Time to debrief our participation in the LIGHTER INFANTRY Competition, specifically its March edition. I’ve broken the key points down to give you a clear picture of the event and help in prepping for the next round.
a. NATURE OF THE COMPETITION
A test run, since Borys already announced a polished summer edition for a larger number of teams. We didn’t mind being “test subjects” – many Polish competitions could only wish for this level of organization. The format assumed continuous movement – depending on your strategy you flowed between navigation tasks and shooting stages.
b. DURATION
Day phase: 08:00-16:00. If you finished early, you had until 16:00 for rest, gear prep, etc., with your time paused. Organizers allowed access to cars and gear – a big convenience compared to initial rules. Night phase: 16:00-22:00, though we wrapped up around 21:00.
c. TEAMS
10
d. FINAL RESULT
Dead last – 4th place.
e. NAV POINTS COLLECTED
All. 12/12 day (including 3 specials), and 3/3 night (almost in daylight).
f. DISTANCE COVERED
GPS showed 32 km, with 900 m elevation gain.
g. NAVIGATION
Fairly easy, since GPS was allowed (sensible, given enforcement issues). Points were mostly on hilltops marked on a solid 1:10,000 topo map. The AO was smaller than expected. We cleared the day phase in 5h 15m (limit: 8h) and the night phase in 3h 20m (limit: 6h).
h. TERRAIN
Excellent – varied conditions, solid elevation, and plenty of swamps (especially this time of year).
i. WEATHER
Ideal. 5-6°C, no wind. Light drizzle at start and in the afternoon. Perfect for hard work – no overheating, no freezing. Shooting, especially at night with fog and rain, was more challenging – spotting a 200m target wasn’t fun.
j. WEAPONS
• My AR-15, in my hands for 1.5 weeks, with a new 1-6x24 scope mounted just 3 days before the comp.
• Buddy’s AR-15 – borrowed from a friend 3 days prior.
Minimal trigger time on both rifles, no proven setups – not exactly an advantage.
k. SHOOTING
Easier than expected, but required solid fundamentals.
Targets:
• 3m: A4 paper silhouettes.
• 7m: steel (at night).
• 130m: small shapes on a tree, from varied positions (9-hole, one-handed, shooting off a tire, from atop a container).
• 200m: IPSC torso gong – single shot with target illumination.
Ammo requirement: 200 rounds per shooter, 400 recommended. We burned ~250 each. Used better ammo for long-range stages. Overall, stages were straightforward. 3m and 7m were trivial, 130m needed a few extra shots, 200m was hit by me, but buddy overcorrected – takes us 40 min.
l. GEAR
Nothing exotic, though I’d been prepping since 1.5 years earlier. Key items:
• Tactical Tailor 2-piece MAV chest rig.
• Modified Tasmanian Tiger 3-day pack with RLCS hydration pouch (used as rifle carry).
• Trekking poles – lifesavers on steep ground.
• Clothing: summer BDU + thin thermals, boonie, swapped to Trooper jacket for night. Boots: AKU Piligrim GTX Combat – worried they’d be too heavy, but they performed brilliantly in mud, slopes, and river crossings. Feet came back in excellent condition.
m. SCREW-UPS (aka F-Up Zone*)
We went in heavy on mistakes – hence 4th place. All avoidable. Lessons learned.
m1. Ammo: Forgot the ammo box due to chaotic morning (hospital run + work). Started with only 200 rounds. Reinforcement ammo came late and buried at a stage as “punishment” – 15-20 min lost digging/loading. Sand in mags didn’t help.
m2. Map: Rain forced us to stash the map in a flimsy case without a lanyard. Lost it midway through day phase. Relied solely on GPS – fine, but topo map didn’t cover two edge points. Cost us ~20 min at night crossing a river on a log.
m3. Scope mount: Rookie error. Trusted a buddy to mount my optic, no thread-lock. Scope loosened during 130m stage. Lost zero. Had to abandon 2.5 tasks in day phase – that alone cost us the podium. Later got clearance to share one rifle with buddy – night shoot went smooth.
m4. Gas mask: Missed in gear prep. Couldn’t shoot one stage. Heavy time penalty.
m5. Eye pro: Packed the case, left the glasses. Luckily borrowed a pair onsite.
n. BUDDY
Took charge of navigation (his strong suit). Spot-on work. Handled AR + optics well too. Might have converted into a #ARfan.
o. COMPETITORS
Strong field. Experienced shooters (patches from MYKITA, SNIPER MISSION spotted). Mostly AR-15s with LPVOs, a few AK diehards. Some we knew from Nocna Straż. Winners went with light & fast strategy – minimal gear, carbines stowed in small packs. Smart move.
p. ORGANIZATION
Solid. On schedule, often ahead. RO team friendly and professional. Plenty of stages, no bottlenecks. Minor issues (missing plates at 2 points, tricky 130m targets), but this was a test run. Sponsor support impressive – Helikon-Tex, Husar, SVRN. Venue (Podwórze Koguta) – outstanding tactical range.
q. BORYS
Lead man of Klub Strzelających Inaczej. Known him for a while – hardcore guy, doesn’t take prisoners. Expected full-on misery (river crossings, swamp targets, etc.). Reality: tough but fair, well-balanced format. This isn’t 3Gun, not pure defense, not hardcore survival. It’s a hybrid comp for shooters with some experience who want to test themselves alongside a shooting buddy. Navigation – manageable. Distance – reasonable. Stages – engaging. All packed into a single day.
FINAL WORD
Despite our mistakes, the event was excellent. If you’re on the fence – get ready and join the summer edition.
