In the summer of 1998, my Marine unit was sent to Hawaii for a two-week training operation that involved a significant amount of tactical hiking. The premise was the jungles and steep terrain on the north side of the island.would mimic jungle warfare reminiscent of Vietnam. Issued a healthy dose of blank rounds, our responsibility this day was to assault an objective at the end of a particularly grueling tactical movement. The problem with blank rounds is that they leave a hard layer of carbon on the rifle which makes cleaning it a nightmare. As a young PFC, I had the bright idea that I would just toss mine out in the jungle and keep the rifle clean. The only problem was that when we arrived at the objective, about 3-quarters of the platoon had the same idea and we were left assaulting the objective making firing noises with our mouths. Discipline was harsh, but I learned an important lesson that day. Tactical hiking is not about arriving at your destination. It is about training so that you are ready for whatever harm comes your way when you arrive at your destination. Walking is exercise. Hiking is recreation. Tactical hiking is something different.
The Gear You Need to Successfully Complete a Tactical Hike
I use that story to illustrate the nature of tactical hiking because when I arrived at my destination, I didn’t have the one piece of gear needed to accomplish the mission. By contrast, a marathon runner can wear nothing but sleek shorts and arrive at their destination ready to pass out. Some even have to be carried across the finish line. As it pertains to tactical hiking, you can’t spend all your resources getting to your objective. That requires the right gear.
Protect Your Feet at all Costs During Tactical Movement
I’d say half of a Navy Corpsman job is patching up the blisters on a Marine’s feet. Tactical hiking can be extremely harsh on the feet and absolutely punishing if you don’t have the right tactical boots for hiking. The best tactical hiking boots are durable enough to stand up to the terrain, but designed to address the build up of moisture that is sure to take place on a long tactical hike. You’ll also want to break this footwear in well before you increase the miles you travel. A 20 mile hump is the wrong time to find out that your heel is going to aggressively rub against the back of even the best tactical hiking shoes.
Secondly, it is important to understand that socks are just as important as footwear. Moisture and friction are your enemy on any tactical movement. If you feel that burning sensation on any part of your foot, that is the warning before the blister. Keep your feet dry and an extra pair of socks on hand if you are going to be traveling any significant distance. You may very well arrive at your destination with substandard feet, but you will be as ineffective as I was without rounds to fire at the objective. Treat your feet like essential gear and treat them well on any tactical hike.
Dress for the Environment and Not the Starting Line
This is another common mistake that I’ve seen Marines make before a long tactical movement. They wake up before dawn to get ready for the day’s movement and with frost on the ground, they are naturally cold. As such, they leave on their cold weather gear and begin the tactical hike. Less than halfway through, they are ready to pass out from the heat and steam produced by the sweat.
There is a wide array of tactical gear available to the modern consumer, but that doesn’t matter if they put on the wrong gear at the wrong time. Tactical hiking pants designed for cold weather will serve you poorly in the summer. You have to dress with the journey and destination in mind. If you dress for how you feel at the start of the movement, which is the easiest part, you may not be ready for the journey and destination. I promise you that 30 minutes of discomfort at the beginning of a tactical hike is nothing compared to the misery of the next 4 hours if you fail to dress accordingly.
Your Tactical Hiking Backpack Should Carry the Mission, Not Your Fears
Finally, I’ll wrap up the gear section of this article by testifying to you that ounces become pounds and pounds become pain on any long tactical hike. You can’t pack for every conceivable fear if you need to remain mobile and ready to fight at the end of a tactical hike. Ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish out of this tactical hike and pack accordingly. Remember arriving at your destination is not the final objective in a real world scenario. Tactical backpack hiking is hiking with purpose.
The caveat is that in training, it may be fine to pack heavy and push your body to the limits. I can remember countless humps during training where I was ready to roll over and die when I arrived at the finish. That was true with different variations of a tactical pack for hiking. That’s because the Marines were expanding the limits of what my body could do. When the time comes for a real world scenario, you should know the limits of your body and the limits of your gear. That’s why we sell such a wide array of tactical bags: no two missions and no two humans are exactly the same.
The Terrain Dictates How You Move During Tactical Hiking
One of the lessons that you learn quickly in the Marine Corps is that every mile is not the same. As the crow flies, a mile is a mile, but it is what is within that mile that will dictate how you move. Reading an old school topographic map, you can measure out one kilometer “klick” in distance with ease. However, if you see those contour lines moving closer and closer together, you know this “klick” is going to be a steep climb or descent.
The list goes on and on as a small stream that looks easy to cross becomes a raging river during flood stage. Walking a mile on a paved road is just as far in distance as walking a mile in sandy tank tracks, but the latter will have you begging for this hump to end. You have to adjust your expectations for speed with the terrain. The Marine teaches the mantra in urban warfare that “slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” Trust me when I say that mantra can similarly be applied in the jungles of Hawaii. Remember, you still have to be able to accomplish the mission at the end of a tactical hike. Getting there is not good enough. You don’t get bonus points for crushing yourself the first five miles if you are wiped out the last five miles. Pace yourselves accordingly.
This is why I think it is a wise skill for anyone in tactical hiking to become skilled at understanding a topographical map. When we drive, Google maps will often send us on the quickest route without considering terrain. For example, it might be quicker on a map to take a certain left turn at a particular intersection without a light. However, if that intersection is a busy 4-lane urban road, you may be sitting there for a long time. It’s the same thing with tactical hiking. The terrain determines the route more than the geographical distance. An extra mile hiked on flat terrain will leave you more prepared when you reach the objective than scaling a brutal cliff. Terrain matters.
Tactical Hiking is Ultimately a Mental Exercise
I’ve seen small and squirrely Marines look like champs after a tactical hike and large hulk-like Marines look like they just carried a car through the jungle. There is no escaping the fact that tactical hiking is a game of mental fortitude. As the miles carry on, that buckle that is digging into your side or the shift of weight from left to right can break some men, but not others. Every ounce of weight and every discomfort will be amplified and you have to be ready to deal with it.
“Embrace the suck” was the term we used in the Marines when misery was expected, but unavoidable. The benefit of training often with tactical hiking is that you can really push yourselves to the limits for the day it matters most. Understand the difference between discomfort and injury. You can be hurting and simultaneously healthy at the exact same time. Let it hurt and move one foot in front of the other.
Another mental strategy is to not consider the full length of the endeavor. Thinking about mile 20 when you are only at mile one is a one way ticket to mental purgatory. If you know the route, you can look for key milestones and pump yourself up to arrive there first. A 5k race is 3.1 miles, so let’s get there first. Then we’ll consider the half marathon at 13.1 miles. After we’ve accomplished that, we’re only 7 miles away from the full 20 miles and that’seems doable. Get your mind right and embrace the suck.
A Marine’s Summary on Tactical Hiking
Here at M-Tac, we’ve prided ourselves on providing products that have been tested in the harshest environments on the planet, which includes a warzone. We know that the right gear is a big deal when it comes to tactical hiking, but it is not the full picture. Arguing over which are the best tactical hiking trousers is somewhat irrelevant. What matters most is that you train like you intend to fight. Whichever footwear, tactical clothing, or tactical bags you choose, train with it often. Over time, Marines learn the little tricks on how to lighten the load and decrease the discomfort with their gear because they know that gear as well as they know their rifle. This is your goal with tactical hiking.
We also understand that arriving at the objective is not enough. We still have to be ready to accomplish the mission, which is a fact I didn’t consider as an 18-year-old PFC in Hawaii. Get to your destination with more in the tank. This means adjusting the weight of your gear and controlling your pace based on the terrain. Tactical hiking is walking with purpose. Don’t forget the purpose.
Your body can do more than you ever imagined. It can take remarkable abuse and then keep going if you train for it. Your mind is the greater threat as our bodies are designed to respond to and flee from pain. Your mind will tell you to stop and, while you have to know your physical limits, you have to know the possibilities as well. Tactical hiking is a mind, body, and spirit experience. With the right gear, mental fortitude, and dedication to training, you’ll excel at this venture and be certain that, when it matters most, you’ll be ready for the day other people dread.
