The Rucker showed up late last week which means a preview post is in order. I took the pictures as soon as it showed its face so that I could load it up with weight and get out rucking with it. A review will be coming once at least double digit miles are on it along with a good number of workouts.
I purchased the 25L version which compares more closely to the 26L GR1 so I’ll be making some comparisons between the two. From this view the two packs would look identical.
I picked up the green version which is apparently the Ingress Enlightened version of the pack. Not sure if Jason did that on purpose but he did mention the Green/Blue Ruckers relating to the two factions in Ingress. Nerd :P. Since these two colors released there have been two more added: Grey w/ Red and Grey w/ Silver.
More green webbing on the side… perfect for one of the stabilizer belts.
Outer pocket is present and accounted for. It also looks like it wants to eat me.
On first glace it appears that nothing is different between the Rucker straps and the GR1…
…but if you get closer you’ll notice the sewn square pads are gone. Oh yeah, and there’s no laptop spot and the internal sheet is twice as thick. Which is awesome.
Moving on to the inside you’ll see the differences immediately. There’s no MOLLE on top and instead there’s a loop to secure a hydration bladder.
One little detail that I really like is that…
…there’s both Velcro and a snap to keep the hydration bladder in place. If you’re carrying a 3L bladder of water know that 1 liter of water weights 2.2 pounds… so a 3 liter bladder will weigh 6.6 pounds + bladder when full. Having the Velcro to take some of the weight off the snap seems like a good idea. It turns out that this feature (the snap in addition to the Velcro) might not be on every Rucker out there. There’s a big possibility that if you order one yours will not come with the snap.
Of course there’s a new label in the Rucker.
The weight area is nice and is able to fit two GORUCK Ruck Plates in it. My hope is that the Velcro is strong enough to handle at least two 30 lb plates… I guess we’ll see when review time comes!
The outer panel on the inside with the two pockets is pretty much identical to the GR1.
As in now-typical GORUCK fashion Taiwanese YKK zippers are present and accounted for.
Overall the pack looks great and I’m excited to put it through its paces. Because this is a “preview” post there isn’t any review to be had but hopefully the pictures were enjoyable. The Rucker is available for $100 less than the GR1… which, based on pricing, makes it the ideal pack for people looking to just do GORUCK events.
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Hi, it’s been awhile since your post. How’s the Rucker is holding up?
I am all fine with the lacking of laptop compartment with the price reduction. However not so pleased with the lacking of internal Molle.
This would means only GORUCK weight plate is the only option to ruck with weight. Because it’s not ideal set up to replace with bricks (or any other type of weights) and having them sitting at the bottom of the pack.
Not only that, all items have to sit at the bottom of the pack. One cannot hang any pouch, water bottle etc. higher on the pack.
I’ve been using a GORUCK Ruck Plate in mine and it has been great for the past 5 events (3 Toughs and 2 Lights) that I’ve used it in. I’m hoping to get the full review out this week or next. The lack of internal MOLLE is a bummer but because of cost-cutting measures like that GORUCK has been selling them on sale for under $100. It’s a hard trade-off…
Having used my GR1 for EDC for over 2 years and now 4 Tough challenges…I would pay the extra $100 and use it for everything.
I’m a big fan of the laptop compartment as well but there are some people who hate it and use the inside pouch for their laptop. I’m guessing it’s that group that prefers the Rucker for EDC over the GR1.
I ordered a blue/black Rucker as soon as they came out and it came with the Velcro only bladder tab. After 2 rucks and some other usage I noticed that the tab would come loose and the bladder would slide down, although it didn’t seem to happen suddenly as I only noticed afterwards. I emailed Goruck just yesterday to see if anyone else had reported this and they immediately responded by shipping me a new one (blue/black) with the snap tab. So I suppose it is an issue and would assume that, at some point, all would have the snap tab.
Thanks so much for the response! I ordered my Rucker as soon as they were released but mine didn’t ship for over a week. Sounds like the first batch might not have the snap while the second (and future) batches do based on that.
Curious if the Rucker will suffice for laptop protection. I know that’s the gr1’s purpose, but if I can save $100 and still have adequate protection I’d be very happy.
There’s a few threads on the GORUCK Subreddit discussing this. From what I’ve read it definitely seems like it will work.
That’s weird. I just got the blue/black Rucker, and my hydration loop is velcro only — no snap button. I wonder if that was a late design add?
Wow, that is very, very interesting. I would have expected something like that to be consistent across all versions of the pack. I wonder if the new Grey/Silver and Grey/Red Ruckers have the snap or not…
I think you got a unicorn. The pix on the Rucker page towards the bottom (with the closeup of the hydration loop) don’t show a snap: https://www.goruck.com/rucker-black-w-blue-/p/GEAR-000573
Collector’s item!
That’s crazy… I just did a Google Image search for the Rucker and can’t find a single picture with one that has a snap on the hydration attachment area. I wonder what the deal is and why that’s the case.
I just got my grey/silver one and it has the snap and Velcro
My current understanding is that the initial run of Ruckers were Velcro only. All of the newer ones should be Velcro and Snap. Thanks for the comment and I think that strengthens that idea!