GORUCK - US made rucksacks with a tactical flavour

[benp1]

Has anyone heard of GORUCK?

https://www.goruckgear.com

Found their website and their packs looks pretty cool. Particularly the GR1, which has a nice explanation/intro on the following link

http://www.gorucknews.com/gear-expla...0%99s-founder/

[richp]

I'd seen these advertised before online (gearpatrol or uncrate, can't remember which) but never seen one up close. Until last week when I was on a flight to the US and the two guys behind me were US military, returning from leading some training, and both had GR1s.
When we landed and were unloading the overhead bins we had a bit of a chat about them. They both swore by them, saying they have several each, one for "civilian" use when travelling and an identical one for "in-theatre" use, and some of their other bags and pouches. From the 5 mins look I had they seemed very sturdy, with a lot of capacity, plenty of webbing around the place to attach things, inside and out. Quite compact from the outside, looked like they'd be comfortable when worn, but capacious inside. They both indicated theirs had done thousands of miles getting from A to B, and the "work" ones had seen plenty of action. The one I got to see inside of had a fleece, a waterproof, the standard travel electronics (ipad, ipod, laptop, chargers, compact camera), wallet, torches, a selection of paracord bits and pieces... One of them had 3 large carabiners clipped to the outside, saying it was part of the look, and useful when they needed to attach other things to them. They were both adamant they were expensive, but worth every cent.
I've been on the lookout for a non-camera camera bag for some time and am quite tempted by one of these in combination with some pouches, etc. However, I was on the plane before them, and saw them walk past, and I noticed the bags straight away - pared down look, flat black colour, lots of webbing... for all the understated design, they actually stood out among the brighter, more complicated things most other passengers had with them. They are clearly function over form, but if you're at all concerned about the tactical look, they may not be entirely right.
Let me know if you bite the bullet.

[Manofkent]

look pretty nice.
i like the smaller one.

[umbracanis]

I have been eying them for a while; however the cost of shipping and the inbound duty kills the price for me unfortunately.

[Noddy]

Functioning fashion - I like them for their ambition in that way, but don't actually like the look on them. Bit too alpha/sailing/cando

'Sides, I still want an Express

(I feel pretty certain that I won't be able to live without in the next month or so though )

[benp1]

I'd seen these advertised before online (gearpatrol or uncrate, can't remember which) but never seen one up close. Until last week when I was on a flight to the US and the two guys behind me were US military, returning from leading some training, and both had GR1s.
When we landed and were unloading the overhead bins we had a bit of a chat about them. They both swore by them, saying they have several each, one for "civilian" use when travelling and an identical one for "in-theatre" use, and some of their other bags and pouches. From the 5 mins look I had they seemed very sturdy, with a lot of capacity, plenty of webbing around the place to attach things, inside and out. Quite compact from the outside, looked like they'd be comfortable when worn, but capacious inside. They both indicated theirs had done thousands of miles getting from A to B, and the "work" ones had seen plenty of action. The one I got to see inside of had a fleece, a waterproof, the standard travel electronics (ipad, ipod, laptop, chargers, compact camera), wallet, torches, a selection of paracord bits and pieces... One of them had 3 large carabiners clipped to the outside, saying it was part of the look, and useful when they needed to attach other things to them. They were both adamant they were expensive, but worth every cent.
I've been on the lookout for a non-camera camera bag for some time and am quite tempted by one of these in combination with some pouches, etc. However, I was on the plane before them, and saw them walk past, and I noticed the bags straight away - pared down look, flat black colour, lots of webbing... for all the understated design, they actually stood out among the brighter, more complicated things most other passengers had with them. They are clearly function over form, but if you're at all concerned about the tactical look, they may not be entirely right.
Let me know if you bite the bullet.

Thanks Rich, nice mini write up.

I'm not really looking for new packs, but then I always say that! I really do like the look of them, if they weren't so spendy I probably would have taken a punt on one, but at that price there is a lot of competition!

I still also think that if I'm buying a pack for that sort of money, I want to know its going to fit me. I'm still not convinced by one-size-fits-all works, and being tall its a big factor for me