Blow by blow ha ha from a Q&A on GORUCK’s Facebook page.

Q1: When is GORUCK coming to Altus AFB?

A1: We’re in talks to do a lot more with the USAF. Nothing official and no promises but my hope would be 2015. Cadre Michael has done a great job with the event, and response to the USAF x GORUCK Light has been overwhelmingly positive from Airmen and other participants.

Q2: We all know the sand and beach play a big part of Selection but for those few that can’t make it to HCLS or to a beach what other ways would you say to prep for that aspect?
A2: Selection is horrible and to pass it you have to achieve and overcome other significant mental hurdles before you show up. So find your demons somewhere, somehow, and push through. I believe you can become mentally stronger and a better leader and a better person. People do change but people don’t change kind of deal. By that I mean you don’t know what you’re capable of until you push it hard. So to achieve something like passing GORUCK Selection (or SFAS), I recommend finding the hardest things you can and passing them. Where they’re not hard enough, make them harder. As you achieve and pass more things, it gives you the confidence to do something even greater. And the secret about all our Cadre and everyone who has passed any type of Special Operations Selection is that you don’t know going in if you have what it takes because you don’t know what “it” is. All you can do is show up as mentally and physically ready as possible. With more emphasis on the mental part.

Q3: Shadows in Miami have to be exclusively female?
A3: Yes, in Miami for the All Girls Weekend shadows are girls only.

Q4: Pint or stein?
A4: Pint but actually, I prefer beer in a can in my dad’s garage in Bellbrook Ohio.

Q5: Any other big sales planned for the future?
A5: We’ll have something for Black Friday. Prior to that, no plans.

Q6: An exact date on release for firearms gear?

A6: I expect a pre-sale to go live in a couple weeks, and I expect delivery after that to take 2+ months. This is operationally the hardest thing we’ve ever done since everything else we’ve ever done ha ha.

Q7: what new products/gear (other than firearms) can we expect through 2014 and into 2015?
A7: Not much in 2014 besides Firearms Gear. You’ll see some accessories like Nalgene bottle holders for your GR1 and an all elusive patch board, but our sole focus for the last year as almost exclusively been on Firearms Gear.

Q8: Release date of 2015 schedule?
A8: I expect at least the first half of the year to launch this month. Including two dates for Selection. One out West in the mountains and one in Florida on the beach. Pick your poison.

Q9: Will you be offering the ruck combo packages in colors besides black?
A9: Yes, we’ll offer them in colors in the future. Right now our greatest limitation is our e-commerce platform. We’re basically living in a rental car if that makes sense and nobody washes a rental car and we’re building a new site entirely that will allow us to do all sorts of cool stuff. To get technical, we have to create a separate SKU for every rucking kit instead of picking each SKU that’s a part of it. I’ll just say that’s not the way to do it but that’s the way we have to do it. For now.

Q10: What would it take to get an HCL in St.Louis?
A10: Not sure, but it’d be a great town for it. Basically, we schedule where we think the demand is. We haven’t been perfect and far from it but that’s the goal.

Q11: Any chance in the near future will you plan to expand or explore distribution to authorized dealers in Asia/Oceania region? Or any other region for that matter? Ease shipping for us aus/nz GRTs.
A11: I would love to say we have all sorts of plans to make life easier. Best guess is that it will take a little time. Currently we’re trying to fix the situation with domestic shipping to ensure orders go out same or next day always, including during demand spikes. At some point’s we’ve been 6-7 days behind which is totally unacceptable and we’re working to fix it. So, once we fix the system here, we can look to export that system elsewhere.

Q12: What kind of lead is that on Monster? Looks pretty slick, nice and basic.

A12: Monster has a GORUCK leash on. I’m actually working on a super simple post about why they’re the best leashes around. Less is more, more is lazy style and those huge clunky things that retract etc. are a total violation of Rule #1. Leashes here: http://www.goruck.com/en/goruck-dog-leash

Q13: Kit Klein said we could expect another Buffalo Trace event, or events very similar. Is this verifiable intel?
A13: Yeah, they have literally been awesome as a partner and I’d say you can plan on a lot more events at their distillery in the great state of Kentucky.

Q14: Will the Bullet 15L ever be offered again. Oh the remorse in not obtaining one!
A14: Yeah, we’ll bring it back eventually. For a while we had a massive stockpile of 10L Bullets so we didn’t want to cannibalize them. We led with them for Steals and Deals in April/May (the 10L) because we had to. And not to mention that the 10L has become my go to, even over my trusted GR1 though I have to say if I had to pick one it would still of course be my GR2, then my GR1 I just end up traveling with my laptop less so the 10L Bullet works great.

Q15: Monster, Im training for my first Light. Will we see you in Colorado on the 30th?

A15: Monster would love to get there, and follow in Java’s footsteps. Not this year, but the Ascent has Monster’s name all over it. There’s something special about those mountains and the people who show up to climb them. As for the Light, have fun!

Q16: How old was your oldest person to finish Selection and Heavy?
A16: Not sure exactly, I think a bunch of Selection finishers are in their 40’s though. I think perception is that it’s a young buck’s game. This is the same perception of Special Forces. The truth is that the young bucks typically think they can’t be broken so they’re easy to break. The older guys have a little wisdom in them and have seen failure in the world and if they’re in shape, they’re well positioned to pass. As for Heavy, I’m not sure but I would guess that someone in their 60’s has passed. If they haven’t, I know @rod Butler could ha ha.

Q17: Are there going to be more “Jedburgh” Heavy’s?
A17: Yeah, we’re looking to expand those. They’re not really the same as “Heavy” at all other than the time of 24+ hours so we’ll probably adjust the name at some point.

Q18: You recently canceled a few events due to low registrations, and I have seen some events happen with only a few participants. Is there a minimum number of registrations that are required to hold an event or is it case by case? Thx
A18: Minimum number of sign-ups has to be 6 for us to show up. Sometimes we reach out to make sure people are really going to show up because occasionally people bail at the last minute and that’s no bueno for anyone. We enjoy being high touch and going everywhere. I think it’s what sets us apart from all the bigger Events companies is that we can literally come anywhere, anytime, and make it work for you and for us in terms of the $$ paid.

Q19: Any hints on 2015 plans for the brand? Events, new product launches, etc.?

A19: You’ll see us start to really talk about rucking, not just GORUCK’ing, and we’ll have Events that are centered on rucking. It’s the most accessible sport nobody has ever heard of…yet. The fitness gains are high in that it’s both strength and cardio in one, and it will appeal to a lot of CrossFitters and other folks who just don’t want to or like to run but still want to get some solid cardio in.

Q20: Hey Jason, I’m a newbie to GORUCK, do we need to purchase a ruck before the challenge? Can we bring our own? Are they supplied? Etc… Thanks
A20: For your event, you need to bring a ruck and weight in accordance with the packing list. We used to require you to have one of ours. We don’t anymore even though our rucks are the best for our Events and for life in general.

Q21: Could firearms day expand to rifles?

A21: Yes, eventually we can do rifle training and you name it. Our Cadre are and have been the best shooters in the world (it’s a highly perishable skill, but teaching it is not perishable), with millions of rounds fired in training and in war. And in some cases, I’m talking per Cadre and specifically someone like Tyler. You won’t find a better Firearms instructor out there is my take.

Q22: Since Trek and Beached are my current capstone goals, I wondered what the anticipated # of these events will be going forward into 2015 and 2016.
A22: There will be no more Trek’s in 2014 or 2015. Eventually we may bring it back but it’s a ton of work and we don’t charge enough to not lose a bunch of money, which is a bad combination. Beached will have a couple next year in the Jacksonville Beach area, I’d expect them to launch in the next few weeks.

Q23: I love that you guys are encouraging customization more and more (for gear, shirts, etc). Any plans on making custom patches along the lines of the new website for custom shirts?
A23: Custom patches – it’s one of our next things to really dive into. The operations side of it is a little harder in that we would need to facilitate artwork becoming real live patches and then delivering them to you in a timely manner at not too great a cost. Not too many patch makers want to drop ship so that would entail order minimums which is not exactly a great service above what you can already get. I think in the interim the goal would be for us to make a lot more patches and just put them on our site for sale. If you have recommendations, send them our way.

Q24: Any plans for a firearms day in the SF Bay Area?

A24: Firearms in California – I love California, home to the first GORUCK Challenge, but I would not call it a firearms friendly state. We’ve had a bunch of logistical challenges to holding firearms training. When we figure it out, we’d love to do more gun stuff there. In the interim, that’s why Tyler lives in Vegas ha ha.

Q25: Jason who came up with the ACRT acronym?
A25: ACRT Advanced Cellular Repair Technology aka beer after a ruck or whatever, that would be yours truly with Java’s help that came up with that one. Nutrition matters and I’ve been there, but life’s too short not to drink a beer with your buddies on a Friday afternoon or any afternoon really.

Q26: First a giant thank you for your service. And another for creating the GoRuck community. I just participated in my first light and signed up with my husband for two more! I can’t get enough.
I’ve seen information about GoRuck’s fire arms training and I wonder if you’ve ever considered self defense training events? Hint hint, I’d sign up in a heartbeat.
A26: Firearms and self defense. Yes, we’ve thought about it. I’ve become a little more ruthless about saying no to things these days because saying yes really stretches our team really thin. That said, integrating a little self-defense into firearms training could work, especially since we’re not really looking to train operators at our Firearms classes. We’re looking to make people confident with guns. In my experience, guns are pretty intimidating if you don’t know anything about them. But they’re very logical things in fact and something about G.I. Joe saying Knowing Is Half the Battle. Most people who don’t like guns, in my humble experience, have never spent time learning guns or don’t want to so they take on a life of their own. I’d just say that in life we fear that which we don’t understand the most, and we Cadre would like that fear to reduce within America. One day at the range with us and you’ll love it and you’ll leave confident in gun safety, which is paramount and very different than just being able to hit a target.

Q27: Will there be more Go-revolution events planned?
A27: GORevolution was, in Garrett’s words, the coolest event GORUCK has ever done and all credit goes to Cadre Andy for that one. Short answer: yes, we will do more. Long answer is that they’re highly involved and require a lot of additional work. We love to work it just takes a little more time to get right.

Q28: Please reissue Java GR2s & Any plans for multicam rucks?

A28: Colored rucks – Java GR2 and Multicam rucks. In the future, I see us doing more pre-sales for our gear. If enough people want them, we’ll build them and you’ll have them in a month or 6 weeks. We got into a lot of trouble because we built too much of everything last year and sometimes more of a good thing becomes too much and that was the genesis for Steals and Deals because we had to do it to get rid of a bunch of inventory.

Q29: What is going to happen with nasty?
A29: Nasty – maybe we’ll do it again, it is The Confidence Course. I’d bet 2016 same place as before outside DC in Virginia.

Q30: Will the running test at Neptune Beach Selection this year be done on sand or on another surface?

A30: Selection this Fall – I would expect a lot of time on the sand if I were a participant. Basically, the sand sucks for your feet and if you want to break a man (or a woman), make his feet miserable they can really break his or her mind down fast.

Q31: Has there ever been any offers for corporate sponsorship (i.e. how Reebok does CrossFit) and what’s your approach on that?
A31: Corporate sponsorship – yes, we’ve gotten some offers. I would expect us to launch a big one or maybe two next year.

Q32: Hey Jason, I know you had Christmas in July for Light, Challenge n Heavy. Any chance we can get a sale for Custom Challenges? Or would you consider adding South Padre Island TX to one of your scheduled Challenges? I know 25 people off the back who are ready and willing!
A32: Custom Events and Texas and stuff. If you really have 25 people who would sign up, that’s pretty easy for us. In my experience, people saying they’ll sign up and actually signing up are two different things lol. Just send us a note and we’ll do what we can. Ask for Blockus.

Q33: Can you guys make a rolling load out bag thats at 62 linear inches so airlines don’t charge me extra for checked bags? Also would love a tactical bathing suit in a traditional length. Bathing suits and board shorts are so long they might as well be called bathing pants. Made of ripstop material in od green or coyote. Just bit bit longer then ranger panties.
A33: Rolling load out bag. The problem with roll bags is the hardware that creates the wheels. Most of them suck and they fail, planned obsolescence style. We don’t do planned obsolescence. We can’t because we have a lifetime guarantee on our gear. We’ll have to wait till we’re bigger and demand would be greater. That would allow us to custom design and build all our own hardware for the wheels.

Q34: What about events for 50+? As a member of that demo it be nice to see more gray hair like mine at events
A34: Events for 50+. We did a Master’s Heavy which is 40+ I believe and the folks really liked it. I guess something for 50+, a Light or a Challenge, could be great. At the outset of GORUCK we were so militant about everyone together regardless of race, sex, age, orientation you name it. And that’s our culture and our default, but as we’re seeing with the All Girls Weekend sometimes it’s nice to also have something a little different. Bottom line: I’ll look into it.

Q35: Any plans on bringing back the GORUCK flag?
A35: GORUCK Flag – a GORUCK USA with a red, white, and blue Spearhead will launch I believe tomorrow and it’s awesome. So yeah, it’s back better than ever.

Q36: Has there ever been a thought about doing a GRC/GRH for just vets?
A36: GRC/GRH for just Vets. Same answer basically as the 50+ crowd. Years ago I would have said no way because what we as Vets owe is to share who we are with the rest of America and The Challenge and the people who showed up for it taught me so much about why America is great. Namely our people aka Americans, whether they’ve served or not. But I see the allure in a more “comfortable” group. And personally, I know what it feels like to be really at home around fellow Vets and our Cadre in a way that I don’t have to explain anything. So yeah, I’ll look into this one, too.

Q37: Jason, did you ever imagine when you got started, how big GoRuck would become, how many lives would be changed, or that you would meet your goal of creating the GoRuck nation and how many better Americans would be built? Sincerely, Vania (aka Monster’s groupie)
A37: GORUCK and expectations and growth. I’m not an outcomes driven person, I’m a process driven person. What’s fueled all of this is the response from GORUCK Nation, from you. I always had a vision for us to be something special, for us to aspire to excellence. What has been most surprising is how we’re getting there, namely via Events and the people who support us. It’s actually Special Forces 101 to be By, With, and Through, it just took me a while to realize we could do that at GORUCK. And so I and we are grateful for the support.

Q38: What do you think you would be doing if you never went into Special Forces and later started GORUCK?
A38: Had I not started GORUCK, I’d be serving America in hopefully some faraway land (the more austere the better) and I think I would be just as happy doing that as I am doing this. And that’s saying a lot because I’m at a point in my life where I love doing this GORUCK stuff.

Q39: Have you considered getting the major GPS apps and watch manufactures to add rucking as an activity on their pages and devices? It should have it’s own category.
A39: Rucking and GPS devices. Yes, we’re working on it. Shouldn’t be hard so it’ll only take 5 years ha ha.

Q40: Is training ever coming back to the GR site? (Btw–what’s done with all the PT results you collect at events?)
A40: Training – Expect us to focus a lot more on rucking and integration with other training regimes out there. Rucking, though, is where we (with all of our Cadre) are the leading experts and it’s where we can add the most new content.

Q41: Any plans to bring back more of the bags colors or any new ones?
A41: New colors. The one everyone seems to want is grey. We’ll do our best, and you can expect a few limited runs of some colors, especially as we build up inventory before Christmas.

Q42: Jason, Budweiser is owned by Inbev. Why don’t you support an American owned brewing company like Coors/Miller or Sam Adams?

A42: Budweiser. I love Bud because I grew up watching my dad drink it in his garage with his buddies and old habits die hard and home is a special place. Arguably my dad’s garage is even more special but that’s a different story. I would be happy to drink American owned beer instead if it makes sense for GORUCK and oh the sacrifices we’re asked to make sometimes eh

Q43: Have you thought about ways to prevent your site crashing when you launch the firearms gear…and not running out of things? I personally think when you run out of things then people forget and don’t come back…reason I never bought ruck accessories…
A43: Firearms Gear and our website crashing – we’ll actually be hosting the pre-sale on a separate, more robust website. It will not be integrated with the rest of our site for a lot of reasons. Primarily because we do not want to confuse pre-sale items with anything else you may want to put in your cart. Currently (until our new website launches), this poses too many problems. So this is the work-around. That said, you’ll probably still crash it lol.

Q44: Seconded to Matt Douglas’ question. We are very interested in an ABSOC on the gulf and Texas seems to have the GRT’s to support it. Would this be possible?
A44: ABSOC in Texas. I’ll see what we can do.

Q45: Jason any plans on some more northeast HCLs in 2015?
A45: HCL’s. I’m not sure the schedule right now. I’m due to review 2015 in the next couple of days.

Q46: Selection 2015 – Jax and Bozeman!?

A46: Selection 2015. Bozeman, MT and Jax Beach, Florida. Not in that order, actually. I’d expect Florida in April 2015 and Bozeman in August 2015. You heard it here second (I already told all the Selection finishers last week).

Q47: When are you gonna update the website for the hours of the Challenge from 8-10 to whatever the hell the Cadre feel like? My Challenge lasted 13.5 hours…and it was awesome
A47: GORUCK Challenge 8-10 Hours. Under Promise Over Deliver. Our fine print actually allows us to give you more, not less ha ha.

Q48: Monster – will we see you in Miami for the Girls FAD-CLS? Flying in just for you!

A48: Miami All Girls Weekend. Both Monster and I will be there and we’re really looking forward to it.

Q49: Hobbes wants to know how Monster does it? This rucking is wearing him out
Sleepy beast

A49: Monster just loves to ruck so he practices it with me all the time. There is no substitute for hard work and there are no shortcuts and you’re allowed to be tired when you’re done.

Q50: What percentage of Selection finishers have served in the military?
A50: Selection finishers – I think only one was in the military. Grant Shymske am I right or who am I forgetting?

Q51: I know we can search for events based upon a city, what about searching for events based upon Cadre?
A51: New website, Events and Cadre and stuff. There will a lot more robustness to the site and the way we present the Events. Search by Cadre is definitely one feather we’ll have even if that takes us just a little bit after the initial release of the site to do. The Events map will use Google Maps and you’ll be able to easily search by zip code or whatever you use to search in Google.

Q52: Are more WSAFB events going to be scheduled for 2015?
A52: War Stories and Free Beer. Yes, we’re doing one in December in San Diego for Big Daddy’s retirement from the USMC party weekend. By and large we’re doing WSFB as part of GORUCK Solutions Events, which are custom events. If we can get some way to really publicize WSFB nationally we’d be happy to do more of them.

Q53: 3rd on the ABSOC in Texas and some of the other special events. We sold out a custom Jedburgh in Texas in less than one hour (sold out and PAID) and have more than 20 people on the waiting list.
A53: Texas. You all are well represented on the thread today. Well done and I’ll ask about more Jedburgh slots and an ABSOC.

Q54: Is GORUCK Jedburgh replacing Trek for the time being?
A54: Jedburgh/Trek. Yeah, I guess it’s fair to say that for a while anyway Jedburgh is replacing Trek. Trek will never go away entirely or forever, that’s kind of its deal to stay in the shadows till it pops up again and goes away only to come back reborn differently. Or something.

Q55: Re-release of limited edition colors around the holidays? – Ranger green and Java especially.
A55: Ranger Green – demand for this color was high, we’ll probably do some runs of it in time for the holidays. Do not expect 12 or 1,200 different colors or however many we had last year, though

Q56: Is there chance you will open up the Dec 2014 PA Prohibition GRC to more people?
A56: Prohibition Events – not sure on opening them up I didn’t even know they were sold out. I’ll ask.

Q57: Monster & Jason any plans to expand the GORUCK dog gear line? And anything further on the Java Forever stuff?

A57: Java Forever stuff. Sadly it’s taken longer than I would like. It’s with the lawyer now. I’ll be glad to finally launch it. Basically, it’ll be the non-profit arm of GORUCK, which will allow us to raise money and distribute to other 501c3’s doing great work like Green Beret Foundation and Pets for Patriots. It will make it a lot easier for us to do specials on T’s or gear where a certain % or a few bucks here and there (which add up) go to charity.

Q58: What is the greatest challenge facing GoRuck and what can the GRT community do to help?
A58: Greatest challenge facing GORUCK. Maintaining quality of both gear and events I believe will always be the front lines, but basically we have to do it internally taking into account your feedback. So please let us know if something’s not quite right, we do read your emails. Bigger macro picture, GORUCK needs more awareness (we’re still really, really tiny) and we believe that the sport of rucking will increase that. If you want to help us, get your friends to ruck not even necessarily GORUCK. Rucking is the foundation for where we’re going together.

Q59: Hey Jason. Wow lots of questions for you. One quick question. Will the GR1 ruck ever be available in either digicam or sand again. I missed them first time around. also is there a message board I could check to see if other members are looking to sell their gear? EBay is hit or miss. Thank u.

A59: GR1 in Digicam or Sand. I would expect to see pre-sales of gear happen where if enough people want something, we’ll build it. But at this time we have no plans to bring back either of those colors.

Q60: Will events be pushed into smaller cities in the future?
A60: Events in smaller cities. We do Events in all kinds of cities, I would expect that to remain. I think the push on our end is also to include National Parks. We started out focusing on cities which are great but there’s also something about nature and we’ve seen that with events like NOGOA.

Q61: Are you still looking for a CTO?
A61: CTO position – no, we’re not looking currently. We have a trusted advisor named Tom Leonard spearheading the project and under his leadership we’re poised for significant gains on all our IT deficiencies.

Q62: Any thoughts to add a notification element to a persons account on the GORUCK site? Along the lines of picking 3 states and anytime an event (any type) is posted for the favorites states selected an automated e-mail is sent to us notifying us?
A62: Events notifications on the site and stuff. Yeah, we’ll get a lot more sophisticated on the IT front. For now, though, we have to focus on the basics. Aka a shopping cart that works and a site that doesn’t crash. In addition to custom Events Manager software that simplifies the Cadre’s experience leading every class and makes it easier for participants, too.

Q63: Word on the street says you’ve been taking a break from Bud Heavys and really been tossing back the Bud Light “Raz-ber-ita” and “Mang-o-rita” beers this summer. Any truth to this?

A63: Bud Light is not beer to me and I can’t say I never drink it but I don’t drink it and anything with berry is also not beer it’s a wine cooler ask Cadre Patrick about that one. It’s one of the oldest standing jokes at GORUCK.

Q64: We will ever see a more consolidated, unified social media presence, particularly over the FB Platform. Obviously, there are a LOT of GORUCK Sub Groups out there, such as the beloved Tough Page, the Skymall, the _______ page, the Rod&Gun, etc. GORUCK is maturing, and as your brand matures, I can’t help but think the end goal is to unify or close down those outlying areas such as these, and move everything to just the main brand “page”. There is certainly a benefit to having all the various cult followings, but it is hard to manage/wrangle, for sure. Thoughts on this?
A64: Social Media and consolidation. Some things we can control, other things we can’t. We have to either create something that’s integrated that people want to use and can use easily or we have to work with existing platforms. The Tough Group is certainly a central hub for GORUCK Nation. I’m on there every single day because it’s a pulse of what’s going on. As far as forums and such, I think it’s in our future but not immediate. Over time I guess the creation of sub-groups is inevitable and in fact encouraged. Two things. All GORUCK is local and we’re a C2C company. Perhaps one of the only true C2C companies and we believe in the Build it and They’ll Come approach, which is easier said than done in that every day you have to live it. So our goal is to empower people, to make them better, and to bring them together. What they do with that togetherness I’m all for and I think some kind of Big Brother approach to controlling GORUCK Nation in ways we can’t control would be against the spirit of who we are. So in sum, we’ll create platforms to unite people and let you all take it from there. At the moment, it’s not at the top of our list but it’s not the bottom, either.

Q65: Jason – is there a master list floating around anywhere of the events Class # and dates and location for reference?

A65: Master List of Events with Class #’s. I was just thinking about that the other day. There is currently not an easy one, but I think it’s worth publishing at a certain point, too. Not tops on our list but we’ll get to it.

Q66: Can we also have a list of all the products GR has sold with specs for each generation?

A66: Gear Specs for every historical product. No, it doesn’t exist and even if it did a lot of it would be wrong. Forever we thought that GR2 was 46L until a GRT told us that was mathematically impossible. So we bought some volume balls and you can’t believe how expensive those damn things are. And our friend was right and we were wrong and it is 40L not 46L. That said, we’re getting a lot better as we become a lot more mathematical about everything.

Q67: Have you thought of releasing official GORUCK challenge coins?

A67: Challenge coins. It’s on the list and the list is long. They’ll be awesome though when we do get to it.

Q68: Jason McCarthy, saw your post about lowing the price of events….Great but how about keeping the price the same and paying your awesome cadre a bit more? I know they are worth it, cant put a price on those patriots that are building better Americans!
A68: Events prices and Cadre payment. We are where we are because of the Cadre and everything we can do to support them I’m for. We pay them currently pretty well, and while it’s a grind to travel a ton and not sleep and lead Events all weekend, you all make it really rewarding for all of us.

Q69: Was curious what the reason was for not having a hip belt? And was the sheath pocket made for bricks originally or was there a mission need for that pocket? On top of that I’d like to say thanks for creating these events it’s been an amazing experience for me and to help open some of my friends eyes to where they are as a person and a warrior.
A69: The hip belt question. So…the gear came before the Events. We worked on GR1 for 2.5 years before The Challenge was even thought of. Hip belts in the military have a way of getting in the way of the ammo you carry above your hips, and hip belts in NYC when you’re on the subway make you look like you’re supposed to be hiking a mountain or something. And we were always going for the comfortable in Baghdad and NYC thing from the beginning. So no hip belt. As for the next iteration of rucks…that’s a different story of course.

Q70: What happened with no more teens allowed at events again? The events I have done with teens have been awesome for the kids. They were all strong and had no problems.
A70: Events and teens. I’m not sure what happened with that. I’ll ask.

Q71: How does it feel to have such a large fan base? How did you talk the Cadre into doing this?
A71: Large fan base and the Cadre. I’m grateful for the support, I’m grateful that your support lets me do what I do it’s a real gift. It also doesn’t really change things for me on a fundamental level. I just want us to be great, and to fulfill our potential and to give back to an America that gave me everything. As for the Cadre, everyone was skeptical of GORUCK till they weren’t. Dan summed it up by saying that we’re Building Better Americans. Because we are. It speaks volumes to what motivates us so it’s not me who talked them into it, it’s you who showed up and you who convinced them that this was worth doing. OK OK after one of their SF buddies told them to check it out and word of mouth is everything in SF. Special Operations is full of the most skeptical guys you’ll ever meet, guys who if they aren’t skeptical about things aren’t very good in war, where you’re skeptical that everything is potentially a lethal threat. That means you can only truly rely on your teammates, it’s just how it is. And the fact that so many in a community I love believe in GORUCK and in you and want to give back to the home front is one of the most rewarding parts of this whole thing in that I believe that the Cadre at GORUCK are better positioned to transition back to America after 13 years of wartime service in some cases.

Q72: If a GORUCK bag is just out of my operational budget, what might a good substitute be?
A72: GORUCK and your budget. I’m a bad one to ask about substitutes for GORUCK Rucksacks. Something about quality hurts once etc. But there are all sorts of war tested rucks out there. My belief without naming any of them specifically is that quality has gone down basically across the board as they’ve gone overseas. Not because people in those countries don’t work hard or can’t sew. Because Quality Control is a very difficult process and if you’re too far from it you can’t oversee it aka if you’re an American company and all your stuff is made overseas it’s really tough to oversee it. I remember reading the story about how Steve Jobs sent a bunch of his guys to live in China for months to oversee product of the iPhone. And yeah, that’s a bout right and finding those people to oversee it is not that easy.

Q73: Grant/Pearce/Robert/Spencer P – that I know of. [in response to earlier].

A73: Selection finishers and military experience. Yeah, I knew I was forgetting a few. I just happened to be staring at Class 000’s picture from the back of the pick-up and couldn’t remember everyone else class by class even though they’ve all been to my house almost. Stupid me.

Q74: How about a carbine class incorporated into the Firearms day?

A74: Carbine class and Firearms Day. Operationally it’s a little harder due to ranges required. As we build out our system, we’ll be able to accommodate any/all requests best guess. In the interim, doing custom classes on a range you set up is a sure way to fast track the process for us.

Q75: Why was sand phased out as a color in favor of coyote?
A75: Sand color. Lou back in the day loved it, called it super classy and we all loved it. As the market decided, more folks asked for Coyote so we’ve moved in that direction.

Q76: Multicam and/or java bullet?

A76: MCAM/Java Bullet ruck – Maybe someday. We did the Java Bullet back in the day and Java remains the great love of my life ha ha and as a color yeah we’ll bring it back as you want more of it. After all, we work for you.

Q77: On that last post, have their been guys who were potential Cadre that did an event and decided not to join up (aside from the being away all weekend)

A77: Cadre who did an Event and decided not to join GORUCK. This has not happened as far as I know, which means if it has it hasn’t happened often. There are still some guys on the fence that we’ve been asking for a while to come out and do a Challenge, which is phase 1 in the hiring process, and a bunch don’t want to yet or don’t want to fit it in between deployments etc.

Q78: Any plans to expand the expeditions to more topics than those current?

A78: Expeditions expansion. We’re focused on making them all they can be from a content perspective, then expanding them out to different locations. As more people have more wants, we can accommodate. Problem is there’s a lot of things we can do, even a lot of things we can do really well. But everything requires a lot of planning and a lot of work to do really well consistently.

Q79: Any future plans for a kids event? My sons 8yrs old has been begging me to let him do an event. Although I know he won’t be able to do the challenges or heavy, but it would be great to start something up for kids to strive for, earning a patch.

A79: Kids Event. Mocha started that train and I’d say yes there are plans but not concrete. First we have to perfect the content or at least get it to a state we’re really comfortable with. Then we have to identify and train the best Cadre for it, then we have to launch it. It’ll happen.

Q80: I’ve always wondered why the front pocket was diagonal. Pure Rule #1, or is there a practical reason?

A80: Front Slant Pocket on the rucks. It’s diagonal because when you set it down at your feet facing out and let’s say you’re right handed, this is the easiest way to get at your stuff. The zipper’s a little higher and you slide it down a little lower. There’s a tendency for your arm to pull on the zipper a “wrong” way when it’s straight across. This is just one of those things I learned having/seeing like a million different assault rucks in Special Forces.

Q81: No real question
A81: Alrighty, gotta run and go figure out some special plan for Big Daddy’s retirement weekend in San Diego in December what what?? it’ll be great. Thanks for everything if a few questions show up between now and tonight a few more answers might show up between tonight and tomorrow.

Q82: What are your thoughts on a dog harness. I know the peeps in the Kennel Club group and Monster would dig them. Not exactly this but something along these lines:
A82: Dog Harness. Yeah, eventually we’ll build everything and you certainly know my love of dogs. At this point I’d be happy with a collar to go along with the leashes.

Q83: Do you have any more information on the advertising? Do you have an RFP?
A83: Advertising and an RFP. Nah we don’t have anything formal. We’re working on a few content pieces mostly video that will help us more aggressively launch rucking as a sport. Other than that, we’re in the stone ages of how to advertise in that we’re word of mouth and the Internet and all the fancy polished stuff doesn’t really exist.

Q84: With so many signed up for Selection this year would you consider allowing some of us weirdos come and help out with whatever you need? I was a volunteer at Nasty and I probably had just as much fun as anyone who did the event.
A84: Selection this year. Volunteers – it’s not really that kind of an event like Nasty was. I would recommend being at Selection for the Firearms Day prior and the party after, though. And for hanging with all the people who show up. Last year’s Selection was awesome because Spengler passed sure but also because of all the folks who showed up and brought their families. I love our people because they’re my friends, too.

Q85: How did y’all end up contacting with the Air Force to hold events (I feel like theres probably a story there).. and do you give the Air Force cadre shit for outsourcing PT?
A85: United States Air Force and our contract. It’s a longer story how we got the contract and I’ll tell it some other time because working with the government is pretty slow. However, we’re honored to get to lead those classes, to give back to Airmen. As for whatever service you’re in, you basically never spend time with anyone in the Special Operations arm of your service until or if you go through their Selection. Our aim is to make any Airman who shows up better and more prepared for war and for a life in the United States Air Force. So no we don’t give them shit for outsourcing PT because we’re about a lot more than just PT (Physical Training) we just use PT to get you to the high ground as a team so to say.

Q86: What happened to Java Gr0?

A86: Java GR0 I dunno, did it sell out already?

Q87: Same problem as Pratish Pillay with the tac hat. They don’t look right on my head
A87: Hats. Yeah, we’re in consolidation mode. I’ve seen varying sizes as well. I would expect us to figure this out and communicate it more clearly, the sizing that is (and I’ll include having smaller/larger sizes in that) later this year or early 2015.

Q88: How about making a visor for us non hat wearers!
A88: Visors – would love to make a tactical Visor as soon as we perfect our system on all our other hats. There are only a few hat manufacturers in the USA, and dealing with them is somewhat more difficult than we would like. Yes, we’re up to the task though.

Q89: Would you ever consider doing private events for first responders? Team building events where cadre come out and do their thing to cops/Firefighters\medics etc. Events open only to TEAMS of first responders. Thoughts?
A89: Private events for First Responders. To us that’s a custom event and yes, we do them all the time. It’s hard for us to gauge where/when we should be, so please send us a note to let us know and we’ll do what we can.

Q90: Would you consider changing the forum for something like this to the GORUCK Reddit? Would be way easier to follow.
A90: GORUCK Reddit – sure, I’d consider changing the forum to that. In the interim, we’ll take these notes and post them to the blog and use that as a work around. Honestly I don’t know much about Reddit and have never really used it and aren’t there like a million social media platforms these days.