I took my camera and headed to Poland accompanying two Czecho-Slovak teams attending the 10th anniversary of a military-style shooting competition called Lekka Piechota (Light Infantry). The competition took place from 11th to 14th July (with the main event on the 12th and 13th) at the northern boundaries of Poland, some 40 km westward from the city of Gdynia. We basically spent the whole Thursday on the road, and I really must appraise the smoothness and quality of Poland’s highway, which made the trip a pleasant experience with the landscape flying by at a steady pace.

The competition is designed for buddy teams and a lot of the stages there require a great deal of cooperation and coordination from both team members. This year the administrators increased the number of competing teams to an absolute maximum the range and roster can handle to incredible 84 teams (12 in Lightest division, 72 in Lighter division; the highest and most demanding division called Light took place the following weekend). Both teams I went there with were competing in the middle category – Lighter division.

The Friday casually strolled by in a lazily friendly manner. The participants got a chance to zero their guns, all teams went through registration, and they all had to attend the compulsory briefing. The Lighter division contained 24 shooting stages – 18 for a rifle, 3 for a pistol, and 2 for both. The last remaining stage used a PKM machine gun provided by the organizers. One of the rifle stages also provided an option (if you were quick enough) to shoot a single 40 mm training grenade. However, the competition is not solely about shooting, the tactical stages and navigation tasks are an equally important part. There are 6 tactical stages with tasks from various areas – TCCC, UAV reconnaissance, weapon nomenclature, reconnaissance and identification, and a sapper task. Navigation tasks make the teams set off to the surrounding area and look for hidden codes to gain extra points. For some of the locations they got direct coordinates, others they had to locate e.g. by azimuth and distance, so being no stranger to using a map is a must. My primary goal was to tag along one of the teams and document their progress and struggle, as there was both aplenty. When we checked the GPS tracking in the evening, it showed a decent distance walked – 35.5 km. By the way, don’t get surprised, when you arrive in the area. Most of Poland is as flat as a pancake but this area is surprisingly hilly.

Self-sufficiency is another key aspect of the event. The teams have to carry around all the equipment, they cannot simply drop the bag somewhere and walk light. The only exception from this rule is the water supply – you can leave your main source at the range and fill up what you have at you as you see fit. Apart from that, you are not allowed to add anything to your equipment during the competition and breaking this rule leads to an immediate disqualification. You can however drop your bag or some of your gear during the shooting tasks but that is only for a few minutes at each stage.

Since walking is a great and healthy exercise for one’s pulmonary system, each team has to move “a mortar” (a hexagonal chunk of concrete weighing about 50 kilos) twice during the competition; each time the distance is about 1.5 km and how they manage it is utterly on each team.

The Lighter division started at about 5:30 and finished at 22:00 on the clock. The weather that day decided to show its malicious face, as it started raining at about 3 o’clock followed by a heavy downpour two hours later, which transformed some of the stages to something resembling more marshes than a shooting range. It finally stopped raining in the afternoon, but at least the paths were not dusty, and nobody got sunburn.

Each team has a roster of four shooting windows, in which they have to be (or better said ought to be) at the range and at the specified stage. You always have only 3 minutes for the shooting task and 2 minutes to score the stage and move to the next one with zero time to waist. Time is of the essence here and coming late to a stage, you may find out that ship has already sailed. If you miss your shooting window, it is your own problem, the competition does not wait for anyone. It may seem harsh, but it is actually a great way to keep the stages running smoothly and safely. It simply cannot happen that someone gets stuck at a stage and thus impedes all the teams behind them in the roster. At the same time, this really makes you time-conscious and produces a lot of self-induced stress, which in itself builds up a lot of adrenaline in your bloodstream. Add to the mix that at some stages if you mess the task up, you can actually get negative point, and there is all the fun to be had.

When the teams are not shooting or fulfilling the tactical tasks, they run around the 15 km² area (at least those who aim to do well in the competition), because the navigation task offers a significant boost to your points. What is the most surprising fact about this, is that the teams walk around with their guns in open carry, they just have to be unloaded (walking out of the range with a loaded gun is a disqualifying act). All the necessary authorities in the area are notified about the competition well ahead, the neighbours know it is taking place, so there is no issue with such “gun tourism” as some people call it. In the Czech Republic, doing this would be way more difficult due to our legal requirement for concealed carry. Maybe if the Czech Army stepped up and offered their training areas like Boletice or Libavá, an event like this could take place.

Another interesting aspect is that the Light and Lighter divisions have a compulsory suppressor usage rule for the rifles. It does not mean you don’t have to use hearing protection at the range (since suppressors do not work as efficiently as movies would have you believe), but it significantly lowers the noise level and sound pollution in the area, making it possible to also shoot in the evening, at night, and early in the morning. Furthermore, in case a competitor accidentally knocks his earmuffs down (e.g. while climbing) and he does not have the time or opportunity to put them back on, with a suppressor it is bearable to finish the stage when shooting in an open area. Without suppressors, it would pose a huge risk to one’s hearing.

The highest division - Light – contains all of the above and a lot of fun atop that. Firstly, it is twice as long, about 36 hours straight. There are 6 more shooting stages (3 at night and 3 in the morning) making it a whooping 30 altogether. The tactical tasks also get an additional one – kayaking in a river canal within a set time limit to the port on Orle Lake about 10 km away. And to make the fun more intense, there are motorized “hunters” posing as OPFORCE for the competitors in the whole area. Their task is catching the competitors, either directly or by laying tripwires with sound signals, and each time you get caught a point deduction follows.
 

To prepare such a complex event is a tremendous task and I could easily see the years of experience behind the organizing team. And they would not be able to run it on their own, without the support of many others willing to help (for example, each shooting stage has one or two range officers, tactical tasks were often run by teams of 2 or 3 people). How smoothly it all went is a clear testament to their impeccable prior preparation and everyone’s dedication, which deserves a really deep bow.

When talking about the team behind it all, I managed to catch one of them, Filip, for a short interview. Filip Ząbek is responsible for communication with teams from abroad and he was also the main speaker during the event.


We are here at the competition called Light Infantry. Could you introduce this event in a few sentences for our readers?

I personally prefer to call Light Infantry a challenge than a competition. It's already an achievement just to finish it.
There are 3 categories: Light, Lighter and Lightest. The most difficult (and popular) is the Light. All are played in pairs (buddy teams), it takes around 36 hours, and you need to walk over 40 km on foot with all that heavy gear on you.
It doesn't only test your shooting skills: there's a lot of navigation, tactical tasks, and even kayaking. Today, it is probably the most difficult shooting competition on the planet.

What was the main impulse or idea for you to organize the competition?

It was our association vice-president, Borys Romanko, who had this idea for a competition, that would not only test shooting skills, but also everything else that light infantry does. Trust me, he loves extreme things.

Was there any difficulty of bureaucratic obstacle you had to fight or circumvent in order to be able to run the competition?

Honestly - no. The laws in Poland are quite friendly for such events.

The competition is attended by a vast variety of people, from hobby civilian shooters to lifestyle shooters, competition shooters, and armed forces professionals. Was there any surprise for you in the results among these groups in the past years?

Personally, I wasn't surprised, but for many people it's kind of unbelievable. Guys with the best results are pretty much always civilians, very often with no military experience at all.

There are three divisions - the Lightest, Lighter, and Light. What are the main differences among them? Why do the latter two have a compulsory suppressor usage?

Light is for the big boys and involves everything, from kayaking to operating in complete darkness. It is the most hardcore category. I would say that Lighter is for those who are not too sure about their ability to compete in the Light category, while Lightest is for those who just would like to give it a try.

Suppressors are obligatory for the Light and Lighter categories, as they're shooting quite a lot, and we're trying our best to stay cool with our range's neighbours. You can imagine it's kind of annoying if all you can hear for the whole weekend are thousands of shots.

As for now, we're trying to make Lightest category a bit easier on the budget, hence the no suppressor requirement. They're also shooting only for a few hours, so it is not that big of a deal.

Talking about suppressors - what is the current legislation in Poland regarding civilian suppressor holding?

Actually, it's complicated. When you read the Polish laws regarding firearms, they tell you straight away that firearms that have suppressors mounted are forbidden. It is also forbidden for shop owners to sell suppressors dedicated for the military or police to civilians.

However, a few years ago the government passed a new law that allowed hunters to buy suppressors, and because the law was badly worded, now if you had a friend who was a hunter, he could basically buy whatever he wanted and just give it to you.

Now, because in Poland it is not required to possess any permits while on a shooting range, technically it is completely legal to use all kinds of suppressors while on the range. There are also no laws that forbid you from having a suppressor.

At the same time, there is no legal definition of a suppressor in Poland, so all those laws are pretty much dead.

I am not a law expert or anything though. That's my understanding of the subject, which, as I said earlier, is quite complicated.

The Polish shooting community organized a fundraiser and paid a very big and recognized law firm (they also work for the government) for legal advice regarding the subject, and they have confirmed that suppressors are legal in Poland.

Could you quickly sum up the Polish gun law and possibilities for civilian citizens? If someone here wants to get a weapon legally and e.g. start a sport, what is the process? Is getting a gun for self-defence and for EDC an option here? What are the requirements?

The most popular way to get a firearm permit in Poland is to sign up to a shooting club (association). Then you have to wait between 1-3 months (depends on the club) to pass a relatively easy exam. It consists of a written exam, where you answer questions about the laws regarding firearms and shooting sport related stuff, and a practical exam.

There are a few possibilities, depending on the club, but in mine it looks as follows:
1. Pistol
25 meters, 5 shots in total, 4/5 have to land in a 15 cm diameter circle.

2. Rifle
10 meters, air rifle, 5 shots in total, 4/5 have to land in a 2 cm diameter circle.

3. Shotgun
10 meters, you have to hit 4/5 reactive steel targets, like on a plate rack or poppers.

If you pass, you have to apply for a sport license. That is going to be your "valid reason to possess a firearm". You need to pass a medical examination (physical and psychological) and you're good to go, you can apply for your firearm permit. There's a lot of unnecessary bureaucracy, about 3 months of waiting where I live, but you're gonna get it.

With that process, you can get a sport + collectors permit at the same time, for pretty much anything except for full auto capable guns, big calibres over 12mm and some other minor exceptions.

To get a real self-defence permit is almost impossible, unless you were raped 4 times, and you were beaten 10 times in the past month. You need a "valid reason" after all. Unless... you're a soldier, a police officer, a judge, or a politician.

The good thing is that if you have a sport firearm permit you can legally concealed carry a gun on     daily basis. There are absolutely no laws that state otherwise. Technically it is forbidden to carry on a collector’s permit, but in reality, there are no penalties for doing so.

Actually, TECHNICALLY, you could even concealed carry a rifle under your jacket (although I wouldn't try it).
 
Thanks for an overview of the Polish gun law, but now back to the competition - if our readers wanted to attend, what would they have to do, where to find all the information? And what is the necessary equipment for attending?

First of all, wait for us to announce the next edition. We do it on our Facebook page "Klub Strzelających Inaczej" on our Facebook community group and on our website.

When registration begins, you have to be prepared. Even though we have 168 spots, so 336 competitors in total, which might sound like a lot, this year we were "sold out" after just 4 minutes.

Obligatory equipment changes from one year to another, but as for now it’s as follows:
an intermediate calibre, centre-fire rifle
functional sights mounted on the rifle
a suppressor that reduces sound by at least 20 dB (only Light and Lighter categories)
a rifle-mounted flashlight (only Light category)
a pistol
a handheld or pistol dedicated flashlight
a holster, that doesn’t let you pull the trigger while your gun is inside
hearing and eyesight protection
a whistle
a red light stick or a red flashlight
a charged phone
a combat tourniquet recommended by the U.S. Department of Defense Committee on TCCC
a gas mask with working filters
documents confirming the legality of owned firearms and ammunition
a patch/armband with the pair’s number on the competitor's left arm. The number must have a minimum height of 50mm

Thanks for your time and wish you all goes as planned.


Apart from Filip, I also managed to get hold of a contestant (and a LEX member) competing in the highest division to ask him about his experience after the event. There were 3 teams from the Czech Republic attending the Light division, one of those were Ondra and Martin from team S.O.F.M.

Hi Ondra. You said you attend Light Infantry regularly. How many times have you been there?

Hi. This was my fourth time in Poland. I started with the Solo edition, which contained just the shooting stages, no navigation, no tactical tasks. The atmosphere around this competition grabbed me by the neck, so I dared enter the more demanding divisions.

If I am not mistaken, this was your first attempt in the highest division. Is it significantly different from Lighter and Lightest?

I can compare it only to Light, which is “only” about 14 hours of shooting, walking, and doing the tactical tasks during a day. Even the organizers say with a smirk on their face that the main division for adults is Light. The leap between Lighter and Light is enormous. The fact that there are two sleepless nights, wet 10 km of kayaking, night shooting tasks, and way more navigation and walking, you really reach the bottom, both physically and psychically. I would say that any slightly more experienced shooter who is normally fit will be able to grit his teeth and finish Lighter. At Light you see even experienced guys quit.

What is of the most interest for you at a competition roughly 900 km away?

I wager there is no other opportunity for civilian shooters to test their skills and weapon handling in “combat” conditions. The Polish legislation and the rules allow for a wholesome event: walking through villages and woods at night with an NVG and a rifle in your hand, the kayak ride with all your gear aboard, shooting at literally close quarters in tunnels and trenches (even at night), shooting while mostly submerged in water, shooting from a 10 m high scaffolding… And even then, if you follow all the basic firearm safety rules and the rules of the competition, you feel absolutely safe.

Yeah, with a good buddy in the car the 900 km pass by easily.

Which part of the competition do you find the most interesting? And which the most demanding?

We are both more “shooters” than “tourists”, so we really enjoy the vast variety of the shooting stages. This year at Light we added for the first time the night shooting stages and man, it was a whole new level. What got us really excited were the “hunters” searching for us at night with NVGs and thermos visions, so even a simple task, such as moving from point A to point B, became tactical, operating quietly with only a dim red light or even IR. They did not catch us. Very interesting is also the practical part with the tactical tasks: in between the shooting widows you do TCCC, weapon disassembly, mine sweeping, operating UAV, military vehicle recognition.

The most difficult for us was the walking. You have to carry all the equipment at all times – 40 hours. The only thing you can store at the range is extra water. We walked about 40 km and at that distance you really curse every single gram of load you carry, and you look forward to lightening the backpack up by eating some of your provisions and using some ammo! The best teams hiked as much as 70 km; I have no idea how they managed… And there is one more variable – the weather. Last week at Lighter it was raining all day long, we had 30°C during the day and 10°C and fogs at night.

I used the term competition, but even Filip from the administering team speaks of the event rather as of a personal challenge. Do you like overcoming challenges? Which similar events have you attended before? What makes Light Infantry different?

Both I and my buddy try to reach new tops, we provoke each other: Spartan race, feratta, enduro… so this competition is a logical merge of all the activities with shooting. Our main goal for the Light Infantry this year was to survive and to find out if we have it in us (for me it was for example the first ever ride in a kayak), and to test our equipment. However, the competition easily carried us away and we decided to give it our best.

Martin and I attend shooting and tactical competitions on regular bases: Slovak Gunrun, Warzone Brutal… The main difference from the Light Infantry is the length and consequent tiredness. At BMC you give it all at the shooting range and then go home put up your feel and grab a cold one. At Light Infantry you give it all at the shooting range only to grab your backpack and hike 10 km through woods and marshes looking for waypoints. Resting means you are not collecting points.
 
Can you imagine an event of a similar measure happening in the Czech Republic? What do you think would it need to happen?

I guess it could be done, but only with the support of the Czech Army. Without walking in a publicly accessible area, I can imagine a similar competition happening on some military training grounds. It is apparent that events like the recently passed Czech Combat are very popular, but they are limited by the rules of the civilian shooting ranges. It makes me sad, that in Poland they understand that allowing people to train like this supports the defensive capacity of the whole country.  At home, there is an opposite tendency – closing shooting ranges and allowing this only to members of armed forces.

Light Infantry has a compulsory suppressor usage rule, which means you can shoot even later in the evening, at night, and early in the morning without exposing the range surroundings to too much noise stress. How do you view allowing suppressor usage at the ranges and its benefits for dynamic shooting?

Honestly, I cannot imagine spending so much time at the range and around it without suppressors being used. The event is allowed thanks to the compulsory suppressor usage, nobody gets an exception. What’s more, the suppressors allow you to shoot from bunkers, houses, cars, where shooting a short-barrelled AR-15 would pose a serious health risk for one’s hearing, despite using the muffs. The way I see it, suppressors are a good example of sport shooters easily accepting the extra cost and some discomfort connected to suppressor usage in order to be able to enjoy their hobby without bothering others around the range.

On the other hand, those 500g it weighs get really heavy when you carry it around all the weekend…
 

Your team did pretty well at the shooting range, but you yourself stated that the navigation part was your Achilles’ heel. You ended up 55th (out of 84 teams) and you sound a bit down. I would say that it’s not a bad place, when you take into consideration the difficulty and the other contestants. Nevertheless, if our readers started considering attending the competition next year, what three pieces of advice would you provide? And can you think of anything they should not do? Either in the preparation phase or during the competition.

At the shooting stages we ended up 14th, so what we missed was the willpower and strength to walk more in the Navigation task. At least we know what to aim at in our preparation! Last year we finished 9th at Lighter, which was a great boost for our ego at the starting line this year. Well, we did not realize the gaping difference between Lighter and Light…

You certainly cannot go there without some preparation. To anyone seriously thinking about signing up I would recommend starting with courses, such as HT, and to regularly train with your buddy to develop good communication and coordination with each other. The next phase is attending other competitions; Gunrun can test your ability to function together under load and it tests your ability to handle your weapons safely under stress. Well, and thirdly, walking and power. Even if you do not plan to look for all the waypoints, just like us, having to carry your equipment around easily depletes your power needed at the shooting stages.

I suppose this is an unnecessary question – do you plan to attend next year?

We had the clear answer to this on our walk back from the range to the car, we just did not have the strength to say it out loud. *laughter*

Thanks for the interview and good luck at the next events you and your buddy are planning to attend.


If this sparked your interest, do not hesitate with the registration. This competition can really test your body and mind to the core, prove your equipment, but most of all your determination and team spirit. When joined by weather as wonderful as it was this year, the experience is simply priceless!


Photo album: Light Infantry 2024 - Lighter division

Zdeněk Veselý – Board member of LEX z.s.