Yes. The RuckTrack (KiezelPay) listing on the Connect IQ Store includes a 7-day free trial. You install it, use it for a week, then complete the purchase only if you want to keep it. After the trial, the app shows a code that you enter at www.kzl.io/code to finish the purchase. No payment info required up front.
The original RuckTrack listing (Garmin Pay, $2.99 USD) is the same app without the trial step. If you already know you want it, that's the simpler path.
For the full comparison between the two listings, see the next question.
Same app, same price. The difference is the payment system and the trial.
Both ship from the same codebase. Same 86 supported devices, same calorie math, same screens, same FIT fields. A feature shipped in one ships in both.
Why two listings exist: Garmin Pay works well in most markets but has friction in some regions where it isn't supported, and Garmin Pay doesn't support trials for third-party Connect IQ apps. KiezelPay covers both gaps. Having both listings lets RuckTrack reach buyers in either situation.
If you're choosing fresh: the KiezelPay version lets you try the app for 7 days before committing.
Rucking is walking with a weighted pack. The load adds resistance to an otherwise low-impact activity, increasing calorie burn and engaging your posterior chain and core. It started as a military fitness staple and has become mainstream in hiking, strength training, and endurance circles.
RuckTrack runs on 86 Garmin devices across AMOLED and MIP displays, including Forerunner (70 / 165 / 170 / 255 / 265 / 570 / 955 / 965 / 970), fēnix 7 / 8 / E, Enduro 3, Venu (2 / 3 / 4 / Sq 2 / X1), epix Pro, Instinct 3 AMOLED, D2 Mach / Air, Descent MK3 / G2, Approach S50 / S70, MARQ 2, tactix 7 / 8, quatix, and vívoactive 5 / 6. See the full devices page for the per-family breakdown, or check the Connect IQ Store listing for the live compatibility check at install time.
RuckTrack uses the Pandolf equation, a published military physiology model that estimates metabolic cost from body weight, pack weight, walking speed, grade, and terrain (Road, Gravel, Trail, Sand, Snow). When you slow below walking pace, RuckTrack falls back to your watch's native heart-rate-based estimate so calories don't stall on breaks or steep descents. The total shown is a hybrid of both.
Two different calculations, two different questions:
Both numbers are correct for what they measure. The headline answers "how hard did your body work?" The Connect IQ section answers "how much of that came from the pack?"
The gap can run either way, and it's normal. On a treadmill RuckTrack often reads higher than the headline, because heart-rate calorie models read low when your heart rate is low: a fit walker at an easy pace gets a modest headline number even though the work of the walk is the same, and RuckTrack counts that work. On a flat, easy outdoor walk it can go the other way and read slightly lower. If you want to check it, on a treadmill the speed and incline are exact, and RuckTrack's number lands within a few percent of the standard exercise-physiology walking equation. The Calorie Math page has the worked example, and Does your Garmin count your pack weight? shows the whole thing second by second on a real 45 lb climb.
RuckTrack saves your ruck as a Rucking-type activity so Garmin Connect categorizes it correctly (not as a generic hike). Garmin Connect shows that activity type with its own built-in pack-weight field near the top, and that field is reserved for Garmin's first-party rucking profile, which exists only on a few watches (fēnix 8, Forerunner 970, tactix 8). Garmin doesn't let third-party apps like RuckTrack write into it, so on every other watch it stays blank ("--").
Your pack weight isn't lost. Open the activity, tap the Stats tab (next to Overview), and scroll to the Connect IQ section, where it's saved as the Pack Weight field alongside the load-aware calories and terrain. That is the reliable place to find it, and where all of RuckTrack's numbers live. RuckTrack also puts the weight in the activity title (for example "Ruck 20 kg"), but Garmin often renames the activity by location (like "Polk County Rucking"), so use the Connect IQ section if the title doesn't show it.
Yes. There are two indoor modes, selectable from the Settings menu before you start a session:
In both indoor modes, GPS is disabled and the Effort page (vertical speed, elevation gain) is hidden because they aren't meaningful indoors.
That's standard Garmin behavior, not something RuckTrack starts on purpose, and not something it can turn off.
Garmin watches auto-start LiveTrack (the live location-sharing link) for any activity recorded by a Connect IQ app that's permitted to use GPS, whether or not GPS is actually running. RuckTrack needs GPS for outdoor rucks, so it carries that permission, and the watch applies the same auto-start to an indoor treadmill session. Garmin's own built-in indoor activities are exempt because the watch handles them differently from third-party apps. Connect IQ gives apps no control over LiveTrack, so RuckTrack can't switch it off for a single session.
If you'd rather it not start indoors, turn off LiveTrack auto-start in your Garmin settings: in the Garmin Connect app or on the watch, open your LiveTrack settings (under Safety & Tracking) and turn off Auto Start. You can still start LiveTrack by hand whenever you do want to share a ruck.
No. Every setting, preset, and history entry stays on your watch. Meridian operates no servers, runs no analytics, has no companion phone app, and uses no third-party SDKs. Full details on the Privacy page.
No. RuckTrack's History list and Stats screen (lifetime totals, weekly streak, personal bests) are stored on the watch itself, so a new watch or a fresh reinstall starts those counters from zero. There's no account or cloud copy to restore them from.
Your saved rucks aren't lost, though. Each session syncs to Garmin Connect as a normal activity, with the load-aware fields under Stats → Connect IQ, so your training history lives there regardless of which watch recorded it. It's specifically RuckTrack's on-watch History list and Stats screen that are per-device.
The Stats screen (Settings → Stats, or the post-save action menu) tracks three things beyond lifetime totals. The weekly streak counts consecutive calendar weeks (Monday start) with at least one saved ruck: one ruck a week keeps it alive, and BEST STREAK records your longest run. THIS WEEK shows how many rucks you've saved in the current week.
Best pace is tracked at three pack-weight tiers (10-19, 20-29, and 30+ lb, or 5-9, 10-14, and 15+ kg, shown in your weight unit). A session needs at least 1 km of distance and a pack at or above the lowest tier to set one; shorter or lighter rucks show "--" for that tier until a qualifying session lands.
Updating from an older version? The streak and best paces are reconstructed from your History list at first launch, so they don't start from zero.
From the live screen, long-press UP to open the activity Settings menu without pausing. (On touch-only watches without a reliable long-press, hit the Action button to pause and pick Settings from the pause menu.) Tap Pack, set the new weight, and confirm. The change applies forward to the rest of the session. Past calorie integration is not retroactively recomputed.
Auto Lap fires a lap marker at every 1 mile (or 1 km, based on your distance unit) of covered distance. Each lap triggers a short vibration and shows a 3-second on-screen summary, then returns to the live screen. The lap page (page 4) shows current-lap pace, distance, and time. Toggle Auto Lap on or off in the activity Settings menu. If you record a manual lap (Back button), the next auto-lap marker advances by one full unit from that point, so you won't get a double-lap.
Auto Pause automatically pauses your recording when you stop moving and resumes when you start again, so a wait at a crosswalk or stoplight doesn't skew your pace or moving time. Turn it on in the activity Settings menu (before you start, or mid-ruck).
It is off by default on purpose: rucking tradition tracks total time under load, including rest stops, so moving-time is opt-in. Auto Pause is outdoor only (it needs GPS speed). When a stop pauses the recording, the live screen shows an AUTO PAUSED banner; press Start anytime to take manual control.
RuckTrack shows "--" instead of zero whenever a value isn't trustworthy yet. Common cases:
This is intentional. Rendering "0" would read as "the metric is broken" rather than "data is still warming up."
No. RuckTrack is a Connect IQ Device App, which means it runs as its own self-contained activity with custom-drawn screens (the HR zone arc, the pack-calorie breakdown, the post-ruck summary pages). That's what makes those screens possible, but Garmin's platform doesn't let a Device App add native navigation, reorder its screens the way a native activity profile can, or host other Connect IQ data fields (Stryd's power field, for example).
If you want RuckTrack's load-aware calories alongside any of those, the answer is PackCal, our companion data field. It packages the same Pandolf load-aware calorie model as a data field you add to a native walk-type activity (Ruck, Walk, or Hike), so it runs together with Garmin's native navigation and any other data fields on that activity. PackCal is a separate app on the Connect IQ Store, available on supported watches.
Garmin permits returns of paid Connect IQ apps (commonly reported as a 48-hour window). The mechanism is typically to uninstall the app from your watch shortly after purchase; Garmin then reverses the charge automatically. If you have trouble, contact Garmin Support through the Connect IQ Store. Meridian doesn't process payments and has no access to your purchase.
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