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GORUCK Basic Rucker Review: Simple, Tough, and Purpose-Built

October 10, 2025 By Thad Forester

man sitting in woods with goruck basic rucker


Read more from GORUCK and purchase yours here: https://www.thadforester.com/basic-rucker

You can watch my review on YouTube below where I go into detail about weight plate sizes and water bottles that will fit:


The GORUCK Basic Rucker lives up to its name—it’s basic. But in true GORUCK fashion, “basic” doesn’t mean cheap or weak. This pack is stripped down to the essentials yet built with the same bombproof quality and thoughtful design GORUCK is known for.

One feature that I appreciate them including is the MOLLE webbing on the shoulder straps, which allows you to add accessories like a sternum strap, pouch, or bladder hose retainer. That flexibility makes it easy to tailor the setup for your training style.

Below are comparisons to the GR1’s shoulder straps:

GR1 on left, Basic Rucker on right
GR1 shoulder strap width
Basic Rucker shoulder straps
goruck gr1 vs basic rucker shoulder straps
Thickness of GR1 straps on top vs Basic Rucker on bottom

I also love the 420D Robic fabric—it’s soft, quiet, and has none of the stiffness found in some of GORUCK’s heavier Cordura materials. Inside and out, I break down the design, compare its shoulder straps to the GR1, test three different weight plates, and even perform a simple water test to see how it holds up.

GORUCK took all their lessons learned since 2008 about building rucks and pared them down to the essentials to create the Basic Rucker®

If you’re looking for a minimalist yet durable ruck for training, this one delivers exactly what you need—nothing more, nothing less.

The price right now is the lowest “barrier to entry” for getting a high quality, comfortable rucksack with a Scars Lifetime Guarantee.

Read more and get your GORUCK Basic Rucker here

Filed Under: GORUCK Reviews Tagged With: basic rucksack, goruck, rucking

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