I was at the WARMA Cosford marches t’other week having been roped in to go along for a jolly. Turns out it was far from a jolly and actually Quite Hard.
We walked and walked and walked and walked, then stopped for food, then walked. While we were walking there were large amounts of ATC teams amongst us (mostly they were passing us but I consider this by the by…) who were proudly flying their respective wing’s flag, or something to that effect.
We intend to carry an ensign for Nijmegen and since I’m the one who owns such an article (a present from an ex-serving relative), I’ve scoured the interwebs to try and find a flag pole which I can carry around. From what I remember of the romantic weekend in Cosford, most flag bearers were using some sort of hard plastic telescopic pole attached to the rucksack.
Sadly my searches have turned up nothing and was wondering if anyone could recommend a lightweight (gotta carry weight :dry: ) flag pole.
Virtual beers may, or may not, be bought to anyone who can help. It’s how we roll.
Ta,
SO.
…For anyone who cares: from what we saw, the ATC teams were a credit unto themselves and the Corps. Well played.
It shouldn’t make any difference - the flag pole will be part of your weight.
Don’t make the common mistake of thinking that you have to pack 10kg of ballast into your bergen.
The only things not included are consumables i.e. water and food.
Everything else, including the empty weight of the bergan/webbing/daysack, is counted.
For example my webbing weighs 4kg, so I pack 6kg of ballast.
You could quite happily carry a 3kg flag pole. You’d just have less extra weight to add.
It shouldn’t make any difference - the flag pole will be part of your weight.
Don’t make the common mistake of thinking that you have to pack 10kg of ballast into your bergen.
The only things not included are consumables i.e. water and food.
Everything else, including the empty weight of the bergan/webbing/daysack, is counted.
For example my webbing weighs 4kg, so I pack 6kg of ballast.
You could quite happily carry a 3kg flag pole. You’d just have less extra weight to add.[/quote]
That’s very interesting, thank you wdi. It was a point of confusion amongst our team on the morning of the first day. The overall decision was it was best if we carried 10kg deadweight and then added on our kit, just to be safe. I had 4 x 2.5kg dumbbells stowed into webbing. I think I came to around 17kg for the actual walk.
To say we rocked up with little experience would be an understatement. Still, got it done!
We use something similar to the ones pointed out. Collapsible poles are a must, especially for the canal path at Cosford. I think we bought 4m poles, but don’t bother with the last metre as it’s too thin and flimsy to mount a proper flag on.
To attach them I use cable ties loosely attached with tape bands either side, this means they can rotate around the poles, so don’t twist up, but the cable ties stay the right distance apart.
As for deadweight, I often take the mick with mine. Last year the staff in my team all carried umbrellas, much better for light showers than dragging out your waterproofs.
It shouldn’t make any difference - the flag pole will be part of your weight.
Don’t make the common mistake of thinking that you have to pack 10kg of ballast into your bergen.
The only things not included are consumables i.e. water and food.
Everything else, including the empty weight of the bergan/webbing/daysack, is counted.
For example my webbing weighs 4kg, so I pack 6kg of ballast.
You could quite happily carry a 3kg flag pole. You’d just have less extra weight to add.[/quote]
That’s very interesting, thank you wdi. It was a point of confusion amongst our team on the morning of the first day. The overall decision was it was best if we carried 10kg deadweight and then added on our kit, just to be safe. I had 4 x 2.5kg dumbbells stowed into webbing. I think I came to around 17kg for the actual walk.
To say we rocked up with little experience would be an understatement. Still, got it done![/quote]
Your dead weight includes the weight of your Bergen/Webbing. My weight includes the four carabinas of various sizes that I use, my gerber, a bivi bag and my camera. Normally carry carry about 7 1/2Kg of ballast. Things that do not count as ballast is food and water (water carrier can count) first aid kit amd anything that could be used up on the march.
We used tent poles for the last couple of years - they had a great advantage of being very compact - essential as we used to fly out and back. The downside was that they are very whippy.
We bought 4 4m poles form Ebay Which seem to be as described by baldrick but took the last section out as it is indeed quite flimsy. Halfway through Garelochhead shortened them by another section which worked better and stopped the flags from getting stuck on barbed wire (again.). The poles are light but quite firm and seem ideal, especially as we are travelling by road this year.
Since this thread is mainly about flagpoles, rather than marching, this post is a bit of a tangent (apologies mods, feel free to move if required).
Has anyone ever heard of (or taken part in) The Bataan Memorial Death March? It’s probably a bit impractical from an Air Cadets participation logistics angle (and the little matter of costs), but it would be an amazing project for a very-different 40k wander (no, I’m not volunteering, just highlighting). I believe there was an RAuxAF Regt team that took part in it, a number of years ago, but it’s really a US military/civilian event.
Note that the terrain is just a little more…contoured, than the Netherlands:
[quote=“Stand Out” post=7128]
I was at the WARMA Cosford marches t’other week having been roped in to go along for a jolly. Turns out it was far from a jolly and actually Quite Hard.[/quote]
Haha! You fell for that one too? Turns out I’ve managed to rope myself into Nijmegen. Doh!
Ballast: I did see one cricket bat being carried at Cosford. It was one of the University Air Squadrons though, which possibly explains it, and our team only had to overtake that team once each day (unlike the other UAS team we overtook 4 times on the second day - maybe if their leader had let them stop for more than 5 minutes at each stop they wouldn’t got round a little faster).
[quote=“Stand Out” post=7157]Thank you for the help gents, it’s much appreciated.
If you happen to see a UAS team wandering hopelessly around Nijmegen this year, do stop and say hello![/quote]
That will be all UAS teams then, which one will you be. We won,t stop but we will say hello (unless it is a RA). You can have a tow if you want.
If you want ant help or advice there are a few experenced marchers here.
The best advice I can give is Get Up, get arround and get lots of Kip. Not tooo much beer on the marching days and dont spend to much time in the RAs. Stop for a quick beer in the bowls club on day 1 and 2 but not to long. Finally get your entry into the beer tent sorted early.
