I just finished an ironman triathlon a couple weeks ago and am devoting the rest of my year to obstacle course races like; Tough Mudder, Spartan , GORUCK Challenge and back to my general Adventure Racing / Adventure Hiking stuff. (Tired of swimming and biking as much)

Anyway. I've been doing weighted ruck runs. 15-20 lb range so I can run the whole time. Rather than use my usual well framed and padded hiking packs, I've just been adding extra weight to my daily backpacks and going for it.

Two of my bags suck. The straps really cut into my neck or don't cinch down tight enough. I've gone back to an older Bug Out Gear pack. Which has a much better suspension system. The trade off is about an extra 1.5 lbs.

I am really glad that I have been testing my gear this way, in a real world scenario, if the SHTF, flash riot or I'm just having a bad day, I know I'll have tested the stuff on me pretty thoroughly.

Have any of you challenged your gear bag to perform at a higher level than just hang there during a walk?

Have you made adjustments to the bag or switched it when it did not perform as expected?