GORUCK Ascent Loadout: 100 Hours in the Rocky Mountains

If you’ve been following our progression as we get closer to the GORUCK Ascent, you’re probably wondering what gear we’ve decided to take.

When Bryan and I first committed to the Ascent, we knew almost nothing other than everything we’d be taking would have to be carried in or on  a GORUCK GR2  and that we’d be climbing 14′ers. We didn’t receive the packing list until about a month after signing up.

Though the packing list set in place by GORUCK is strict, we have the freedom to choose exactly what pieces of gear we will be taking. Everything from what base layers to a tent (if you even want a tent). They were also adamant that if it wasn’t on the list, we wouldn’t need it; including food other than lickies and chewies.

Before getting too far in this article we’d like to extend a HUGE thank you to Todd and Julie at Tactical Distributors for working with us as a liaison between many of the companies you’ll read about that are providing gear for our adventure to allow us to tell you all about how it performs for us.

Not your Average Pack

I heard that most hikers will recommend a pack with 2,500 to 3,000 cubic inches of space for a day hike, the GR2 holds roughly 2,900 cubic inches. This isn’t to show how much we plan to do without and “rough it,” or that we’ll be ill equipped. Instead it caused us to ask ourselves, what’s truly necessary? If it’s necessary, how can it be made lighter? Is there an alternative? All of these are excellent questions when you are trying to simplify your life and especially useful when attempting to lighten your load for backpacking.

Another feature of this bag people will ask about is why doesn’t there appear to be a sternum strap or waist belt. To quote Jason, the founder of GORUCK and designer of their bags:

A couple questions we’ve consistently gotten deal with both the sternum strap and the waist belt. Or, in our case, the lack thereof. We approach our design with the philosophy that simpler is better, less is more. Whenever possible, we like to let people add on as they see fit. … A bag should not look like a gypsy camp, not ever. I prefer cleaner, simpler, and more functional, so that was our focus.

The entire Ascent is planned to last 100 hours and we need to be self-sufficient with no planned resupply. Since details aren’t forthcoming, we don’t know how much time we will be spending actually reaching summits, moving between cities, or learning land navigation and survival skills. This means we need to pack so that we’re as fast and light as possible.

Bryan and I both believe that two is one and one is none, but in this case, we’re having to do with just one or even none. What can we really do without? Do I ‘need’ a six inch survival knife or will my Benchmade Mini Griptilian do well enough?

While an endless supply of money would help to better answer the question of what gear is best. Before we get into what’s in our personal loadouts, here’s the packing list we were working with from GORUCK.

GORUCK Ascent Packing List

Mike’s Gear List

• Waterproof Shell
• Outdoor Research Mentor
• 488 g / 17.20 oz
• Insulating Layer Top
• Outdoor Research Radiant Hybrid Pullover
• 372.8 g / 13.15 oz
• Synthetic/Dry Fit T-Shirt
• Under Armour Compression Short Sleeve / Nike Dri-Fit
• 144 g / 5.10 oz – 186 g / 6.60 oz
• Cold Weather Base Layer
• Outdoor Research Sequence Long Sleeve Zip Tee & Radiant Hybrid Tights
• 207 g / 7.30 oz – 368.5 g / 13.00 oz
• Underwear
• Under Armour O Series (2 pairs)
• 184 g / 6.4 oz
• Knit Cap
• Outdoor Research Winter Trek Hat
• 53 g / 1.9 oz
• Hiking Boots
• Lowa Renegade II GTX
• 1110 g / 39.15 oz
• I checked these boots out based on a recommendation from our Managing Editor and I couldn’t be more happy with them. Flexible but tough, these boots feel very capable and during my test on Old Rag mountain, they performed extremely well. I opted for the GoreTex variant.
• Socks
• SmartWool PhD (2 pair total)
• 252 g / 8.80 oz
• I plan on alternating the same pairs of sock for the duration of the Ascent. One pair will be worn while the other dry out.
• Lightweight Pants
• Outdoor Research Furio
• 584 g / 20.60 oz
• Lightweight, Durable Gloves
• Louis Garneau Ergo Air (mountain biking gloves)
• 78 g / 2.80 oz
• Sleeping Pad
• NEMO Zor Short
• 283.5 g / 10.00 oz
• Camera
• iPhone 4 in waterproof case.
• 160 g / 5.64 oz
• Emergency Blanket
• Adventure Medical Kits Emergency Bivvy
• 112 g / 4.00 oz
• Survival Kit
• Adventure Medical Kits Pocket Survival Pak Plus
• 166 g / 5.80 oz
• Tent
• NEMO Meta 1P
• 878 g / 31.00 oz
• This tent is fast and lightweight. It uses no poles for support except one trekking pole to form a sort of teepee design. It only sleeps one but has a decent amount of room as well as decent ventilation and a vestibule.
• Personalize GR2
• UCP Camoform on top handle of bag and various morale patches.
• Hydration Bladder
• Source WXP 3L Helix
• 381 g / 13.40 oz
• Constant hydration is key at altitude and having three liters is a good start.
• Water Purification
• Katadyn Micropur MP 1 Tablets (8)
• 6 g / 0.20 oz
• Headlamp
• SureFire Saint Minimus
• 93.6 g / 3.3 oz
• Small, bright, waterproof… this is just about everything I was looking for in a headlamp. It offers a truly variable beam and enables you to go anywhere from 0 lumens to 100 with a simple twist. Also, I used this in my GORUCK Challenge and it passed with flying colors.
• Flashlight
• SureFire G2X Pro
• 125 g / 4.4 oz
• While I’ll probably have the Saint Minimus on most of the time, this light could easily be the primary light source due to it’s size, weight and light output. It’s variable and outputs 15 or 200 lumens.
• Batteries
• SureFire 123A‘s in micro Nalgene container
• 140 g / 5.0 oz
• Pocket Knife
• Benchmade Mini-Griptilian
• 72.57 g / 2.56 oz
• Compass
• Suunto
• Sunglasses
• Suncloud Polarized Wrap Around Sunglasses
• 35 g / 1.20 oz
• Semi lightweight and I dont really mind if they get lost or broken.
• Medication / Medical
• Bayer Asprin, Ginkgo Biloba, Ibuprofen (repackaged)
• 31 g / 1.10 oz
• Water Bottle
• 32 oz. wide mouth Nalgene
• 186 g / 6.60 oz
• Can fill with hot water and place in my sleeping bag at night if it gets cold.
• Pens/Pencils
• Fisher AG7 and mini pencil
• Notebook
• Field Notes brand notebook
• Sunscreen / Insect Repellent
• Small one time use SPF 30+ packets / Repel micro squirt
• Lickies and Chewies (2 lb. Limit)
• Trail Mix, Clif Bars, Sport Beans, GU Gel
• Personal Hygiene
• Toothpaste dots, Deodorant, Body Glide (all repackaged)
• 42.5g / 1.5 oz
• Fire Makers
• REI Storm Matches, Spark-Lite Flint, Tinder-quiks
• Bungee Cords
• Tactical Tailor
• Sleeping Bag / Compression Sack
• Marmot Plasma 15 / Sea to Summit Ultra Sil Compression Sack
• 906 g / 31.96 oz / 66 g / 2.3 oz
• Outside magazines Gear of the Year award winner. This bag is rated to 15 degrees, weighs under 2 pounds, and can be packed down to almost the size of a standard Nalgene. This was an early Christmas gift from my parents and I’m super stoked to test it out during the Ascent.
• 550 Cord
• 50 ft. OD
• 122 g / 4.30 oz
• Waterproofing
• Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil 50L Pack Liner
• 74 g / 2.60 oz
• Duct Tape
• A few feet wrapped around Nalgene and more in survival kit.
• Misc. Equipment
• Snow Peak Ti spork, Snow Peak 600 Ti single wall mug, Black Diamond Trail Ergo Cork trekking poles, Suunto Core Extreme Edition Everest, HeadSweats Race Hat, Gossamer Gear Polycryo Ground Cloth.

Maximum Pack Weight at Start: 28.62 lbs.

Note: While focusing on the main items, some ‘odds & ends’ were excluded from the above list. If you are interested in viewing a full breakdown of every item with notes, check out this Google Doc. I’d like to thank Brian Green for the idea and template.

…

Bryan’s GR2 Gear List

• Waterproof Shell
• Arc’Teryx Alpha LT Jacket
• 357 g / 12.6 oz
• Insulating Layer Top
• Arc’Teryx Atom LT Jacket
• 330 g / 11.6 oz
• Synthetic/Dry Fit T-Shirt
• Under Armour Heat Gear Long Sleeve and Short Sleeve T’s
• 144 g / 5.10 oz – 186 g / 6.60 oz
• Cold Weather Base Layer
• Outdoor Research Sequence Long Sleeve Zip Tee & Radiant Hybrid Tights
• 243 g / 8.6 oz – 386 g / 13.6 oz
• Underwear
• Under Armour O Series (2 pairs)
• 184 g / 6.4 oz
• Knit Cap
• Outdoor Research Winter Trek Hat
• 53 g / 1.9 oz
• Hiking Boots
• Lowa Renegade II (Leather Lined)
• 1313 g / 46.3 oz
• Socks
• SmartWool PhD (2 pair total)
• 252 g / 8.8 oz
• Lightweight Pants
• Arc’Teryx Sphinx
• 618 g / 21.8 oz
• Lightweight, Durable Gloves
• Kuiu Guide Gloves (Review coming soon from Peter on ITS Tactical)
• 76 g / 2.7 oz
• GPS
• eTrex Vista HcX
• 199 g / 7 oz (w/ batteries)
• Sleeping Pad
• Therm-a-Rest Z Lite
• 317 g / 11.2 oz
• Camera
• Contour GPS w/ extra battery
• iPhone 4 in waterproof case
• 163 g / 5.7 oz – 160 g / 5.64 oz
• Emergency Blanket
• Adventure Medical Kits Emergency Bivvy
• 112 g / 4.00 oz
• Survival Kit
• Custom Mini Survival Kit (As seen in articles on ITS)
• 141 g / 5 oz
• Tent
• NEMO Gogo LE (w/ stuff sack and stakes)
• 1227 g / 43.3 oz
• Personalize GR2
• Paracord wrapped grab handle
• Hydration Bladder
• Source WXP 3L Helix
• 381 g / 13.40 oz
• Water Purification
• Katadyn Micropur MP 1 Tablets (8)
• 6 g / 0.20 oz
• Headlamp
• Princeton Tec Remix Pro
• 67 g / 2.4 oz
• Flashlight
• SureFire A2 Aviator
• 115 g / 4.1 oz
• Batteries
• Surefire 123As and AAs in CountyComm Battery Holders and LOKSAK
• 210 g / 7.4 oz
• Pocket Knife
• Emerson SOCFK-1A
• 128 g / 4.5 oz
• Compass
• Silva Ranger
• 72 g / 2.5 oz.
• Sunglasses
• Gatorz Wraptor
• 24 g / 1 oz
• Medication / Medical
• Bayer Asprin, Ginkgo Biloba, Ibuprofen (repackaged)
• 31 g / 1.10 oz
• Water Bottle
• Liberty Bottle
• 184 g / 6.5 oz
• Pens/Pencils
• Fisher Military Space Pen and 2 ITS mini pencils in LOKSAK
• 26 g / .8 oz
• Notebook
• Rite-in-the-Rain notebook
• 72 g / 2.5 oz
• Sunscreen / Insect Repellent
• Kinesys
• Dermatone
• DEET
• Lickies and Chewies (2 lb. Limit)
• Trail Mix, Clif Bars, Sport Beans, GU Gel
• Personal Hygiene
• Toothpaste, Deodorant, Body Glide (all repackaged), Cut down toothbrush
• 42.5g / 1.5 oz
• Fire Makers
• Lighter (Plus TAD Survival Spark and Lifeboat Matches in Mini Survival Kit)
• Bungee Cords
• Brigade Quartermasters
• Sleeping Bag
  
• Mountain Hardware Phantom 32
• 652 g / 23 oz
• 550 Cord
• 50 ft. of Paracord tied in two Paracord Deployment Lanyards (Article coming soon to the Knot of the Week!)
• 122 g / 4.30 oz
• Waterproofing
• ALOKSAK Bags (see weights above)
• Integral Tactical Backpack Cover
• 216g / 7.6 oz
• Duct Tape
• Six feet wrapped around Liberty Bottle and more in survival kit.
• Misc. Equipment
• Jetboil Flash Cooking System, Eureka! Ground Cloth, Snow Peak Ti Spork, OSOE Trouser Belt, Crocs, Trecking Poles

Maximum Pack Weight at Start: 31.65 lbs.

Notes

By the time you read this we’ll be heading out to Colorado to start our acclimating and getting ready to shake the heavens with GORUCK and our Ascent teammates!

We’d like to again thank Tactical Distributors,  Arc’Teryx, Outdoor Research,  Under Armor,  NEMO,  Jetboil, Smart Wool, Princeton Tec and  Contour  for getting us some great gear to evaluate on the Ascent!

Stay tuned for our after action report with details on all of the gear we’ll be carrying and our honest evaluation of how it performed.

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