Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Good morning to all of you ruck lovers! Or backpacks, as my wife so condescendingly calls them. Or knapsacks, if she is really mad and once again mocking my very small, very well thought out collection of absolutely necessary shoulder carry options. This week, we are taking a look at a great option from Down Under. The CrossFire DG3, from Australia with love.
Table of contents
Highly Recommended
This one came to me highly recommended by a still serving Special Forces brother, and in his words “it’s perfect, and you have to get one.” This is a pretty high bar, considering the amount of time any one of us has spent thinking about and using ruck sacks. For a soldier, a ruck is in the top 3 list of items you really care about. It is your house, resupply depot, pillow, and burden all at the same time. Along with boots and socks, it is one of the few items of comfort you have any control over. And that comfort deal matters a huge amount when you are tasked with carrying heavy stuff over long distances for extended periods of time.
Considering the staggering amount of money thrown at SOCOM over the last twenty years, and the implication then that my guy would be comparing the CrossFire to the best of Mystery Ranch, Granite Gear, Craphawk, London Bridge Trading, and Kifaru, calling the CrossFire best ever is a high bar. As Americans, we spend a lot of time and money on ruck development. I will concede, however, that perhaps two nations on Earth can match us for backpack carrying in terms of most land warfare. When it comes to snow and ice, we gotta pick a different lineup. The Brits, and the Aussies. I still count the Canucks as Brits light aka subjects, plus no one cares about their ability to carry maple syrup. And the Aussies in particular, I will begrudgingly admit, are better at us at long-range patrols. Probably a function of being the descendants of convicts and the rabbits being poisonous and whatnot.
So it should come as no surprise that the Aussies can make a really good ruck. CrossFire is not a new brand, they have been around for decades. They supply not only the Aussie military to include the SAS, but many other armies at the bottom of the world. No longer available exclusively in OzCam, you can get any option they make in Multicam or Coyote like its 2023, not 1945.
The Design
The packs are well thought out, with an array of well-placed pockets and MOLLE loops. The zippers have rubberized pull tabs, and even the fasttex buckles have been engineered to be quiet. We could stop now with comfy straps and waistbelt for the MSRP of $299, and it would be a contender.
Polymer Frame
But the real magic sauce is where we want to focus. Which in this case is the frame. The CrossFire features a polymer frame that flexes with your back and is unbelievably comfy. Now I just turned a lot of you off, if you have ever used that epic pile of trash known as the MOLLE ruck in the US military. The big difference here is that CrossFire built a frame that would flex and be durable from the ground up because they care about their armed forces. Unlike the MOLLE ruck, that we awarded to whatever company hired a recently retired General to lobby for it. Because we care about bonuses for poor people that have to survive on 4-star retirement pay, which will barely get you a small house in the Hamptons. Maybe not even one with a pool.
High Praise
The CrossFire really is a game-changer, and over my months of testing has proven to be the best ruck I have ever owned. That is reflected in the CrossFire verified purchaser reviews too. Most of their products, including the DG3, have solid 5 star reviews. Not 4.7, not 4.8. Consistently, purchasers hit it with a 5, with absolutely no complaints. That is near impossible in the modern world. I recommend you get yours before Penal Island sinks all the way into chaos, and the supply is gone.
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Thank You Clay, for all your great work. It’s very important to many of us.