I’ve owned the GORUCK Bullet 10 and Bullet 15 for years so I never felt the need to buy a Battalion 12HR from Recycled Firefighter. They had a recent sale and I figured why not. Their packs have amazing reviews so maybe I should give them a chance see how they stack up against GORUCK’s offerings. This first look post will dig into the pack and show you what’s there. Let me know in the comments if you’d like to see how this stacks up against either the Bullet 10 and/or Bullet 15.
Unboxing the Recycled Firefighter Batalion 12HR
The Recycled Firefighter Battalion 12HR First Look
The Recycled Firefighter Battalion 12HR is made right here in the USA. It is a 12 liter backpack made from 1000d Cordura and uses USA made YKK zippers throughout.
The Velcro rectangle is 3″ tall and 3.5″ wide according to the website. With that 2″ tall and 3″ wide patch on there the rectangle definitely looks 3″ tall by 4″ wide.
Oh yeah… did I mention I bought this in Kryptek Typhoon? I probably wouldn’t have chosen this color if I was planning on using it as an everyday carry bag. It’s an interesting color though and I’ve never owned a bag in it before so here we are.
Here’s that USA zipper YKK zipper that runs vertically on the pack. Since we’re on the outside of the pack we might as well get that front vertical pocket open.
Look at that bright orange! The inside of the pack is high visibility interior pack cloth. What’s that stitching doing in there?
Horizontal pockets within the vertical pocket… now that’s cool. There’s one larger pocket on the bottom and two smaller pockets up top.
Moving to the bottom of the pack you can how all of the zippers meet. From this picture we can see it’s a clam shell opening which is nothing but good news over here.
Moving to the back of the pack you can see that it’s 1000d Cordura all over.
The shoulder straps have webbing sewn in and multiple stitch points. Shouldn’t be too difficult to slip a GrimLoc on there. There’s a D ring sewn into each side which I’m sure is handy for something.
The shoulder straps have some nice padding in them which I’m sure will come in useful. I’d rather have padded shoulder straps than non-padded any day.
Again, the back of the backpack is 1000d Cordura just like the rest of the bag. There’s no ventilation or mesh so if you’re in a hot or humid area this could heat up a little.
The top of the bag has a webbing grab handle. There’s no additional padding in the handle but it works for picking it up.
The top of the bag features the only visible Recycled Firefighter branding. There’s a Made in the U.S.A. tag with the website right over the hydration bladder hose. You’d really only notice this if you were looking straight on at the pack.
Flip the logo up and you’ve got the exit port for the hydration hose.
Opening this pack up you’ll notice that it’s incredibly bright. I have a hard time imagining anything would ever get lost in this pack.
Just look at the bottom of the pack… nothing is getting lost down there!
The top features a small loop of webbing that you can use to hang a hydration bladder from.
The other side of the pack has two mesh pockets. The black mesh over the high visibility orange really makes the items inside stand out.
Recycled Firefighter Battalion 12HR First Look Summary
I haven’t owned the Recycled Firefighter Battalion 12HR for long but the time I’ve spent with it has been good. The pack is sewn up very well, made in the USA with USA hardware, and ships fast. Although the backpack isn’t cheap ($149 retail) it does feel as if it will outlive some of the other packs I own.
Do you have a Battalion 12HR? I’d love to hear your experiences with it in the comments as I continue to use and review this one. Anything you want me to make sure I do with it during the review process? Let me know in the comments as well!
I have purchased from the Recycled Firefighter brand before. They make incredible gear for a fair price. I have been waiting for them to release some alternatives to the GoRuck stuff for a while now. I like the GR1 a lot and its on my Christmas List but the price makes it hard to justify despite my “You Get What You Pay For” mentality.
I would love to see how this holds up in a Challenge.
I’m tempted to use the 24HR at a Light… The one problem is that they have absolutely zero warranty past manufacturing issues when it shows up. It feels built well enough to survive but we’ll see!
Hey Brian. I am considering the goruck bullet 15 and the recycled firefighter 12h. Wanted to get your opinion on the two and which one you prefer and why?
I think the outside pocket of the RF12HR is more usable than the outside pocket on the Bullet 15. The vertical zipper with the multiple pockets is really nice. On the other hand the inside of the Bullet 15 is more usable (for me) than the inside of the RF12HR. In the end I’d probably go with the Bullet 15 if I had to go with one of them. I hope that helps!