Malice pack or TAG Jumpable Recon Ruck

[Rogers0317]

Looking for a new ruck for extended long range patrolling. Im trying to decide between the Tactical Tailor MALICE II, and the Tactical Assault Gear Jumpable Recon Ruck.

Does anyone have any experience with either of the two (or both) rucks? Ive seen some reviews on the Tactical Tailor MALICE, but not too much on the TAG Recon Ruck. Any information or first hand experience is greatly appreciated.

 

[Teufel]

Haven't heard anything about the TAG ruck. I have a MALICE pack and I love it. It stands up to whatever punishment I dish out (minus the ALICE frame but that's a seperate issue).

 

[Rogers0317]

Teufel,

Im under the impression that the MALICE does not come with a radio pouch built in. Is this true? If so, its not a deal breaker since I would be able to send it to get the radio pouch added in.

Do you like the way it carries with and without plates?

Also, have you ever played with a mystery ranch pack. Kind of out of my price range, but just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with their packs as well.

 

[Brill]

Once you go TAG, you'll never go back. I have TWO of their Mountain Rucks (Multicam and coyote) and love them (jumped one from a Blackhawk). They carry well, "bulletproof", and hold a ton of stuff. I didn't go with the Recon because it was bigger and more expensive. The Mountain suits my needs although I will be sending them to TT to get a storm flap sewn in.

http://www.opticsplanet.net/tag-mountain-ruck-lg-molle-pack.html

 

[Rogers0317]

Lindy, great info. Have you played with he malice packs at all? Do the tag rucks pretty much feel the same on your back as tue tactical tailor ones?

 

[Brill]

My only experience with Malice is checking them out during a two week period in Florida. They're fricken huge and capable of carrying alot of stuff which translated to heavy and slow. A commo guy had the version 3 and recommended against it because the lower compartment bounced off the buttocks. In my opinion, the TAG frame is way lighter and the waste belt/shoulder pads are more comfortable than standard ALICE. I initially bought the straps for my training ruck.

My TAG weighed in around 75lbs when I jumped and it bounced fine at the end of my "hook, pile-tape, lowering line, on the left side" . The stitching seems well made and if I mess it up, it has a lifetime warranty.

Another SOT-A had the Blackhawk SOF ruck, another huge ruck capable of carrying a lot of stuff. The bottom line is that after two weeks, we all agreed to "request" 12 Mountain Rucks for our guys. We considered the Recon ruck but man, if you give a SOT-A a big bag, he'll fill that shit with even more batteries. "too light to fight, too heavy to run" is no shit.

I could take some pics and post 'em here if you want. We're rucking this weekend and I could post some of the pack loaded too (ACUs/clothing would be optional of course).

Here's another site (owned by a SF guy) http://www.optactical.com/ruandac.html

 

[Mac_NZ]

You can customize an old Alice to do exactly what you want, throw a DEI 1606 frame on it and a set of Molle 2 straps and it will piss all over most of the wonder packs out there.

 

[Teufel]

Teufel,

Im under the impression that the MALICE does not come with a radio pouch built in. Is this true? If so, its not a deal breaker since I would be able to send it to get the radio pouch added in.

Do you like the way it carries with and without plates?

Also, have you ever played with a mystery ranch pack. Kind of out of my price range, but just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with their packs as well.

Mine has a radio pouch and a zipper access to it so I don't have to pop the top to get to it. It carries fine. Very similar to an alice pack. Mystery Ranch makes superior rucks. I would trade my MALICE for a mystery ranch ruck if I had a pool made of gold coins like Scrooge McDuck. We tested out a bunch of them at the company and they were pretty nice. Expensive as hell though. It's an alice so it if you use the frame it has that little space between your back and the ruck so the plates don't bother me that much. They have a lifetime guarantee too. My buddy had a problem with his so he mailed it in and they fixed it and sent it back to him no problem.

It also swims well if you are into that sort of thing. The blackhawk ruck doesn't swim well, it fills up with water and doesn't drain well for some reason.

 

[TLDR20]

I was issued a Mystery Ranch "ruck" and hated it. Thing was uncomfortable and broke on the first use.

 

[Brill]

Rogers, have you seen these pictures of the Recon Ruck?

http://www.mccallknives.com/tag.html

 

[AWP]

I have a MALICE 3 in Afghanistan going on a little over two years now. No radio pouch but you could probably have them add one before it shipped. I used the bottom compartment for my sleeping bag and with a small enough bag and the 3 compression straps it rode well.

As for use, I am a fobbit, but I've done some rucking around Bagram with the pack. My FOB trips saw the ruck loaded down to about 75 lbs. with my clothes, tools, router, power supply, radios, etc. Other than the wonderful AFG dust, the ruck is as good as new and I haven't always been kind in my treatment of said ruck.

I have one major complaint about it though: The hardware on the ruck sucks. I've broken one buckle closing the pack and the others allow the straps to loosen up. I have a TT plate carrier and it does the same thing, so whatever hardware TT is using is the problem. If I were going to carry it in the field I would have all of the buckles replaced, otherwise you'll have to carry spares to cover breakage and wrap the buckles with some tape to prevent slippage.