Hey folks. It’s been a minute. I made an effort this year to get out of the endless acquisition cycle of constantly buying selling and trading packs. It worked for awhile, but the two I have arriving this week may indicate I’ve started to relapse.
None the less, I thought it might be fun to share some info and thoughts on what’s coming to GORUCK in 2026, using info gleaned from founder Jason McCarthy’s recent Reddit AMA.
GR1 Returning to Full 1000d Back Panels
Up front and center in the post:
1000D - going back to this, full stop. No more 210D back panels. GR1 is what it is, take it or leave it. I’m sure we’ll still mess around with the silhouette but time to take it back to the core. This will take time to work through the system.
Providing further detail in comments:
*The Rucker (our #1 product by a mile) proved to me that 210D is a great fabric that causes zero irritation when worn. We also see ~zero issues at Scars with that back panel. It works and performs great. 1000D is and can be rough on the back – until you really, really break it in. When GR1 only had Cordura, there were no other options. 1000D or bust. With Heritage (waxed canvas) and other fabrics (Dyneema, Robic, XPAC, Japanese Denim and other limited editions), there were / have been a lot of other options to avoid that 1000D back panel. All that said, there is really something to the full 1000D GR1 when you get it. The irreverence of it all is something to celebrate.
210d back panels were announced in 2023, clearly positioned as their one and only substantial improvement on the pack in it’s 13 year lifespan. Now just two years later, back to full 1000d, not because of any quality issues, but because of hand wavy reasons. I know a decent number of people didn’t like it because the bag moved around on their back and shoulders more. I wasn’t one of them, I loved the 210d, much better daily usability and I prefer sternum straps anyhow.
IMO this is a sad change and 210d is much more logical for the travel line, but offering customers the choice seems like a better play here for something there’s a clear split on. It is however, at least only the Cordura packs.
Heritage Continues, X-Pac / Dyneema / Robic Gone For Now
Again from the same comment:
En masse, I think the Heritage line is a mainstay, as is Cordura. I’m NOT saying we’ll never bring back other fabrics, but they will be intentionally way lower numbers and more limited edition. Way back when it was simpler to just say make it all in 1000D than to separate out the back panel (into 500D or whatever), so that’s what it was. I hear ya on the 500D piece (noted) - but would have to shelve that literally for another year. Inventory buys happen way in advance. For now, we’re still funneling the irreverent 1000D through the system.*
Heritage sticking around is great, perhaps this means there will always be that EDC friendly option. They’re not as light and versatile in the outdoors as Robic or Dyneema/X-Pac, but still very usable and look great in just about any environment.
Robic / Dyneema / X-pac is a shame, I really think these are the most interesting versions. Part of the problem could be that they’ve decided the GR1 must be made in USA, and thus combining more expensive fabrics with US production costs, these all launched at extremely high prices even compared to the already extremely expensive 1000d version.
I maintain that the robic edition is the best they’ve ever made, being the first generally available non-heritage model with the much loved quick access pocket, shoulder webbing for a sternum strap, and a wonderful light water resistant fabric in great colours. I personally could not care less if something was made in USA, actually given current geopolitical events I’d almost rather it wasn’t. I’d be fine with Vietnam made versions of these for less. They price the Bullet 18 models reasonably well, and the only difference there really is a little bit thicker shoulder straps. Introduce a new line if you need to, GR EDC or something.
Hopefully these return someday, especially the robic, which Jason does seem to profess his appreciation for.
But at least it sounds like we’ll always have heritage.
Radically New Design Coming in ‘26
From this comment:
I love Robic. It didn’t sell very well on the GR1, so we need to reintroduce it at a much later date. We used ROBIC on the Spy Ruck (women’s weight vest) and Robic is the mainstay fabric on the biggest new ruck we’ve launched since ~forever, which is coming out next year.
Damned if that doesn’t intrigue me. I’ll be budgeting for at least one pack next year.
M26 Coming
From this comment:
M25 didn’t really happen. M26 will be a thing. DM me the perfect version – or fuck, just post here – and I’ll use that as a starting point. Yes, literally. :)
The M22 was decent. The M23 was pretty brilliant, with a nice sleek bottle pocket, access to the interior of the bag, and great organization. I regret selling my robic one and actually have a dyneema one on the way. The M24 was a notable step back, taking most of that away for exterior water bottle pockets. It was near univerally considered worse than its predecessor. Responses to the above comment confirm that.
M26 is good news, better budget for two next year I guess.
Conclusions
I think some of this shows the internal struggle at GORUCK between their special forces foundations and the EDC community who fell in love with their design. This hilariously smug comment really puts that on display, and I think Jason’s response speaks volumes about which side he sits on. Thankfully somebody at GORUCK must be pulling for us, and if they ever read this know we appreciate you.
I’m grateful for their creations and changes over the past few years. It’s sad to see some of that getting walked back, but still nice to see Heritage continue, the Bullet 18 is going strong, the M line will renew, and something new is on the way, so I guess no shortage of options. The GR1 will remain the battleground, as that’s pretty unquestionably their best design. I for one am thankful to have a Robic and a Heritage in the closet for the long haul.