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.
Shoulder Strap Analysis
Below are comparisons to the GR1’s shoulder straps:
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.
Comparison to Bullet Rucker 4.0
This Basic Rucker is much like my 15L Bullet Rucker 4.0 that I got in 2023. Here is a comparison chart:
Zippers
One last tid-bit: the zipper on the Basic Rucker is smaller than on the Bullet Rucker 4.0. This makes sense b/c the Basic Rucker is purpose built for rucking. The Bullet Rucker 4.0 is meant to be more versatile–for rucking and workouts (hence the bottom handle too), which may mean tossing and getting more banged up.
Even though GORUCK no longer sells this particular Bullet Rucker 4.0 (on the left), I’m sure many of you are still holding on to it. It’s been my go-to ruck sack since 2023. So, I figured it was a good GORUCK bag to compare the Basic Rucker to. I really can’t tell how the Basic Rucker is 2L bigger than the Bullet Rucker, but it must be in the depth near the bottom.
Conclusion
Have you ever been looked at suspiciously b/c you’re rucking (or walking around) with a backpack? I used to get this often when I used to leave. I think this was mostly b/c my backpack was camo and I always had on dark colors. This Basic Rucker helps make you looks much less shady due to the wide reflective strip down the back.
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.