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In the Footsteps of 45 Commando: 60 Miles Across the Falklands (Ad-free)
🕑 Added 2024-12-28 12:00:08 +0000 UTCWant a patch or t-shirt with our adorably heavily armed rockhopper penguin? Both are available from Varusteleka:
https://www.varusteleka.com/en/search?q=penguin
I was recently joined my friends Les Winner (Polaris Logistics) and Jari Laine (Varusteleka) for an epic trek across Eat Falkland in the footsteps of 45 Commando of the British Royal Marines. In 1982, the Marines landed to rebuff the Argentine invasion of the islands. Specifically, they landed at Port San Carlos on the far western side of the island, planning to use heavy-lift helicopters to move east to attack the Argentine positions around Stanley. However, the Chinooks they were counting on were on the Atlantic Conveyor, which was sunk by Argentine Exocet attack on May 25. That left the Marines with no choice but to hike the 60 miles or so overland. They did so overland in the South Atlantic winter, with combat loads and full rucksacks - it was a brutal movement that they executed with aplomb.
Les, Jari, and I wanted to see the ground, and so we headed out to follow the same path, albeit without the weapons or ammunition and in the summer. We took 4 days to complete the distance, meeting some really cool people and making lots of blisters along the way. This video is a record of that trip.
For those interested in gear, I was using a Varusteleka RP80 rucksack, Asolo TPS 535 LTH V EVO boots, and a bunch of Varusteleka merino wool clothing (which is what I normally wear anyway...). My sleeping bag and bivy were generously provided by Carinthia, although we did not end up spending any nights outside thanks to the hospitality of the local farmers. For food, I just used basic American MREs (plus a couple British 24-hour rations that the FIDF gave us).
The trip logistics were hugely facilitated by Penguin Travel (https://penguintravelfic.com), the main travel agency on the islands. We flew down via RAF Airbridge, and returned via Chile on LATAM Airlines. If you want to do the Yomp yourself, please be aware that it is not trivial to arrange everything. All the land you cross is privately owned, and permission to cross must be received from all the landowners. Contacting Penguin is the best place to start, though.
Pegasus Tests video on how to get to the Falklands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHIe-puWyKI
Comments
Bryan Alix
I've been way behind on videos because I never updated my patreon credit card info... Now I'm watching tons of videos and I'm have such a great time and I'm really looking forward to this video. Falklands is a weird conflict that I only started learning about in recent years and it's pretty cool. Thank you
Clifton Ballad
Let's get this out onto a tray..... errrrr Table...
Forgotten Weapons
Not that I have seen
Kerwin Kerr
Are any of them available on the civilian market?
Forgotten Weapons
No, I have not
Kerwin Kerr
Ian, did you ever make a video on the CIA's suppressed Ruger Standard Model .22?
Woofy
"tobacco"? Tobasco, perhaps? (Autocorrect can be evil!)
Glenn Miller
Wow, amazing trek. Thanks for sharing this.
Martin Morehouse
Your route looks like the range roads at the Yakima Training Center in Washington, or an awful lot of eastern Washington and eastern Oregon. Neat trip!
Beverly Chmelik
Looks like the terrain we were hunting caribou in the 40 mile country in Alaska
Forgotten Weapons
Les covers it pretty well in his "How to get to the Falklands" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHIe-puWyKI
Simon Ball
Guido Schriewer - The RAF tanker fleet is operated by contract with AirTanker Services Ltd. Birds that are not needed for operational military purposes can be used for civilian purposes, one of which is the UK - Ascension - Falklands air bridge.
Guido Schriewer
quiet a trip! how the heck does a civi get on a raf bird? what packing order. got boots on and a rifle... good to go. not a single damned tree. awefully bloody boring.
Adrian Perry
Fun watching you try a 24 hour ration pack. Eaten a load of them myself, and you'll find that a lot of service personnel carried bottles of sauce, like tobacco, to add to their food for flavour
Adrian Perry
As a Brit, that's very close to the terrain of Dartmoor, where the Royal Marine Commandos would do some of their survival training.
