Starvin Larry

Coming into spring/summer, one of my normal activities annually, is to re-set gear layouts. Someone asked me the other day, “How would you pack a 72 hour pack, versus a week-long or 10-day pack?” As a guy who grew up with a Regimental SOP for the layout of rucksack and load-bearing equipment, even after I left the Ranger Regiment, I always stuck with the idea that, my BASIC LOAD, absent mission-specific and team gear, was the same, whether I was doing an assault that was projected to last 72 hours or less, or a long-term mission that required me to be in the field for weeks or months at a time, was the same. Outside of quantities in munitions, water, and food, the equipment requirements are fundamentally the same, whether I’m going to be out for 1 night, 10 nights, or 100 nights.

Granted, if I can look at the…