra]

I train with weight in my hunting pack because that is what I am comfortable with.....in my neighborhood a weighted vest looks a little too much like body armor and federal agents aren't real popular in parts of Idaho.

 

[rickyw]

The vest will load the spine more than the pack with a good hip belt, and the load distribution will be different enough that for backpack hunt training I would stick with the backpack.

 

[Poser]

Just saw a story about a guy working out in a public space with a weighted vest on and the swat team showed up with their teeth out to address a suicide vest situation.

 

[Thehillbillee]

I use my pack with a 40lb bag of water softener salt. As the season nears I like to add weight to at least 60lbs. I think I read somewhere that the human body should be able to handle rucking 1/3 of its body weight all day for multiple days (maybe that’s not right, I dunno). No extra gear to buy or store and it seems to prepare my body well for packing meat (and kids) in the mountains.

 

[Small-foot]

If you’re just walking the neighborhood or using it in the gym a vest seems like a more convenient option, but I haven’t personally used one. As many others have stated, a pack carries different and if you’re prepping for hunting season, why not use the gear you hunt with to dial it in? In regard to weight, most backcountry training lands on 20-25% of bodyweight for rucking and 30 min or more to effectively train your zone 2 base. Packmule training and EXO podcasts are two that I’ve heard discuss this number recently. It’s good to add heavier weight now and then throughout the off season to test your capacity and find your weaknesses but daily rucking at high weights is an overuse injury waiting to happen.