GORUCK Patches Ranked: Tiers A through K

Everyone has read that (in)famous passage in the old CrossFit journal:

“The late Col. Jeff Cooper observed that ‘the fear of sporting failure is worse than the fear of death.’ It is our observation that men will die for points.”

…and if men will die for points, just think about what they’ll do for patches…more specifically, GORUCK patches…

Depending on where that patch falls in the pecking order, people will be willing to put up with some things more than they would for others.

Today, we’re going to look at the tiers of currently available/winnable/earnable GORUCK patches. I know that there are some from the past that still exist, but aren’t really earnable at this point. I also accept that I may have missed a few…if so…sue me (or at least give me a head’s up!)

Now let’s look at the patches that should be proudly displayed on your gear for the world to see…and which ones are best left in an old shoebox somewhere.

Tier A

This is a tier all by itself; there really is no way to compare a Selection patch to any other patches earned from participation in GORUCK events. There is Tier A…and then there is every other Tier…

Earning the Tier A patch requires years of specialized preparation. “Normal” rucking and related physical training isn’t going to cut it; you’re gonna have to get really niche with your training (while also being in tip top physical strength) and be able to handle an extremely wide array of tasks and challenges.

Selection

By far the most exclusive and prestigious patch in all of CrossFit, the Selection patch has only been awarded to less than 50 people.

Selection itself is the longest (it is known as “the toughest endurance event in the world”, after all!) as well as the most physically and mentally demanding event GORUCK hosts. It combines “rucking” with endless P.T. sessions, regular smoke sessions (on land and in water), intense competition with other candidates, and long, sleepless nights.

If you earn the Selection patch…well…why are you even reading this? You know a hell of a lot better than I do what you went through!

I like to watch on mute. It’s even more interesting that way!

Tier B

The gap between Tier A and Tier B is by far the largest on this list. Considering that the passage rate of Heavy is at least 25 times higher than Selection…you should be able to understand why.

Regardless, you aren’t earning a Tier B patch without a lot of work and preparation, not to mention enormous amount of mental toughness and resiliency.

Bragg Heavy

GORUCK, like any organization largely comprised of special forces operators, considers Fort Bragg to be “the center of the universe”. Because of this, any patch is going to be more difficult to earn there than it would be under “normal” conditions.

When you combine the already lofty requirements of securing a Heavy patch (which we will go into next) with cadre who aren’t particularly interested in letting participants “win” on their home turf, you’re looking at the second most exclusive of the GORUCK patches.

Heavy

The most gruelling of the “normal” GORUCK challenges, Heavy is a hell-ish 24 hours of long-range rucking (usually over 40 miles), usually while carrying additional weight, combined with never-ending physical challenges and very little sleep.

Heavy boasts a ~50 percent completion rate so there is no reason not to be pretty proud of earning this patch, especially if Selection is probably never going to be in the cards.

Best Rucker – 50 Miler

It’s one thing to put in 50 miles under load…particularly the standard loads required by all participants (based on sex and bodyweight) at GORUCK events. It’s another thing to 1.5x this load and make the event into a race.

Maybe it’s actually easier to earn a patch when you have up to $6,000 on the line, but 50 miles with 45 pounds is still…50 miles with 45 pounds (for time!) As such, this one is the most exclusive GORUCK “distance” patch.

Tier C

You don’t just earn a Tier C patch by doing an hour or so of rucking, lifting, or Pickle balling three days a week. To make it through either of these events, you’re gonna have to put in a lot of miles under load (and be willing and able to jump on a plane to France for the 80K event).

None of the events from this category down require nearly as much sheer athleticism or power as the Tier A and B events, but they do require a whole lot of endurance, grit, and perseverance.

80 Kilometer

This event happens once a year in Normandy, France during the D-day commemorative festivities. There are plenty of other events (to include Selection in 2024) taking place during this period, but during most years, none compare to this one.

80 kilometers isn’t quite 50 miles. However, we’re gonna place it above the 50-miler due to the jet lag that most participants are going to be dealing with as they navigate it.

50 Miler

Like the slightly shorter 80k above (and unlike the “Best Rucker” event from Tier B), participants are “rewarded” by only have to lug around a 10 (women) or 20 (men) pound ruck plate for the duration of the event. However, a 12 (for really fast people) to 20 (for those who do finish) hour ruck outing is nothing to sneeze at.

Tier D

This tier’s patches are pretty much at the ceiling for more “casual” ruckers. According to GORUCK’s official stats, Tough events have a 94 percent passage rate. Somebody has to be in that 6 percent (and I doubt that seriously unprepared athletes are even attempting these events so the passage rate skews higher), but with those odds, I like my chances!

Bragg Tough

Like the Bragg Heavy event, the Bragg Tough event is going to be tougher (ha!) by default than other Tough events. The Tough patch with brass knuckles on it (those are illegal you know!) is the best of the Tier D GORUCK patches.

Wilderness Tough

The Wilderness challenge events are new for 2024 (none have taken place before the time of this writing) so no data points for these. However, I’d be willing to bet that a Tough in the woods outside of NYC is probably going to be a little bit more, for lack of a better term, “exclusive” than most other Toughs.

This one is TBD…

Tough

As mentioned above, 94 percent of Tough participants walk away with shiny, new GORUCK patches. That’s not to say that the vast majority of people are going to be able to handle 12 hours of work, multiple P.T. sessions and up to 20 miles of walking under load.

…that being said, you really gotta want it to earn a Tough patch.

Tier E

A marathon is a marathon. No doubt about it.

Some might argue that the greater overall distance makes the Tier E patch more exclusive than the “Tier Tough” patches, but at least nobody is yelling at you down here.

26.2

It’s a marathon’s worth of rucking.

How many people do you know that have completed an unweighted/”normal” marathon? Probably not that many. If you have this patch, you’ve completed something that even these people haven’t accomplished.

This is one of those GORUCK patches you don’t just walk up on race day and earn without significant training.

Tier F

The end of the “not easy” GORUCK patches to earn, these events represent a rather diverse array of challenges. 12-mile ruck events are some of the ways Rangers are tested while 7-10 miles under load (along with regular P.T. sessions) has the potential to weed some people out.

12 Miler – Wilderness Ruck

Another one of the new, Wilderness events that, at the time of this writing, has never taken place. We’re going to assume that these 12 miles under load will be harder than they will in most city ruck environments.

12 Miler

A little under half a marathon through a city of your choice. Pretty doable for just about anyone with a few months of rucking under their belt.

Bragg Basic

The last of the Bragg events on this list, expect even an “easy” challenge event on this list to be more difficult than your run-of-the-mill Basic event.

Wilderness Basic

Until proven otherwise, the Wilderness events are going to be slightly more difficult than their counterparts…making the GORUCK patches earned at the end of them slightly more prestigious (and definitely more exclusive).

Basic

Not the easiest of the GORUCK challenges, but the first one that boasts a 100 percent passage rate. It’s hard to place too much prestige on an “everybody gets a patch” type of event, but ~10 miles over 5 hours, plus light P.T. is nothing to (totally) sneeze at.

Tier G

Personally, this is the last tier of patch that I would velcro to my bag (…and I probably wouldn’t if I had something “higher”). You almost certainly have to train to earn this patch, but not in a very specialized or complicated way.

15 Kilometer

A 15K (a little under 9.5 miles) isn’t (usually) a walk in the park, especially under load. Regardless, with a few months of increased rucking volume (and, if necessary, increased intensity), this is an achievable patch for everybody.

Tier H

The patches in this Tier can arguably be earned without any prior training and a low amount of effort. However, this lack of preparation will be exposed in ways that are either embarrassing (doing horribly in front of everyone during the BFF) or very uncomfortable (sucking serious wind during the 10K).

Not hard patches to earn, but you’ll feel better if you actually work for them.

Baseline Functional Fitness Test (BFF)

The Baseline Functional Fitness test (BFF) involves 4 different short-ish events that are not only relatively low skilled, but can collectively be finished in less than 20 minutes (of actual “work” time). That being said…who really wants to earn their BFF patch by going “Slick” and getting, like, 10 push-ups?

Vamos!

10 Kilometer

A lot of people have set out on a 5K run/walk and probably a decent number of people have done so with 10-50 pounds strapped on their backs.

A lot less people have gone twice that distance and completed a 10K…and a lot fewer have completed it under load.

We have obviously seen a lot longer outings on this list so far, but this is probably the shortest distance you actually have to (kinda) train for to earn.

Light

The last of the “traditional” GORUCK challenges, Light doesn’t last as long, nor does it cover as much distance as some of the GORUCK Ingress events. However, there is a greater emphasis on physical challenge elements (as opposed to video game elements).

Additionally, participating with teammates adds an extra sense of…urgency to the experience. Who wants to rep a patch they earned while being their team’s weak link?

Looks wet!

Tier I

This is the first tier where you could easily earn the patch without having put in any amount of training or preparation. These events are either short in time/distance or involve extremely long rest periods/periods of inactivity, making them achievable for anyone with a ruck, some weight, and a few f***s to give (…maybe not even that last one).

5 Kilometer

A 5K run is really no big deal, even if you’re not in shape. A 5K walk…heck, depending on your commute, you might put in that many steps every day without even realizing it.

I get that you have to lug some weight around for this one, but if you have a friend or two to keep you company, you should be able to earn this one with little effort in under an hour.

I wonder how many dogs have earned this patch?

Ingress Stealth Ops

Truth be told, this isn’t a “short” event (it usually last 4-6 hours) and there are a few “physical challenges” thrown in. However, you only end up covering about 4-5 miles (less than a mile per hour) and you can still earn the patch if you give up on the physical parts, like, 5 seconds in (I saw this first-hand when I participated in this event).

Half the event is spent looking at the phone (you better be an Ingress player!) or playing guessing games about fictional shapes (which you also, thankfully, don’t need to participate in to get the patch).

Movement standards…aren’t high.

Tier J

While it is true that you do have to wear a ruck for this one, if you opted for your old high school backpack you haven’t worn in ~20 years, you’d be fine. If you haven’t worked out at all during that 20-year period, you still wouldn’t have any trouble earning this patch.

Ingress Urban Ops

Another event associated with the Ingress game, the Urban scenario is shorter, covers less distance, and has easier physical challenges (with lower movement standards). This event involves a lot of standing around and looking at phones.

This is the first patch where being involved in any type of regular physical training program could actually be more of a liability (due to how frustrating the lack of movement standards are as well as lack of physical effort from many of the participants is to anyone who trains with any degree of seriousness).

Looks hard!

Tier K

At this (bottom) tier I would argue that being involved in any type of physical fitness program is actually more of a liability. “Earning” this patch involves screwing around on an app and, completing in-game tasks, and posting goofy pictures to Instagram.

Clear Field

You get this patch by playing a glorified (well…debatably) version of Pokemon. No rucks required!

…”and you get a patch, and you get a patch, and you get a patch!”

GORUCK Patches…Aren’t all Created as Cool-ly…

There is obviously going to be some room for debate regarding the ordering of these patches and the difficulty/”cool-ability” tiers.

However, there is going to be even more debate involved related to how one personally feels about earning any of these patches.

When Cadre shook my hand and, when I pulled it back, an Ingress Urban Ops patch was inside it, I honestly could not have cared less.

When/if I complete a Heavy or the Normandy 80K, I’ll feel quite a bit better about those handshakes.

In the meantime, shoot for at least a Tier F patch and, ideally, a Tier D (or higher!) patch for your ruck.

…you do want your bag to live up to Rule #1, right…?