GORUCK GR2 26L Review (Better than the GR1??)

So today we're doing a review of the goruck gr2 26 leader in this video I'm going to talk about the pros and the cons and we're going to fully pack it out so you can decide if it's a pack for you look at all that stitching right there craziest best warranties decent ventilation expensive backpack but don't worry if you're not quite feeling the gr2 you're going to want to stick around to the end of the review where I'll make some alternative bag recommendations that might better suit your needs but first things first follow me to the review desk all right first up let's talk about the gist of the gooru gr 226 leader if you don't know about gooru quick 17-second history they make the self-proclaimed world's best Ruck sacking bags and Ruck sacking is this but in their process of making the world's best Ruck sacking bags and also having deep military Roots they ended up like having this cult-like following of not only people who Ruck sacker and or are in the military but people who just love badass Ultra durable made in USA backpacks which is exactly what the gr2 is some of its top features are multiple external Lash point in the front compartment a diagonal cut quick access pocket in the front a removable patch which some of y'all love a large front compartment with a bunch of organization ow you laugh every time I'm in pain Margaret it's a Hong Kong thing and a larger main compartment with also a decent amount of organization to it insane beefy durable Comfort a bombproof laptop compartment but the biggest selling point is really just the way these bags are built how durable they are and their lifetime warranty which talk about in just a second as of recording the gr2 comes in like six color options but go Rook is always changing out new materials new colors based on seasonality and what's in demand the gr2 also comes in three size options a 40 l a 34 L and then this guy the 26 L 26 lers for me is a great size for EDC everyday carry if you have a lot of gear or you just like to have that extra space just in case or 26 L is great for like weekend travel it's good for like a 2 to three day trip no problemo as long as you're a little bit lighter of a packer the dimensions are about 18 in height 13 in width and when fully packed out it's got a depth of around 6 in G Ru says the gr2 26 L weighs 3.9 lb and our scale pretty much so agrees as we're at 3.79 lb this is the go rug gr 226 L when it's empty this is the bag when it's fully packed down and worn on me I'm 5'8 and this is the bag when it's fully packed out and worn on our media manager Margaret who is 5'2 and don't you worry we're going to pack out the entire bag throughout the entire view so you can see exactly what it fits all goor products are backed by their lifetime scars warranty which is one of the craziest best warranties out there right now and it better be cuz this bag comes in at a very Hefty price tag of wait for it $400 that's the sound of half the people watching this review leaving best of luck to you but if you're still here it means that you're maybe not intimidated by the price point and if that's the case and at any point in time you're going to make a purchase or you just want to find out more information we do ask that you do so using the first link in the description below that link makes sure that you get the best price and we often times have discount codes but that link also helps support the NAD Nation YouTube channel and team so we can keep making the best bag reviews on the web thank you very much all right let's get into the Nitty Gritty let's talk about the front of the go Ruck gr2 26 ler first thing to knowe about the front of any bag is the aesthetic it's the soul it's it's it's everything right this is the look of the bag and go ru's look could be summarized in one word Jim military tactical is that one word it is now it's definitely more on the Tactical side and you can definitely see its heavy military inspiration the actually was in the military and that ranges from all the external lash points to the patches with the uh Mera flag and just kind of everything about it goru is great with their branding they're very Anonymous I actually don't see the word goru anywhere on this thing and the patch that comes with it can easily be removed and replaced with other patches that can express who you are if you don't want to rock the American flag let me know in the comments below though like are you a patch person question a and question B if you could make any patch in the world what would your patch be I'd have a no imagination patch that was too easy but I'm not much of a patch person but if I had know imagination patch I think that I would actually rock that I don't know let me know your patch thoughts below now next up let's talk about materials this fabric is 1000d Cordura and as you can see it's a beautiful weave and Cordura is one of the best like thread makers in the world if it's Cordura it's quality and 1000d is a very thick weave so what that means is this bag is going to be definitely on it just it feels heavy and durable and it's not super like light and malleable but it is but it isn't it's just like you know it's it's very in line with what you would expect like a hardcore military tactical bag to feel like but it's also very weather resistant and extremely abrasion resistant Next Level abrasion resistant from there we got all these external Ash points 1 2 3 4 5 6 * 3 is 18 should have been a math teacher so if you want to connect 18 carabiners to the outside of this bag that's an option and there's more in the back too wow finally we can talk about Pockets the first of which is this front diagonal pocket right there this is sort of go signature look it's protected with this little flap right here for extra weather resistance and underneath it is a YKK zipper nice smooth opening and closing this pocket runs all the way down here so you got some decent real estate that you're working with there's no additional organization in that pocket so for me it's a great spot for like my over thehead headphones right they're big they're a bit bulky and I want quick access to them right cuz I'm on the train and someone's being loud and annoying and it's like silence fool I will say it's not the quickest of access but it does allow you to grab your gear that's loaded in there pretty fast next talk about the front compartment which annoys me a little bit because here's why this corner is it gets me every time now listen these are huge zippers these are like YKK number 10s right I think so yeah they're chunky right and the Fabrics are chunky and it's reinforced by reinforced there's so much going on this bag weighs 4 lbs at 26 l so like with that is not going to be always a super smooth and fluid experience this bag ain't ta Chi it is Muay Tha meet Jiu-Jitsu mitsuma wrestling so the edges and everything you know you're going to get caught sometimes whether it's this corner because of the flap and just the way the materials are but I do think over time that might settle a little bit if you own a goor before and you've had any problems on these corners or just in general with the opening and closing I'd love to hear your thoughts on this let us know in the comments below but you can see when we get into this front compartment there's a lot of organization which is really interesting cuz this is where the gr1 and the gr2 sort of separate themselves cuz there's a lot of overlap between the gr1 and the gr2 and the sizes but the the big difference between the two is that the gr1 is a lot simpler and the gr2 has this extra front compartment and other things on top of that in this compartment we have sort of a built-in Tech pouch at the top a zippered mesh pocket below then on the front side of this compartment we have a zippered pocket non mesh and then complimentary mesh pocket right there what's cool is this pocket can open like basically 100% clam shell making it easier to access whatever you put in there or when you pack things in there speaking of which let's pack it out with some stuff so I'm just kind of throwing a bunch of EDC stuff on the table and this front compartment is we're going to put like the smaller things right cuz you got a lot of smaller compartments and things that I just kind of want quicker access to and I have no reason or rhyme for how going to pack this out so let's see how it goes starting with a couple of notebooks and these mesh Pockets here and the built-in Tech pouch this is actually a really interesting inclusion and I suspect it to be controversial kind of reminds me of black Embers inclusion of a tech pouch in their Shadow backpack but much less prescriptive so we can throw some wires in here throw my keys in there keep them nice and Safe LA laptop battery good there the top here I'm going to throw another portable battery my mouse as well if I want to get some work done actually I put these pens in with their notebooks I feel like that's where they belong and then this mesh pocket we'll do some tape measure and a hero clip and then I got my little tool set actually in this cap 0.5 that should be able to fit as well I don't know how bulky of items this compartment will fit but you can kind of see we have a decent distribution don't forget me you're in buddy that's kind of see how this closes I suspect it'll do quite well because just the way these freaking bags are built but you can see right now I'm getting like zipper stoppage right this 1000d corduro with these chunky zippers I mean it just comes with a territory you got to learn to kind of love it right G's like you're working out all the time with us you can see right there well loaded doesn't look too weird this bag is a Vibe so let's keep vibing dude let's talk about the middle of the gor Ruck gr2 26 L one thing to note about G bags that even their hardcore Community loads entirely is the lack of water bottle holders on either side of the exterior of the bag cuz you're like dude well you're military and like Ruck sacking and like water's important to those people but Go's like go yourself they're like H instead of a water bottle we'll give you some external lash points cuz 18 in the front probably wasn't enough so we gave you another 1 2 3 4 5 6 on each Sid so you got another 12 total grand total of 40 should have been a math teacher feature So in theory you can clip a water bottle to this part but yeah if uh an external water bottle holder is crucial for you at 400 USD wait till the alternative section I actually got one for you that might work better I think on the top we have a top handle I think she thought that this would be a little bit better well paded and might have a bit more space cuz I'm like a small dude I'm 58 but some of these military dudes are like you know freaking mountains right so I don't know how they're going to get their beefy hands in there but on the flip side one good thing about this top handle is how reinforced that stitching is I mean look at all that stitching right there this handle ain't going nowhere and we're going to see the same part on the shoulder straps as well but once SI at a time we'll get there in a minute and if you're thinking to yourself dude backpack Theory and reinforced stitching and all these different backpacks I I'm loving this video I wish that I could learn more about the world of backpacks well hold your horse is Johnny or Sally whatever your name is uh you can because not only do we review backpacks here on nomad's Nation but we actually also have the nomad's nation newsletter and in that I kind of highlight what's happening on a weekly basis in the carry community and the carry Community is exactly what it sounds like people like me and like you who're just freaking obsessed with backpacks cuz we're literally in the midst of a backpack Revolution right now whether you like the Tactical style of go Ruck or the urban style of air or anything in between there's a lot of crazy stuff happening and The Nomad Nation newsletter is the best way to stay on top of it all so to sign up simply look for this globe icon in the description below and I hope to see you in your inbox let's keep packing out this guy all right for the main compartment yet again those big old chunky YKK zippers and I think this should be clam shell oh yeah it most certainly kind of is yeah yeah we're we're CL CL we're clamming we're totally clamming it should be noted too there's a weird thing going on with the relationship of the bottom of this bag here in the middle of this bag here where this part where this this mesh pocket is is actually this is the bottom of the bag so when you flip it inside out this is that and then that becomes this the mind is then blown never seen that before we got a little bit less of organization in this compartment versus the front but not that much we've got a mesh pocket here zipper mesh pocket here as well an elastic sort of stowage pocket right there and one two three four five six times 3 18 more external LH points we're at a grand total of 58 I think there's more coming too there's more let's pack it out one thing I like about this size bag is that if you don't mind a little bit bigger of an EDC like I said it can double for travel so let's say we're taking a little weekend trip to Costa no Peru final answer so got a week's worth of clothes and undies here from I'm packing lights to Peru okay one bag in it and then a little dop kit and then we saw that I had all my tech stuff in the front already you can see packing Cube fits really nicely there dop kit right on top and then on this side I'm going to throw my Kindle and I think my I'd feel safe in my over thehead headphones being here cuz this is a nice soft landing pad for them and yeah now con the Zips woo they will ease up over time they have to they have to but Pro it's just a freaking it's just like a it's a backpack it's absolutely a backpack it's a crazy priced crazy over engineered overbuilt backpack but it's a backpack but no backpack is worth $400 if it's not comfortable no backpack is worth any money if it's not comfortable so let's jump into the next section and talk about the back of the goor Ruck gr2 26 L now let's start before we get into the comfort with the laptop section because goruck says their laptop compartment is Bomb proof and we are not going to test that here on the channel but but I will say it is very impressive you got sort of this like Corner triangular sort of opening and you can see when you're in that's where the laptop goes Goro gives laptop specifications but it doesn't say exactly what laptop can fit so we made a 3D print of a 16-in MacBook Pro and it should fit it absolutely does fit zip close oh hell yeah and I got to admit my laptop is in here like it's just I I feel very safe that's because of the insane amount of padding on this back panel reinforced by whatever is being packed out in the main compartment it's just a really good laptop compartment but I got two Cons with the laptop compartment con number one is the lack of pu coating on this zipper and I don't get me wrong like zippers in themselves are very weather resistant and pu coating absolutely peels off over time but sometimes it's just nice to have that little bit extra piece of mind with your laptop compartment to have that little extra fortification so it would have been nice to see at this price point but I get that's also that's just that's just not go ru's thing but con number two it's because of the location of this laptop compartment which is quite strange um it's behind the shoulder straps which means that you know you got to kind of like move around the shoulder straps and then do this and then and then to do it's you know it's it's a hassle but then on the flip side of that it does provide a little bit extra security right so if you're concerned about you know leaving your bag and somebody trying to snatch your laptop like this buys you a couple seconds there's a pro and a con to everything back panel itself like I said stupid padding decent ventilation not the best but there will be some breathability coing through these Cuts then for shoulder straps talk about reinforcement remember we talked about this top handle and how reinforced the stitching was I mean look at these shoulder straps same thing I mean look at all this stitching right here gor is known for having their shoulder straps be very well uh sewn into the bags and the good news is if anything bad happens your Scar's lifetime guarantee has got your back 1 2 3 4 5 six lash points on each one for 12 I think we're at what 70 lash points on this bag I lost count it's a lot of lash points I'm curious though like is that too many lash points for you is it not enough lash points for you I want to hear your thoughts on external lash points let me know in the comments below and these are some big beefy shoulder straps the width is really really crazy which for some you're going to hate like cuz it covers a lot of real estate right on this hot summer days it's not like a light and Breezy bag there's nothing light and Breezy about this bag there is only intense and intense with this bag but that extra padding does help to kind of ease the burden of the load when this thing is really packed out and finally one last thing I'm going to complain about with gok bags is at 400 USD I expect there to be no dangle just give me one of those little nylon webs little nylon holders is right to keep the dangle in its place because if there one thing I believe in it's stopping the dangle show them the mini Aaron stop the dangle preach it little guy and one final thing to note before we go into the actual Comfort section outside is that Goro has changed the lining on their shoulder straps it used to be like a THD like the same material as this which is just terrible for the skin and the clothes too hardcore we know you're hardcore but like can you tune it down a notch and gck did and now we have a super smooth 210d nylon which is still quite durable but it's just a better material for shoulder straps for sure okay let's see what you're made of go Ruck gr2 Let's Take It Outside test out the Comfort Air on outside 16 minutes from now what's the deal with the comfort of this bag so wearing this bag for about 15 minutes now and overall gooru Comfort it's just a Vibe dude I mean these are the chunkiest thickest shoulder straps you're going to find on the market and that's going to be really uncomfortable and oppressive to some or like yeah yeah others overall I would appreciate maybe a bit more ventilation on the back panel at this price point but you know this thing is just so well be built the harness system it's tough It's Got A vibe it's durable and if that's what you're looking for you're going to find this bag to be very very comfortable let's take it back to the office and talk about the pros and the cons Pro number one insanely wellb built Pro number two is the Scar's lifetime guarantee is truly one of the best in the market and point number three is the impressive amount of organization the gr2 offers over the GR r one but on the con side getting some snagging and difficulty opening the zippers especially on the corners of this front compartment con number two I forgot to mention this I would have liked a lighter color in the interior to make it a little bit less of a black hole of death and con number three there's no way around it at $400 this is an expensive backpack and just a reminder if you're considering making a purchase we do ask that you do so using the first link in the description below thank you very much but maybe you're not quite sold you want to hear what those alternative backpack recommendations I was teasing at the beginning are Let's uh go chat over here okay so for alternative backpack recommendation number one I'm going to mix it up a little bit and give you this guy right here which is the Mission Workshop break or raky not sure how to pronounce it this is a good option for you if you like that kind of badass tactical look but you want a bag that has a different aesthetic tons of features and is also weather resistant and to learn more about the Mission Workshop rake rack whatever take a look at the description below and you'll find a link to our full review all right alternative backpack recommendation numero dose is going to be this right here which is the King Kong core backpack great option for you if you're totally digging like the Tactical Vibes of goru but it's a bit out of your price range King Kong makes some really solid bags and they come at a much more accessible price point and to learn more about this bag check the description below and you'll find a link to our full review and finally alternative B recommendation number three is the go Ru gr1 which I do not currently have but it's a great option for you if you're digging the gr2 26 L but you want something a bit smaller and a little bit less feature heavy with less compartments and less organization the gr1 is absolutely a bad pack and to learn more about it simply watch this video right here if you got any questions about any bags let me know in the comments below my name is Aaron this is Nomads nation and we'll catch you next time

Channel: Aaron @ Nomads Nation

Views: 8,232

Keywords: GoruckGR2, GoruckGR2Review, GoruckGR226L, EDCGear, TacticalBags, Gorucking, TravelPacks

Id: gTgBYLhM_QQ

Length: 18min 11sec (1091 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 03 2024