How to Wrap Bricks (GORUCK Weight)

If you are signed up for a GORUCK Light or GORUCK Tough event then you will need to bring weight. One of the accepted forms of weight is bricks. Depending on your weight and the event this will be either 2, 4, or 6 bricks. The thing about brick is that they are abrasiveness and can cause damage to a pack if not wrapped properly. This is how I wrap my bricks… other people may have different methods but this is the one that works for me. GORUCK has posted about their method in the past as well. I should mention that I prefer my method to theirs as I believe it uses less duct tape and protects against the corners of the bricks better.

Updates

7/19/2016

Updated the post with better pictures and improved text. Now with 99% less dog hair!

7/6/2013

Original article written.

Required Items

To wrap bricks for a GORUCK event you’ll need the following three things:

• Bricks (2/4/6)
• Duct tape (or 100mph tape)
• Sharpie (not pictured)

The brick in the above photo is known as a “cheater brick” as there are holes in it thus making it lighter than a standard brick.

Why Wrap Bricks?

The idea behind wrapping bricks is that you want to protect your ruck from the abrasive edges. GORUCK bags are tough but the edge of a brick rubbing on the side of it for hours on end will damage it. The other advantage to wrapping bricks is that they don’t crumble inside leaving little pieces of brick everywhere. As you look through the pictures remember these goals as keeping your equipment in good shape for your next event is a high priority.

How To Wrap Bricks

Follow the steps below to wrap your bricks for an upcoming GORUCK event. You’ll need to repeat the section for each brick that you need to wrap.

1. Gather your materials
   
2. Wrap duct tape around both ends of the brick. Make sure the pieces are long enough that they overlap. This is important because, as you’ll soon find, tape does not stick well to brick.
   
3. Once the ends are taped up then tape the length of the brick making sure to wrap around and overlap the tape.
   
4. Repeat so that both sides with the largest are are completely covered by tape. What you have now is a brick with both ends and both large lengths covered in duct tape.
   
5. Rip off a small piece of tape and roll it up.
   
6. Put the small piece of tape directly on one of the corners of the brick.
   
7. Put a square piece of tape directly over the small folded piece.
   
8. Wrap tape around edge. You might have to make a small rip so that the square overlaps properly.
   
9. Create 7 more tiny tape squares.
   
10. Put 3 pieces of tape on the end you’re already working on.
    
11. Then wrap each corner with it’s own square of duct tape.
    
12. Flip the brick over and put 4 pieces of tape on the 4 corners.
    
13. Cover the folded pieces of tape up with one square of duct tape each, like before.
    
14. Start wrapping duct tape around the brick to cover the remainder of the exposed area. Remember to overlap the duct tape as it does not stick well to the brick.
    
15. Once you have covered the length of the brick in tape you are done!
    
16. Repeat steps 1 – 15 for each brick you need to wrap.
    
17. Finish this all up by writing your name and phone number on each brick using the sharpie!

Conclusion

With all of your bricks wrapped you can now ruck with them without worrying about damaging your pack!