GORUCK GR3 (35L) – Our Review

Before we get started, check out our definitive guide to GORUCK backpacks, bags, and vests. If the GR3 turns out not to be the bag for you, maybe one of the other 9 in our review will work out for you!

Also, if you’re interested in GORUCK footwear offerings, check out our definitive guides on the GORUCK boots and GORUCK shoe lines!

In a place and time where “bigger is better” seems to be a constant mantra, the GR3 seems to be uniquely positioned as the ideal GORUCK backpack-style ruck. While there are other offerings from the company that are larger and have a greater load capacity, all of the other rucks bow down in front of the sizeable GR3.

Unfortunately, I have to burst a couple of bubbles with this review…

First off, today we’re looking at my 35-liter GR3. This certainly is a large bag, but it’s actually the smaller iteration of the GR3 (the bigger/biggest version has a 45-liter capacity).

Second, my experiences with and opinions of this mini-beast don’t really lend themselves to that whole “bigger is better” characterization.

Like certain other GORUCK bags we’ve looked at, the GR3 does a lot of things pretty well, but there isn’t all that much (besides its size and carry-on “capabilities”) that really stands out. Let’s take a closer look at what you can expect (inferring from my experiences with it) so you can best determine whether it’s going to be the “the one” or if something else is more likely to best meet your needs…

Sizing (not scored)

I want to provide a few special pictures of the GR3 to give an idea of sizing. For reference, I’m ~5’8″ and Mel is ~5’2″:

Rucking

Because “pure” rucking is the first thing we discuss in these reviews, we’re able to immediately discuss the elephant in the corner…

…and that’s that the GR3 does not have a ruck plate pocket!

Now, to be fair, the vast majority of rucks, to include GORUCK bags, don’t technically have ruck plate pockets. To find these more padded and stabilized accessories, you have to look to bags like the Rucker 4.0. Instead, most rucks these days, to include almost every GORUCK backpack-style ruck has an interior pocket that is, for all intents and purposes, the plate pocket.

…almost every bag…but not the GR3. When you want to go rucking, you have to stick your plate directly into the main internal storage area.

To be honest, when I was first getting started with my GR3, I was convinced that this was going to be a yuge problem. The “loose” plate bouncing around in the large, wide-open storage area was going to be the most annoying thing I could imagine. I’d certainly have to add some towels and other superfluous crap to buffer it a bit…

…right?

No…not really.

Cutting through all of the crap, I can report that even without any type of internal ruck plate pocket that rucking in the GR3 ain’t bad.

The main reason for this is the odd combination of the back panel with the bag’s overall general feeling like a “normal” (but large) backpack. This is kind of difficult to explain, but the (seemingly yuge) back panel keeps the plate off of my back and stabilizes the bag in general, but it isn’t, for lack of a better term, overly intrusive (like how other bags are perpetually “high and tight” against the back).

Plates sit lower than they would in other rucks, almost like where my school textbooks did, but because of the GR3’s overall size and the presence of the back panel, I don’t feel my posture being compromised by this positioning.

One interesting inclusion to note is that GORUCK claims that the GR3 is equipped with “extra padded straps”. This is something that has been repeated quite a few times for various bags and while I can attest that the straps on most bags are more heavily padded than they are on other brands’ gear, the GR3’s straps are the first ones that I think truly live up to the hype.

A final thing I’ll note is that, interestingly enough, the GR3’s sternum strap fits me perfectly with very little adjusting necessary. With the bag being as large as it is, I really need this strap most of the time and I like that I haven’t really had to screw around with it to get it to fit appropriately.

Ok…one final final thing that I need to mention is that the current GR3s coming out of the production lot are not GORUCK Hip Belt compatible. To be honest, I’m not a hip belt guy, but I know this is really important to a lot of people out there. If it is to you…my apologies, but this ain’t the bag for you.

In conclusion, the GR3’s rucking capabilities have exceeded my expectations. However, there are a lot of feelings of nostalgia with this bag that I’m not sure will transfer over to most people. Even those feelings considered, I still prefer a smaller, more compact ruck over a more hulking beast like the GR3.

Rucking: 85

“Dynamic” Rucking

The GR3 isn’t designated by GORUCK as a “training ruck”, instead assuming the “travel ruck” label. Given its overall construction and size, I would say that this is a very fair categorization, especially relative to just about any of the other bags in this category.

With that being said, it does have a few aces in its sleeve that help it punch above its figurative weight in regard to “functional training” utility. It’s not likely to be anyone’s “go-to ruck” for these types of activities, but it actually possesses a few unique qualities (one big one in particular) that sets it apart from a host of others.

To get right to the point, the side handles are excellent additions that facilitate staple dynamic rucking movements like farmer carries and plank pull throughs.

Of course, you can perform these movements by grabbing the top of your bag, but I’m much more comfortable holding mine horizontally, especially during the farmer carries.

The overall height/length of the GR3 also makes certain movements slightly easier; I prefer a wider grip when pressing and its dimensions are closer to that of the Rucker 4.0 than they are to the GR1 and are much larger than the Bullet’s.

On the flip side, the GR3’s overall girth makes things like ruck swings more difficult and, if possible, I would always opt for a smaller bag when performing these. The biggest downside to the GR3 as a training bag, though, is the lack of plate pocket/sleeve.

You know how I said that this surprisingly wasn’t that big of an issue when doing more traditional rucking? Well, it is much more apparent when I’m throwing my bag around (as opposed to walking at a more or less standard pace). If the plate is the only thing in the bag, with nothing to brace it, things get annoying really quickly.

If you’re only going to buy one ruck and performing CrossFit-style workouts with it is one of your main priorities, you can get away with using the GR3…but I don’t recommend it (like, at all). This type of work isn’t this ruck’s strong suit, even if there are some nice features that make it better at this type of activity than it should be.

Dynamic Rucking: 70

Load Capacity

The GR3 doesn’t have the biggest load capacity of the GORUCK bags; that honor goes to it’s larger Kit Bag offerings. However, at 45 liters, there aren’t any GORUCK backpacks or more traditional rucks that can keep pace with the GR3.

Something else to note is that you really get all 45 liters with the GR3. Unlike many other bags, to include some of GORUCK’s other larger offerings (ex. the currently discontinued Rucker – Long Range and the bigger GR2) the GR3 has only one, big, open storage area. Although the separation that the other bags offer can be advantageous at times, it can be limiting when you need to fit larger, individual items. The GR3 allows this.

Of course, 45 liters doesn’t come close to some really big duffel-types of bags available, but these could almost be in a category of their own (and most of these aren’t approved for carry-on on major U.S. airlines!)

If absolute load capacity is what you’re looking for, you can certainly go bigger, but the GR3 can definitely haul a lot of gear.

Load Capacity: 92.5

Everyday Carry/Travel

For most people, this section is going to be the “main event”…and with good reason.

As we’ve seen in the previous sections, the GR3 isn’t going to be the ideal rucking bag for most people, for either a more “trad” style of rucking or for more “functional fitness” endeavors. It’ll certainly work for these types of things, but not as well as it will for other things…

…like EDC and (especially) travel.

Now, I can see that some might raise their eyebrows at the prospect of using the GR3 as an everyday carry bag. I would imagine this is mainly due to the large, open, main storage areas. In this section, there isn’t much in the realm of separating items or really organizing things outside of the three internal pockets (2 mesh, 1 Cordura). These are nice for stashing things like phone and computer chargers, but aren’t ideal for organizing anything bigger than this.

However, if you’re most accustomed to the more “kid’s backpack” approach to everyday carry, the GR3’s design should work just fine. This design is accentuated by the fact that there is a pretty secure (and separate) laptop compartment.

In smaller GORUCK bag models, most people opt to stick their machines in the internal, ruck plate pocket, many of which are much less secure than this bad boy. Sitting between the frame sheet and another layer of hard plastic, it’s almost perfectly secure. I’ll go out on a limb and say that this is probably the most common EDC “wish list” feature…and the GR3 passes just fine.

On a few occasions (mainly when travelling), I’ve stashed some stuff in the exterior zipped pocket. However, this has inevitably been when I have already overloaded the main storage area, making it all but impossible to stretch things any further (I try anyways…with varying success rates). I assume that if you have reasonably packed the rest of your bag, it works.

Getting into the more travel-specific components…well…there really isn’t that much to say that I haven’t already covered here. You’re really paying for a large big with a large open area to stash a lot of stuff.

However…the real kicker is…does it fit overhead…

It’s interesting that GORUCK plasters this statement all over the GR3’s product page. I know that it’s a marketing thing, but, in my opinion, it’s a little disingenuous. I mean, yeah; it’ll fit into a lot of overhead bins…but just about any carry-on fits in business class bins. At the same time, if you’re flying from Zanesville to Columbus on a regional jet…well…good luck. Those bins suck.

The previously mentioned “extra padded” straps make hauling anything slightly more comfortable (and by “comfortable” I mean, “less noticeable/tortuous than usual”). The side handles are nice when you’re throwing your bag up into the bins or grabbing it off the checked baggage turnstile (…but you’re not checking your GR3…right…?) These are nice, but not necessarily groundbreaking features.

Don’t get me wrong; the GR3 is a great travel bag, but I don’t think it’s all that unique of a travel bag. Heck, even the GR2 has a built-in field pocket which can come in pretty handy when organizing your gear. It’s a pretty good EDC and travel bag by GORUCK standards, but it wouldn’t be hard to find a lot of others just like it (or at least very similar to it).

Everyday Carry/Travel: 80/90

Materials

Like just about all of GORUCK’s bag offerings, there are a number of different GR3 material variations. By far, the most common of these is the Cordura option (which is what I have and what we’re specifically reviewing today), but there can be advantages to opting for others. The Ripstop Robic GR3 is on sale more than others so if you want to save ~$150, check it out:

Anyways, the GORUCK GR3 is primarily constructed of the familiar 1000D (vast majority of the bag)/210D (back panel) Cordura mix.

More and more rucks of all types and brands are being constructed of this material, mainly due to its combined durability, flexibility, and (relatively) lightweight qualities. When you think about what you really want your bag to do (accommodate a decent amount of gear/decent weight of gear, not be too heavy on its own, not be overly bulky or hard to move with, hold up over time), Cordura is the exact material that ticks all of these boxes.

To be more specific, for the aforementioned qualities, 1000D Cordura is what you’re looking for.

210D Cordura is found in places where the bag is most likely to come into direct contact with the body/skin. It isn’t quite as though as its 1000D brethren, but it is much less abrasive resulting in fewer fabric burns and scratches. For most people, especially those who plan to use their GR3 exclusively as a travel or EDC bag, this isn’t a huge selling point…but for those who ruck in a tank top or…gasp…shirtless…you’ll be very thankful for that 210D Cordura!

The internal mesh materials feel similar to those in other GORUCK bags (and by “similar” I mean, not really significant, good or bad, in any way), but due to the sheer size of these pockets, they feel a bit more durable. Their larger surface area provides an additional layer of tear-proofing. Also, as previously mentioned, they’re a bit more functional than in other bags.

Whether fair or not, we do dock a few points in this area due to the lack of a dedicated plate pocket (which is usually constructed of more robust materials than the other internal pockets are).

Another common feature in more and more rucks these days is the YKK zipper. These are present on the GR3 and operate smoothly and are easy-to-grasp (doesn’t sound like a big deal until you’re hunting for the small, metal portions directly…the ones that don’t have material attached to them).

The GR3’s frame sheet feels a bit firmer and more robust than others, but I think it’s just because of how big it is (as I mentioned in the first rucking section). When you got hard plastic enveloping your entire back and shoulders, it’s hard for it not to feel tough.

Overall, the GR3’s larger size requires more higher-quality materials than smaller bags do, but the missing ruck plate pocket/ruck plate sleeve does somewhat “cheapen” their collective, overall quality; they move from “outstanding” to merely “excellent”.

Materials: 90

Price

The good news with the GR3’s pricing is that it comes in a number of different size and material options. As you can imagine, each of these occupies a slightly different price point.

The bad news with the GR3’s pricing is that all of these are pretty expensive.

Barring a sale, you’re not likely to find any of the GR3s running for much less than $400. If you’ve got your eye on that very pretty Dyneema option, you’re about to enter the $600 price point.

Thankfully, like most GORUCK bag options, there is a very small price difference between the smaller-sized option and the largest option. In my opinion, it always makes sense to go with the bigger bag (if you have your eye on the smaller option, check out the next “level” down ex. the “big” GR2 instead of the “small” GR3).

At a little over $400 for the 45-liter GR3, you’re going to be spending a pretty penny for your bag, both in relative and in absolute terms, but “pound for pound” (at least load capacity wise), this is one of the better options in the entire GORUCK lineup.

Price: 80

Customer Reviews

If you know anything about GORUCK, you know that the bags are pretty legit. They may be a bit expensive (as we saw in the previous section), but the materials are good, they hold up well (the SCARS Lifetime Guarantee helps out in this area), and they simply do what you need them to do.

All of that in mind, it isn’t really all that surprising that GORUCK gear garners consistently high scores in customer review aggregators. At the risk of sounding like a broken record (if you’ve read any of my other GORUCK reviews…you know…), the GR3 is no exception.

Interestingly enough, the 4.8 out of 5 cumulative score is more or less “average” for the brand. There are definitely some items that garner a 4.7s and even the rare…gasp…4.6 here and there, but it also isn’t out of the question to find some 4.9s, either.

Granted, with the GR3 being objectively less popular than most of GORUCK’s bag offerings (and much less popular than the “flagship” GR1 and even the GR2 from the “GR” line of rucks) the sample size here is much smaller, but still large enough to make some legitimate inferences.

One last thing to note is that outside of Rogue, it’s difficult to find a large number of customer reviews for any GORUCK gear in a single place. Amazon has recently started offering GORUCK gear, but it will probably be quite some time before they have enough reviews to make real conclusions based off of.

Customer Reviews: 96

Customer Service

To piggyback off the end of the last section, when you have a question or issue with a GORUCK product, you’re almost inevitably going to be dealing directly with the company’s in-house customer service personnel. No e-mailing a random Rogue employee; no waiting for a response from “Jeff” at Amazon.

…and this is actually a really good thing, especially given those alternatives (it’s not really Jeff Bezos, by the way…just in case you didn’t know that…)

In my experience, GORUCK has always quickly gotten back to me when I’ve had a question or issue with and item (or, in one instance, with an event signup that I unfortunately had to cancel). It has also been very evident that in each of these cases, I’ve been dealing with an actual human…that or the most realistic AI bot I’ve dealt with yet.

I’ve also found that the company’s policies are pretty fair, particularly their return/exchange policies. In a few cases, I have found that even when my particular situation fell outside of the “approved” policy guidelines, customer service personnel offered me “goodwill” solutions which were always definitively in my favor.

I experienced a combination of technical and bureaucratic hurdles during one of my very first interactions with the company (which coincided with one of my very first orders) long ago, but overall, my experiences have been almost universally positive, seamless, and quickly resolved.

Customer Service: 95

Who is the GORUCK GR3 really for?

I actually think the GR3 is a unique specimen among many of the other GORUCK bags. Even within the “GR” series, it stands out from the GR1 and GR2 (which are more similar to each other than either is to the GR3). Let’s take a look at who would most appreciate this bag’s “uniqueness”.

Those who need a big carry-on backpack

In my opinion, this is the reason to get your hands on the GR3. It’s perfectly capable as a dedicated rucking bag and actually has some unique qualities to it in this regard. However, if you really don’t want to have to check a bag…well…who could resist this marketing…?

The fact that you can lug it around on your back and can perform a (literal) suitcase carry with it in a pinch makes it a very attractive option for those who want the biggest carry-on they can get their hands on.

Those who want their rucks to feel more like a “normal” backpack

I really wish I could explain it better…but the GR3 just feels the most “normal backpack” like of any of the GORUCK bags I’ve gotten to slip on.

…like, if you’ve rucked before, you know how your bag’s straps, positioning, etc. all function and pretty much feel like that backpack you wore to school as a kid…but not quite like that.

The GR3 comes pretty close to this feeling.

Maybe I get more nostalgic (good…and a little bad…) about memories that rucks create in my brain more than I should, but it makes for a very comfortable feeling for me. If you long for how those bags felt when you were a kid, you’ll probably appreciate how the GR3 feels, as well.

Not for ruck plate pocket enthusiasts

I know it’s near blasphemy for many GORUCK gear enthusiasts to consider a rucking with a bag that doesn’t have a dedicated ruck plate pocket (or at least an area where a plate could conceivably be stashed)…

…and to be fair, I was on this boat when I first loaded my GR3.

It’s really not that bad and I can assure you that it works perfectly well for rucking. However, if you can’t bring yourself to wander around with a “loose” ruck plate, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

How we reviewed the GORUCK GR3

Believe it or not, I did not realize the GR3 did not have a dedicated ruck plate pocket until I finally got around to working it into my regular rucking regimen.

Actually, it wasn’t until I was planning to work it into my regular regimen; on first glance, I really wasn’t too impressed by that pocket not being there. I actually put off using it for quite some time on account of this.

When I finally came around to messing around with the GORUCK plates, I loaded one into the GR3 and moved around a bit and was surprised at how well the bag actually functioned without a pocket. From here, the GR3 became more of a regular “participant” in my outings.

Although my GR3 isn’t the biggest, I haven’t really worked it into much “dynamic” rucking training, mainly putting it through a number of different movements to gather intel for this review.

GORUCK GR3 Alternatives

In most cases, when we feel like the bag in question may not be the best option for you, we offer options from a few different brands. However, all of the best GR3 alternatives are GORUCK bags. We promise they’re legit!

Frequently Asked Questions

There aren’t that many FAQs with the GR3, but let’s get to main ones:

The GORUCK GR3…jack of all trades, master of none…?

…not really (to the sentence above, that is).

I really wanted to like the GR3 and, to be honest, it’s definitely better than most of the bags I’ve owned over the course of my life (which isn’t really saying much, considering most of those bags came out of the bargain bin, but whatever). However, it doesn’t really live up to what I expect from GORUCK gear.

In some ways, it’s kind of big version of the GR0. It has a lot of good qualities, but nothing really great. For any and all of these, there is something that another bag does better (in many cases, significantly better).

While you can theoretically use it for any task, there is at least one other GORUCK bag or backpack that simply does it better.

I wouldn’t even say that it is a good “general purpose bag”. The GR1 has that base covered and if you need more load capacity, the GR2 isn’t that much of a step down.

If you have your heart set on the GR3 and have big plans for it, by all means grab it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed…I just think you’ll likely be more satisfied with something else.

As we finish things up, I encourage you to check out our definitive guide to GORUCK backpacks, bags, and vests. If the GR3 turns out not to be the bag for you, maybe one of the other 9 in our review will work out for you!

Finally, if you’re interested in GORUCK footwear offerings, check out our definitive guides on the GORUCK boots and GORUCK shoe lines!