As we get out of the house, the gear-obsessed WIRED Reviews team is writing about our favorite bags and EDCs. Today, reviewer Scott Gilbertson raves about his GoRuck backpack. You can also check out other Bag Check stories where WIRED writers share their carryall of choice.
GoRuck’s US-made GR1 is the best backpack I’ve ever used, full stop. The 26-liter version is big enough to hold everything I need for a couple weeks of travel. It can also work as a camera bag, a gym bag, a hiking pack, and, oh yeah, for rucking.
The GR1 costs a fortune (for a bag), but given its practical utility and durability, I’d say it’s worth every penny. I’ve been using mine for three years now, and it still looks like it did the day I got it.
I first became interested in the GoRuck GR1 because I deeply hate running. I love walking, hiking, and riding a bike. But running? No thanks. Even so, I’m willing to concede that running is probably the cardio workout with the lowest barrier to entry. Aside from a new pair of shoes every year or two, you don’t need anything. Just step outside the door and torture yourself, er, I mean, run.
Fortunately for me, I found rucking, aka the military term for walking around with a weighted backpack. In recent years, rucking has gained popularity among civilian ranks, booming on TikTok and among Silicon Valley efficiency-seekers. The best definition of rucking that I’ve seen comes from Michael Easter’s The Comfort Crisis, which describes rucking as “cardio for people who hate running.” Sounds like me, right?
Rucking involves carrying a heavy pack while walking (some people jog, some people run, I do neither). Essentially, no matter your movement speed, the extra weight in your pack elevates your physical output to a higher cardio plane. But if you’ve ever donned a pack to go hiking, you may have learned the hard way that many backpacks aren’t up to the task of carrying heavy weights. Thin shoulder straps become cheese cutters on your shoulders, fabric sags, and items in your bag dig into your back and tailbone.
That’s when my editor said, “Oh, I have a GoRuck GR1—rucking is what it’s made to do.” After a bit of personal research, I soon had my own GR1. Made from ultra-durable and water-resistant 1000D Cordura, it’ll wear the T-shirt right off your back before anything happens to the pack. And the zipper pulls—perhaps the most overlooked feature of GoRuck packs—are fantastic. They’re big and easy to grab, even when you’re wearing thick winter gloves.
I started off filling my GR1 with sand as a weight, but eventually, I switched to a 20-pound ruck plate. As time went on, though, the GR1 transformed from my rucking pack to my do-almost-everything pack.
I believe in keeping things simple. No need for two bags when one will do. So, why not use the GR1 for more than rucking? To see how it fared for travel, I loaded it with everything I needed for a weeklong trip with my kids. The GR1 was perfect. I’ve never traveled with anything else since. If I were going for longer than a couple of weeks, I’d probably bring a 34L GR2 ($385), which offers just a bit more space. But 95 percent of the time, the GR1 is my travel bag. It even fits under an airplane seat, so I never worry about overhead bins being full.
I started using it as a camera bag, too, since the full-length zippers allow you to access it from the side. And then I thought, Hey, why not ditch the gym bag and throw in my gi and some snacks for jiujitsu? The GR1 also functions as a laptop bag when I want to work out of the local coffee shop; the pack also carries everything I need for beach afternoons by the lake.
Part of the reason for the GoRuck’s versatility is its perfect balance of organizational compartments and a big, open storage space. There are four pockets in total in the GR1 (not counting the laptop sleeve). Two on the outside, one of which is tiny and holds my sunglasses and keys most of the time, the other of which I really don’t use. Inside, there are two pockets on the back flap, which hold my notebook and pen, whatever book I’m reading, and some headphones. The rest of the pack is a free-for-all of packing space that can hold clothes, rain gear, lunch, that aforementioned gi, a travel tripod, cameras and lenses, binoculars, and anything else I need to shove in there for any reason.
There is some MOLLE webbing inside the 26L GR1, to which I’ve added a pouch that most often secures two camera lenses in place, protecting them from tumbling around. I don’t really use the external MOLLE, save for a water bottle holder I added to the side.
Now, great as it is, I would be lying if I said I exclusively use the GR1 for everything. While the GR1 is technically fine for hiking, I still mostly use my Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 for that purpose, as I keep it loaded up and ready for the trails. I also have Fjällräven’s High Coast waterproof rolltop bag, which I mostly use for bikepacking, canoeing, and paddleboarding, similarly keeping it ready for adventure.
This might sound like a lot of packs, but one of the keys to getting outside more and actually doing stuff, is having whatever gear you need prepped for whatever is in store. For that reason, a single pack for everything is not a good idea. What I have in the GR1 is a single pack for most things, with two other packs pre-loaded for specific activities.
As with any piece of gear, there are compromises you’ll need to make with the GR1. It’s not for everyone. At 3.1 pounds, it’s heavy—this is a feature in my view, given the rucking function—and it’s military-looking (an ex–Special Forces guy is the brand’s cofounder). My gripes are small, though. I don’t like the MOLLE webbing on the back of the GR1. I have no use for it, and it needlessly contributes to the military look of the pack. (I have considered cutting it off.) The Heritage version of the GR1 ($525, but currently out of stock) is made of waxed canvas and doesn’t have the MOLLE (but also isn’t made from the ultra-durable 1000D Cordura), but if I opted for this version, I’d lose my side MOLLE, and I do like that for the water bottle holder.
Ultimately, I can live with the MOLLE on the back. Despite these minimal quibbles, if you told me I could only have one bag in my life, the 26L version of the GoRuck GR1 would be my pick.
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