When I first saw the thumbnails (before they disappeared for a few hours) I thought the Shadow Gear might be rucks meant to assist with people who Shadow GORUCK events. If you’ve never seen a Shadow at an event they are an incredibly helpful individual who takes pictures of you and more often than not supplies you with some well needed (and deserved) beer. I figured the rucks would have built in storage or something for cameras but I was very, very wrong.
The Shadow Rucks are designed to be rolled up and stored away within another bag. My immediate idea here is to get a Shadow Ruck and pack it within my GR2 when I travel. That way when I get to my destination I will be able to keep the GR2 at the place I’m staying at and use the Shadow Ruck for day trips. To create the rucks they’ve removed the laptop compartment and webbing to allow the ruck to be easier rolled up. I can’t tell by the images but it does not appear that there is a way to keep the Shadow Rucks cinched by anything on the ruck itself. I think an internal nylon webbing with cam buckle would have been awesome to keep the ruck together once
In addition to the rucks GORUCK also released the Shadow Pocket which I assumed would be for camera lenses and the like but since this is not gear for photographers I didn’t know what to expect. The Shadow Pockets are easily collapsable field pockets that don’t have any attachment webbing so that they can be crushed down easily for packing and storage.
GORUCK SD15
The GORUCK SD15 is a 15 liter ruck that can easily be rolled up to fit in another bag. It’s priced at $95 which makes it the cheapest ruck from GORUCK.
GORUCK SD20
The GORUCK SD20 ($110) is a 20 liter ruck that can easily be rolled up to fit in another bag.
GORUCK SD25
The GORUCK SD25 ($125) is a 25 liter ruck that can easily be rolled up to fit in another bag.
GORUCK Shadow Pocket Small
The small pocket comes in at 2 liters and costs $24.
GORUCK Shadow Pocket Medium
The medium pocket comes in at 3 liters and costs $28.
GORUCK Shadow Pocket Large
The large pocket comes in at 4 liters and costs $32.
GORUCK Shadow Pocket Extra Large
The extra large pocket comes in at 5 liters and costs $36.
There’s no way you’re going to want to put bricks into one of these. They’re far more stripped down than people realise, they’re just Goruck’s version of your average Jansport etc. They have zero padding in the back. None. Just fabric.
Which is why they’re marketing these as book bags, and I think they’ll do just fine at that.
I completely agree with that statement. I’ve got the SD25 and it would not provide much support for a GORUCK event. When I only have a laptop in there I can feel it through the back and I don’t want to imagine what a bunch of bricks would feel like with that little amount of support and protection.
Just started looking at the Mystery Ranch stuff since you mentioned it. Saw the RATS Pack for medics and chuckled at the name… then I saw the larger version was called the ROUS.
Mystery Ranch wins at product names.
They seriously crack me up… and they make a good product too. David Thomas used their 3 day pack for Selection and loved it.
I’ll definitely keep you in the loop if I end up snagging that Shadow. I am in the process of getting a MR NICE frame on the cheap. I’d use it with my Large ALICE frame as I save up, and then down the line, I’d pick up the 6500. Mr. Gleason makes nice stuff :)
Those shadow rucks look interesting! I’ve toyed with the idea of getting a GoRuck branded pack for a while, but the price has always been restrictive for me. For the same amount of money I could almost get a Mystery Ranch Assault Pack. I’d gladly pay the extra $30 if that gets me a waistbelt and a sternum strap! It’d be interesting to see if one of the shadows could be used for a challenge. If the bricks were wrapped with padding, maybe it’s doable… hmm I have a challenge coming up in the spring. I see a possible experiment on the horizon.
The two packs I want to get now are a Kifaru X-Ray and the Mystery Ranch 3-day assault. My buddy completed Selection with a Mystery Ranch 3-day assault and has nothing but great things to say about it.
If you end up getting the Shadow let me know! I’d love to hear your thoughts on it… or better yet post a review of it!