Military utility tools / Load carriage cost
Load carriage cost
The Pandolf equation, which is how the energy cost of carrying a load over ground was originally quantified.
Positive uphill. The equation is validated on level and uphill going.
Set the inputs, then work it out.
Metabolic rate--watts
Energy burn--kcal per hour
Over the march--kcal total
Cost of the load--watts above unloaded
Load penalty--%above unloaded
Load fraction--%of body weight
Distance covered--km
Cost per km--kcal
Why does speed matter so much?
The speed term is squared. Walking half a kilometre an hour faster costs far more than it looks, which is the arithmetic behind why a steady pace beats a fast pace with recovery halts.
Can I use this for downhill?
No. Enter zero gradient for a rolling route and treat the result as the level equivalent. Negative gradients are outside what the equation was built for.