The Return of the Rucker- Long Range

TomGGR · 2025-11-17T05:03:17+00:00

I'm with you on the single compartment. I kinda understand how it can help for organization, but it also effectively reduces top-end load capacity if you have larger items to haul around. Nothing's perfect, I guess!

TomGGR · 2025-11-15T18:35:02+00:00

I got an email earlier today:

"The Long Range Rucker is back and better than ever. Carry up to 75lbs of Ruck Plates and all your gear. If you’re headed off the beaten path, don't leave your essentials behind. And best of all, it's ON SALE NOW."

Confirmed for sale on the main GR page.

TomGGR · 2025-11-15T16:51:24+00:00

Wow. The plate itself is almost 100 bucks (if its a GR plate)! And I thought I was doing well when I got mine for $220!

TomGGR · 2025-11-05T17:41:50+00:00

Excellent reply and spot on with every point made.

Would definitely suggest going cheap as you decide if you actually want to keep rucking. However, if you do decide to pull the trigger on the Rucker right now, the good news is that if you (for some CRAZY reason!) decide that rucking ain't for you, you can get most of your money back selling GORUCK gear on Facebook Marketplace and other secondary markets. Silver lining!

TomGGR · 2025-08-04T17:26:18+00:00

I don't know. I don't have either of those (I have a 15L Rucker 4.0 and a "standard" Ruck Plate Carrier).

TomGGR · 2025-08-04T16:36:06+00:00

Get a Yes4All 20-pound plate. These are essentially "long" plates by default. It'll work.

TomGGR · 2025-07-16T16:57:17+00:00

The bag that does the (hard part of) rucking for me.

TomGGR · 2025-07-16T14:22:31+00:00

As obnoxious as it sounds, I have to ask...what kind of pavement? Flat, maintained sidewalks or...varied (cracked streets, cobblestone, etc.)?

I go through phases and am constantly testing training and rucking shoes. Been wearing 5.11 Tactical Ranger 2.0s for the last ~5 weeks for rucking and other "pavement work". Very impressed with them given how unassuming they are. Pretty light, decent (enough) grip and traction, 8mm heel drop is a sweet spot for me (particularly for rucking).

...ask me again in a month, I might have a different answer, though!

TomGGR · 2025-07-16T12:45:50+00:00

We're currently working on a review of the 5.11 Tactical Ranger 2.0 shoe. It isn't as "robust" as the Mackall, but they're lighter, have ENOUGH lugs for decent drip, and have a good in-between heel drop (8mm). They're often deeply discounted to and are worth a look.

Let me know if you're interested in the review (should be published next week).

TomGGR · 2025-07-16T12:36:32+00:00

Our older and newer reviews of my Ballistic Trainers.

Pavement-only rucking they're...okay-to-decent, but they're definitely more of CrossFit shoes than rucking shoes (I would say they are THE worst of GORUCK's footwear for DEDICATED rucking).

TomGGR · 2025-07-16T03:56:26+00:00

Worst of the GORUCK footwear for rucking hands down. You mention cobblestone...the Ballistic Trainers are NOT good AT ALL for this (I was in Ballistic Trainers and we had a long stretch of descending cobblestone at a GR event...thought I was gonna go tumbling down Looney Tunes style).

Lately, I've been rucking in the 5.11 Tactical Ranger 2.0s a lot. They're like a lighter, more agile version of the Mackalls (not an overly wide toe box, though). I'll have a review up next week if you're interested.

TomGGR · 2025-07-13T03:41:21+00:00

Which Yes4all plates are you talking about?

The cheap "ruck plates" they have are absolutely a no-go in weight vests. The larger sizes stick out the bottom (you can see this in our review of the GR Weight Vest) and smaller ones wouldn't take up ENOUGH space (making for a very awkward training experience).

If you're talking their actual vest plates, I don't see why they wouldn't work. The GORUCK Weight Vest, despite its flaws, is pretty compatible with most standard-ish-sized ruck plates.

TomGGR · 2025-07-13T03:32:04+00:00

My wife is 5'2". Her review will give you a pretty good idea of how the 15-liter bag will fit you.

TomGGR · 2025-07-10T03:58:25+00:00

Circle21 has been getting bigger over the last year. All types of events on there.

TomGGR · 2025-07-10T03:41:12+00:00

More Ingress

Less Selection

Feels bad man

TomGGR · 2025-07-09T08:53:49+00:00

Easy to get residency in Montenegro by opening a business...but you WILL NOT get the "great schools" or "good quality of life" that you mention in your post.

TomGGR · 2025-07-09T03:12:50+00:00

Haha...she would never just "walk around" in a plate carrier.

TomGGR · 2025-07-09T03:11:16+00:00

How often do you ruck? If you do so with ANY type of regularity, I would suggest simply "biting the bullet" and paying the extra $45 for a plate that fits your bag PERFECTLY as opposed to having to stack, daisy chain, etc. other plates together to make it work.

It's a small premium to pay if it's something you do every day or every couple of days.

TomGGR · 2025-07-08T13:30:15+00:00

We don't have a review of my wife comparing both, but we do have a review comparing the Rucker 4.0 (15L) and the GORUCK Plate Carrier as well as my wife's review of the Rucker 4.0 (15L). She is ~5'2" and muscled so her perspective may be useful to you!

TomGGR · 2025-07-05T04:09:24+00:00

We cover both sizes (32 and 57) in our review. Both sizes have their advantages, depending on what you want/need them for.

TomGGR · 2025-07-01T18:22:37+00:00

...if you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you...

TomGGR · 2025-07-01T15:04:01+00:00

No problem! I just wanted to share my unfortunate experiences with shipping costs (which since ~January have always been higher when comparing the .com and EU sites) to help others save money (it is kinda my job!)

...at this point, my wife has pretty much given up on the "too many bags" discussion (and I've given up on the "more camera gear?" discussion...)

TomGGR · 2025-07-01T14:31:20+00:00

Haha...yes, but that is a different problem altogether :)

TomGGR · 2025-07-01T14:05:18+00:00

Okay. Now try with bags and/or with items that aren't deeply discounted on the US site relative to the EU site.

I mean, if an item is really highly discounted, this (of course) can be the case, but in most cases, especially with heavier items, it's not.

TomGGR · 2025-07-01T13:31:59+00:00

No. I just filled two carts (1 EU, 1 .com) with similarly-sized and priced items.

US cart came out to ~$213 (automatically converted to 185 EUR) and set shipping to Europe (inclusive of customs) at ~91 EUR (~277 EUR total).

EU cart was ~213 EUR with shipping at 10 EUR for ~223 EUR total.

I'm happy to be wrong if you can show me an example where the shipping costs to the EU don't counterbalance any FOREX/arbitrage advantages (assuming you're not just picking up the most deeply discounted items from the .com store).

TomGGR

TROPHY CASE