Year in review posts are always interesting to write and reflect on. Before taking time to write I go through and read some of the previous “Year in Review” posts I’ve written. Each one provides new insight, thoughts, and emotions that I didn’t experience while writing them.
A great example of this is the 2014 Year in Review post. One thing I was excited about looking back on 2014 was the collaboration patch with SHplates. If you haven’t heard of SHplates before then you’re probably not alone. They were the first company (even before GORUCK) to offer metal rucking weights.
Up until SHplates came around everyone was rucking with bricks as the standard with a few using sandbags. SHplates helped to turn the tide and you started seeing steel plates popping up at events. When GORUCK released their Ruck Plates then we absolutely saw the popularity of bricks decrease. Roughly one or two years later and SHplates was out of business. They came back briefly and diversified their product line past the ruck weight but unfortunately didn’t stick around.
At the end of 2014 I was very excited about working with SHplates and here, at the end of 2018, they’re no longer around. It’s strange to me to reflect on those kinds of events. I might have taken the morbid approach to starting this post because I’m writing this out of a hospital room but bear with me :)
All Day Ruckoff is coming up on its six year anniversary and so much has changed in those years. The articles, the store, the podcast, the YouTube channel, the Crush Your Soul Workout Generator, and the Cadre and Event Locator were all created before 2018. That being said they all saw some form of improvements in the past year. It’s so easy to finish a project, set it, and forget about it. Going through and improving these was a lot of fun and something I want to continue for 2019.
The major accomplishments for this year (in my opinion) include the GORUCK Product Notifier & Stock Tracker, the GORUCK Gear & Colorway Directory, the Ruck Club Patch Directory, the GORUCK Cadre Patch Directory, and the Community pages.
It is so much fun to work on all of these projects for the community and I am so excited every time one of the tools or posts helps someone. The feedback on the Product Notifier & Stock Tracker might be my favorite to date… knowing that people are actually spending more time with their family (and less time refreshing GORUCK product pages) is awesome.
Top Five Everything
We can’t just do a top posts of the year section anymore. Now that there’s videos and the podcast it only makes sense to break it down. Here you will find the top five posts, top five videos, and top five podcasts of 2018!
Top Five Posts (by Page Views)
- The Store: The homepage of the store was the most visited page (excluding the actual website homepage) in 2018. It’s awesome to see that people want to support All Day Ruckoff!
- Rucking (How To Ruck): It only makes sense that people who want to learn how to ruck would stumble upon this post. Hopefully they found it useful!
- GORUCK Light Packing List: It can be stressful packing for your first GORUCK Light event. Our packing list was the third most visited page on the website most likely because of that.
- GORUCK Tough Packing List: What’s more stressful than packing for a GORUCK Light? Packing for a GORUCK Tough! From what we’ve seen the Light events see more people showing up which is probably why they just barely beat the GORUCK Tough Packing List post.
- GORUCK Light Training: Want to train for a GORUCK Light? We’ve got more articles than we know what to do with… which is something a large number of people probably found out when they visited this page.
Top Five Podcast Episodes (by Downloads)
Here are the top five most downloaded podcast episodes in 2018.
- ADR 069 Doug (Selection 020): Doug was the sole finisher of GORUCK Selection class 020. It only makes sense that his phenomenal accomplishment would be the most listened to episode this year.
- ADR 041 Garret Machine: Machine spoke about all of the GORUCK Firearms courses and what makes them unique. He was a heavily requested guest and I guess that shows in the number of downloads his podcast episode received!
- ADR 066 Vreeland (Selection): Vreeland stopped by and spoke the straight truth about GORUCK Selection. It’s no surprise his episode hit the top 5 as it was filled with lots of great advice and stories from his GORUCK Selection finish.
- ADR 050 Chris Way (Star Course): Chris Way has a TON of experience with survival and distance events. He came to talk training for the GORUCK Star Course back when there was very little information out about it. This was a great episode!
- ADR 051 Dig Dug (Star Course): My friend Dig Dug completed the first GORUCK Star Course event back when the event was a complete mystery. He came on and talked about the event, what worked well, what he would have improved, and gave a ton of advice to people thinking about tackling this event.
Top Five Videos (by Minutes Watched)
- Packing for a GORUCK Light Challenge (Event Packing & Tutorial)
GORUCK Light Challenge Event Ruck Packing List & Walk Through
With the popularity of this video it would only make sense to shoot another one for the GORUCK Tough event… time to add that to the list!
- EVERGOODS CPL24 (Civic Panel Loader 24L) Backpack First Look & Preview
EVERGOODS CPL24 (Civic Panel Loader 24L) Backpack First Look & Preview
The EVERGOODS CPL24 is a very cool pack and has seen a bit of popularity. With that popularity (apparently) came a lot of views!
- GORUCK Rucker 2.0 Backpack First Look & Preview
GORUCK Rucker 2.0 Backpack First Look & Preview
When the Rucker 2.0 came out this was one of the first videos detailing the pack… which is probably why it was seen so much!
- GORUCK Constellation 12 Event Packing List 2018 Urban Survival Challenge
GORUCK Constellation 12 Event Packing List 2018 Urban Survival Challenge Series
Constellation 12 in 2018 was MUCH different than Constellation in 2017. This video highlighted those differences and *hopefully* prepared people for the event!
- GORUCK Bullet 10 Backpack Review & Use Cases
GORUCK Bullet 10 Backpack Review & Our Use Cases
The Bullet 10L is one of those packs that has so many use cases you almost don’t know what to use it for. This video detailed what I personally use my Bullet 10 for and offers some insight into why I like it so much!
2019 and Looking Forward
2019 will be another incredibly busy year. My son (4.5 years old) will undergo at least two surgeries and my daughter (1.5 years old) will only get busier. It’s an incredibly fun time to be a parent but it’s also very time consuming. Because of that I know that 2019 will not be the “year of events” for me. That’s something that took a few weeks to come to terms with but now that it’s here it’s very much accepted.
Maybe 2020 or 2021 will be the year of events. I know that some day my kids won’t want to spend every waking minute with me so I’m trying to enjoy that while it’s possible. I’m currently registered for a half-dozen or so events which should still make for a very fun time. There are a LOT of events coming through Seattle so maybe I’ll show up and shadow a few and take some good pictures.
If you ever look at other GRT and think you’re not as “part of the community” as they are because you haven’t completed a certain event (or as many events) just stop and remember that there’s many ways to be involved. Completing 5 events does not make you a worse GRT than someone who completes 25. FOMO is real in this community (because the events are so freaking awesome) so with the year starting out it’s important to remember that.
On a brighter note my son is recovering well from his first surgery of the year which was an overnight stay at Children’s Hospital on New Years Eve. The website is continuing to grow, more people are listening to the podcast, and the feedback on videos continues to be positive. I want to take a minute to thank you for the support over the past year(s) and let you know that it is truly appreciated. I hope you had an amazing New Years and have an awesome start to 2019!
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