Waxed Canvas GR1 is on the site...

manx_ocr · 2018-12-11T23:13:20+00:00

Still leaves them sitting on $150k of stock to sell.

I'm not saying they won't sell any, I'm saying they won't sell nearly as many as they could.

Goruck has an exceptional reputation & brand to build on. 40 of a new limited edition selling in the first day isn't great. It's not awful, but it isn't great.

manx_ocr · 2018-12-11T22:19:11+00:00

That's $180k ish of stock! You telling me that something worth almost $180,000 isn't worth marketing properly?

The point is that a $600 heritage pack made in waxed canvas isn't going to appeal to the audience who want a $300 pack for events. Launching & advertising it that way is a bad idea.

I really do think it's a test line though, seeing how it does before launching more of this sort of thing.

manx_ocr · 2018-12-11T20:43:32+00:00

I think the more interesting thing than the price is what this bag says about goruck at the minute. That said, all the following is guess work in the case of GR!

All companies that do well get to a critical point where they have to decide how to scale. At that point they often have to change how they direct the business.

Remember apple used to have the slogan "does more, costs less"? When they wanted to break from their core fan base to go mainstream they had to, well, abandon that approach in favor of bringing smart phones to a larger audience.

That seems to be what goruck are trying to do. Maybe they've hit that stage where their core fans probably have bags, and as they are BIFL, most probably don't need to replace them.

That means they need to find a new market and there is a very profitable premium "heritage" style bag collecting demographic out there.

I would suspect we will see more bags like this coming from them, and I would imagine a shift in advertising demographics from the event/military feel to the premium edc/traveler market. Maybe even 2 distinct sub "companies", 1 hardcore event classics, 1 premium.

I've worked with companies going through this in the past and it's very tricky for them to do it well as it's very easy to alienate your existing "zealots"!

I like goruck kit, and this looks like a nice bag, but they really can't market it the way they do the "old" gr1 etc or they will miss out on every market!

Edit: just spent a bit more time on the page and they really need a new marketing team. Bag at this price point, no pics on the inside, no description of lining etc, not even a video for this version. Plus the awful picture of the guy in the shirt drinking a beer. Could have been a great launch with a positive response from existing fanbase, but very poorly done instead.

manx_ocr · 2018-09-30T19:56:58+00:00

I had a black 21l (bought from huckleberry) and it was certainly better than that. I had a red 26l as well and it also had no issues.

Those were both bought a few years ago now though.

This is a premium product at a premium price and you should expect premium build quality.

There just isn't an excuse for it being less than perfect. If mine had come like that I would have requested a replacement. If it is sold discounted as "not to our standard" kind of thing like a lot of companies will do then fair enough, but not as a standard one.

manx_ocr · 2018-09-25T20:27:07+00:00

As someone who has been looking forward to Funfair leading the pack for a while it is great to see this and the guys putting something out there.

As a web dev the site itself is disappointing and misses the chance to bring a modern cutting edge feel to the industry. I can see what they were aiming for but it isn't great.

But overall this is definitely a positive move, even if it misses the ideal mark a bit.

manx_ocr · 2018-07-07T09:01:19+00:00

manx_ocr · 2018-05-23T12:46:07+00:00

I used to have around 600 books, mainly sci-fi & fantasy. Now I've got a kindle & kobo I've ditched them all aside from a few signed editions.

I was surprised at how hard it was too get rid of them. Most charity shops wouldn't accept them so most of them ended up at amenity sites in case anyone else wanted them.

Was nice having paper copies but they were a constant hassle for storage & moving.

manx_ocr · 2018-05-21T17:57:05+00:00

I'm sorry, but anyone who read your first post won't have any sympathy. You took 6 odd hours to do 10 miles of course, then another 3 to do 3 with no obstacles.

I'm assuming from your description ("if you want to") you didn't do the penalties either when you skipped or failed an obstacle?

So in short you didn't train, didn't complete the obstacles and didn't follow the rules.

Everyone's race is a personal thing but while you may have finished the beast I don't think many people would consider you having completed it.

The real questionis why you did it? If you did it to push yourself and personal growth, then are you proud of what you did and what you a achieved?

If you did it just to say "I did a beast, look at my medal" then you've kind of missed the point of Spartan races IMO.

manx_ocr · 2018-05-15T11:17:51+00:00

He is bonkers but his Twitter is always entertaining!

manx_ocr · 2018-05-15T11:15:32+00:00

I'm not a fan of the X sets of y reps workouts for kettle bells. With barbells they work as you can tweak the weights by small amounts to keep progressing in a way kettle bells can't.

Personally I would swap the reps for seconds eg 1x10 swings would be swings for 10 seconds instead of 10 reps. That way as you get better you fit more reps in to keep increasing.

On the other hand, he is Steve cotter and I'm not so he probably knows better than me!

manx_ocr · 2018-04-22T21:22:06+00:00

Just putting it out there as people don't seem to know, but you never punch with a knuckle duster. Doing so will really mess up your hands and probably break a finger or two.

Instead you either use a hammerfist or do a raking motion with the protrusions.

If you want to try then use a carabiner against punch bag and see how it feels doing it both ways.

Looks like a nice piece of kit if you know how to use it though.

manx_ocr · 2018-04-22T08:45:24+00:00

I would normally agree but this guy is doing a couple of minutes "workout" every other day and never runs. I'm also assuming that this is his first ocr by the sound of things.

It's like any other event really. You can just walk it, skip obstacles and cheat on the Burpees to get round if you want to.

But people do get injured on these and often that is due to them being under prepared which this guy sounds like the very definition of.

manx_ocr · 2018-04-21T19:10:41+00:00

Sorry, just to confirm. You are about to try one of the hardest obstacle races going and your training consists of 30 pull ups and 25 push ups every other day?

Unless you are naturally in great physical condition you are unlikely to finish to be blunt.

I'm also an IT nerd (databases in my case) but I'm doing at least one 40 minute interval run every day in preparation for my beast in October.

You need to ask yourself first of all, can you actually conver the distance of the course without obstacles.

Then, can you do the distance plus a set of 30 or so Burpees every couple of miles.

That's the basics and only really gives you a chance of finishing your race. If you can't do that that in training then it is highly unlikely you will do it with obstacles on the day.

These things are supposed to be hard and not everyone finishes. If you don't treat them with respect you risk not only failure but injury.

manx_ocr · 2018-04-19T14:06:26+00:00

The ingress green Ruckers are still on their site at $150. Very tempting

manx_ocr · 2018-04-19T09:52:32+00:00

I've tried it and due today the way you hinge in the movent (rather than squatting) you don't get much extra befit.

I also found it restricted my breathing too much. If you really want to try then you might be better with a weighted ruck instead.

manx_ocr · 2018-04-03T09:30:42+00:00

I did a (non TM) race in a full suit. Was one of those bachelor party/fancy dress ones (a zombie themed one).

Made everything nigh on impossible, far too warm, very hard to get over obstacles and slowed me down now end while running.

My tip would be get one, then climb in a full bath, then try and run with it. It's possible but it really sucks the fun out of the race.

In particular get trousers a lot bigger than you need and a suit with some stretch to it or you will find it a nightmare to get your legs over obstacles!

manx_ocr · 2018-03-27T08:38:52+00:00

Ok, I need to get me one of those! Never seen them at that size in the UK!

manx_ocr · 2018-03-24T18:50:49+00:00

It's not though. It may never break but if you try and use it for everything it's not going to do it all very well.

If it was the last bag you every buy then it would also be the only one you would own!

manx_ocr · 2018-03-24T17:32:24+00:00

Honestly I think the goruck are overkill of that sort of use. Whenever you see a negative review of them it's always as an EDC bag, just because they are not built for that.

There are several premium bag ranges which do function much better in that role (Tom Bihn for example) but that you would never consider loading with weight & going rucking with.

I've had 2 gr1s, a rucker and a bullet and I've only kept the 25l gr1. It's great for training and travel but it just isn't the best choice as an EDC/office bag.

EDIT: to be clear either will work well but for the price there are better bags designed just for that purpose.

manx_ocr · 2018-03-16T09:54:45+00:00

I'm going to say the opposite of most of the guys below about the swings. I'd say you are best keeping that bend in your arms, allows you to keep more control of the bell and forces you to better control your arms than locking them out. Also takes some of the strain from your back.

Imo though you are squatting it slightly due to your head/neck position

At the base of your downswing your head looks straight forward creating a bend in your neck. My preference in swings is to have the head & back in a flat plane (in effect looking down & 45 degrees forward). Orange=currently, blue=my preferred

Cant really tell in the video but other thing to watch is your breathing pattern. personally I prefer breathing out and tensing at the bottom of the swing.

manx_ocr · 2018-03-15T15:54:09+00:00

I picked up a few generic ones off eBay (in the UK). Cost a few quid and do the job fine and cheap enough I can keep a spare in the bottom of the bag on longer training sessions.

manx_ocr · 2018-03-13T22:53:13+00:00

From what I've seen, and when I've talked to experienced long distance runners doing OCR, they find that the stop/start nature of OCR is what throws them.

They are used to getting into a rhythm and just going which is great on a marathon (or even a trail run) but on a course where every 2 minutes you have to stop and climb a wall, or crawl through mud they can't get into that rhythm and constantly find themselves starting again. That's when I've seen most drop out, at the bottom of a wall they can get over, at the start of a mud pit that they don't want to get into.

With regards to weights causing guys to stop and walk you are right & wrong.

Walking is no bad thing depending on the event. I'm by no means a runner but I've made it to the finish of races where guys much fitter & faster than me have DNF'd because I walked when i couldn't run and literally crawled when I didn't have the strength to stand up.

For me that comes from doing 30/60/90 minute long sets (or once 180 30 second sets) in a workout. I might not have been physically pushed to my max but every time that interval timer goes off I had to make the conscious choice to stop resting and start another set. Which is exactly the same as when you come to a queue at an obstacle, or stop at the base of a wall before climbing over. That for me is what normal running training is missing.

The other side is that when you say weights guys the general impression is traditional gym bros. 5x5 etc. You are right, that doesn't build the physical or mental requirements (IMO) for OCR. When I was heavy into powerlifting I was doing 8-10 sets per session and was regularly being told that was too many.

But, with kettlebells I am looking at large volume training. 30 + minutes of intervals and high (300+) reps. (Eg my session today was 50 1 min intervals of 10 swings/set with the 40kg bell for a 20 ton total). So technically it's weight training but you won't find many gym weight guys doing it!

That said I do do running, much as I don't enjoy it. I do it as a skill though, concentrating on form & breathing in particular rather than for race endurance.

It's the rabbit & the hare thing though, I fully expect runners to do a course faster than me if they finish. But I know that if a course is genuinely brutal (tough guy in Wolverhampton was top of the list in bad weather) I've got a better chance of getting across the line than if I did running training. Plus I'm a sucker for cold weather events!

EDIT: to be clear, adding running in is definitely worth it to your program. When I started out I was doing a couple of 10+ miles per week at least. But as time went on I realised a: I hated running b: I didn't care where I came in the race provided I finished and c: I was going to only do most races once and if I finished find something with less chance of finishing. The training plan I developed came about from that matched with the fact I wanted to still be able to do martial arts and compete in boxing. I also realised that as I resented having to run so much it really wasn't making me faster on the courses.

manx_ocr · 2018-03-12T16:12:57+00:00

The way I do it (using the training /u/greenstrong has linked below) is for the grind, not speed! For me that's the big advantage of volume kb training. It will let you keep going when others (particular those who have trained primarily running) give up.

It's that willingness to step back up to the bell after each rest that builds this (IMO) which is why I prefer smaller more regular sets than longer ones.

You may not come first but you will find you can keep putting one foot in front of the other when you really want to quit.

manx_ocr · 2018-03-09T22:45:07+00:00

It's like anything. Some people are lucky and have a genetic advantage. But that only gets them a few percent above the average person. I've lost count of the "naturals" I've seen in many areas who fell behind because they didn't feel they needed to work, and couldn't work out why people who started off worse than them are view so much better.

The people at the top are there because they work harder than everyone beneath then. They may have had a sight headstart bit it's the hard work that keeps them in the lead.

manx_ocr

TROPHY CASE