Kapooka

[RoBBo]

just wonderin if there are ne ozzies out there who have gone through pooks, im looking at going in later this year and any tips on preperation would be greatly appreciated.
cheers.

[ShotOver]

DigRAR told me that the best thing to do is get used to pushups, until you can do around 50-100, build upperbody strength.
Getting ready to run is also a good idea.

But yeah, was awhile ago he told me, i may of mistaken a few things.

[Michael RVR]

Yep pretty much.

As long as you're fit you wont have a problem, if you can only do the base minimum then you'll have issues.

Most of the people i saw had problems as they hadn't been doing 'proper' pushups in training - the PTI's wont let you get away with anything ;)

Do runs, pushups , that sort of thing and you'll be fine. ;)

Bear in mind that its often 45 degrees there (when i was there it didnt drop below 40 for 3 weeks), so you may not be able to do as well as you could while living in civilisation :lol:

[Caribou Kid]

On your first opportunity to go into Wagga Wagga, (town outside of Kapooka) do NOT be like everyone else and rush in to town to buy ice creams and coke and Phantom comic books and all that rubbish.
1. Go to a Mitre 10 hardware store and pick up a small can of wd-40 to help you clean your f-88. (This ought to make your life considerably easier, if you are discreet.) Don't bring it to 1 RTB with you, get it once you are there, trust me on this one! You won't touch weapons until phase 2 (gotta learn marching and stuff first, yeah) and you will probably get an opportunity to duck into town by then.
2. Take your brass (keepers and belt buckle) in to town wrapped in soft toilet paper too, and call in at a Mr. Minit key cutters, or a jewelers, and have them polish your brass professionally. It will cost you a few bucks, but it's money WELL SPENT! (saves elbow grease, yeah?) Better than blowing your cash on munchies and crap. (you are already paying for 3 square meals a day, no need to stuff your face when in town)

3. Bring the very best iron you can afford, with a non-scratch teflon coated bottom. It will become your good friend, I assure you. Sharing 1 iron between 4 blokes is not cool, and starch accumulates on the hot plate rapidly when 4 anxious recruits are trying to prep uniforms every day, I can tell you now.

4. Bring your own GOOd set of cross-trainers/running shoes. The PTI's will scrutinize all shoes and say who has to get replacements for unsuitable shoes not up to the task. (the issue ones are crap!) Bringing your own (broken in!) appropriate pair is one less task you would have to deal with, and believe me when I say you will have enough on your plate without having to deal with blisters/breaking in new running shoes as well.

Hope this helps. Yeah, I know it isn't tips on how to beef up/run faster, but this is hard earned knowledge you can keep in your head to give you an edge over others there that don't know these handy shortcuts.

Say hello to Emu Bob for me.

[RoBBo]

thanks for the tips guys. im sure they will come in handy.

[ShotOver]

Yeah, really awesome advice, cheers fellas.

[Flagg]

1. Go to a Mitre 10 hardware store and pick up a small can of wd-40 to help you clean your f-88. (This ought to make your life considerably easier, if you are discreet.) Don't bring it to 1 RTB with you, get it once you are there, trust me on this one! You won't touch weapons until phase 2 (gotta learn marching and stuff first, yeah) and you will probably get an opportunity to duck into town by then.
2. Take your brass (keepers and belt buckle) in to town wrapped in soft toilet paper too, and call in at a Mr. Minit key cutters, or a jewelers, and have them polish your brass professionally. It will cost you a few bucks, but it's money WELL SPENT! (saves elbow grease, yeah?) Better than blowing your cash on munchies and crap. (you are already paying for 3 square meals a day, no need to stuff your face when in town)

3. Bring the very best iron you can afford, with a non-scratch teflon coated bottom. It will become your good friend, I assure you. Sharing 1 iron between 4 blokes is not cool, and starch accumulates on the hot plate rapidly when 4 anxious recruits are trying to prep uniforms every day, I can tell you now.

4. Bring your own GOOd set of cross-trainers/running shoes. The PTI's will scrutinize all shoes and say who has to get replacements for unsuitable shoes not up to the task. (the issue ones are crap!) Bringing your own (broken in!) appropriate pair is one less task you would have to deal with, and believe me when I say you will have enough on your plate without having to deal with blisters/breaking in new running shoes as well.

Excellent advice!

Because the most valuable commodity when I went through NZ Recruit Training was time.....or the LACK of it ;)

That advice will save you heaps of time and blisters by the sounds if it....good luck!

[digrar]

Don't put water in your iron either. One day you will go to use the steam and a heap of corrodid crap will come out and stain your uniform. Get one of those squirt bottles if you want steam. They used to sell ironing boards at the canteen, that's another thing you don't want to share.
You will be doing pushups left right and centre, so the sooner you can do 50 or so in one hit the better.
The runners are a good idea too, the sooner the PTI's ok your own broken in good shoes the better off you will be.
Get a bag of cable ties (10cm and 30cm ones) and a roll of black electrical tape so you can square your webbing away. There is nothing worse than your webbing self destructing in the middle of the obbs or bayonet assult course. The long ones lock the pouches together and the short ones are good for making sure the clips don't pop open (that's if they are still using the metal ones, there are plastic ones but the metal ones are better IMO).
They run a decent pack marching program (or they used to on the 12 week course) so there isn't a big need to go out and get conditioned to that. The same goes for the School of Infantry if your lucky enough to get a spot.
Don't worry about taking a heap of gear to Kapooka. A couple of pairs of stepping out gear and some casual gear for when you first get to your IET school before you can get your removal squared away. That's all you really need. When you have to lug it flat out through the Battalion area in the middle of the night you will be happy that you packed light.

[RoBBo]

cheers for all the advise guys, is it extremely competitive to get into school of infantry?

[digrar]

At the moment it is, which is good.

[RoBBo]

yeah, true. good for numbers and means ppl will have to work harder to get the spots which means better soldiers.

[Royal]

Sounds like good advice.

Plant misters are ideal for ironing with. You can get powdered water soluable starch (in the UK at least) that works better than the aerosol variety and doesn't leave the same white marks.

An alaternative to cable ties is pop-riviting (take your webbing into a car body shop and get them to do it) or for a less permenant solution try bungees and/or utility straps.

[Michael RVR]

When i was at singleton in february guys were talkinga bout a 3 month wait to get on course, reg guys that were sitting around waiting the whole time - in singleton as well.

Are you going regs or reserves robbo?

[RoBBo]

im going regs.

[ShotOver]

Yeah, robbo you can easily buy a pop-riviter from bunnings or some hardware shop in town, around 50$ i would say, real easy to use too.

[RoBBo]

cheers

[BiZ]

Pepare to practise "getting onto the bus" in hallways in the wee hours on the morning with room chairs..... ;)

Good luck RoBBo.

I know a young bloke who's going down soon.... and he's headed for Infantry... :D

[ShotOver]

Anyone know anything about what happens at the Navy basic training, i have a mate going there.