5.11 Rush 24 Backpack Ultimate Review

Are you looking for a backpack that is both versatile and durable? Look no further than the 5.11 Rush 24 2.0 Backpack. This pack is ideal for both the urban and backcountry setting. It is my go-to pack! I bought it about a year ago. We have got to know one another quite well, and the time has come to give it the review it deserves. But as we do that, we’ll also cover what to look for in a pack.

Discloure: Posts may contain affiliate links. Purchases made through our links result in a small commission to us at no charge to you. We only recommend products that meet our brand standards based on testing and first hand use by our authors.

Extreme Durability of the 5.11 Rush 24 Backpack

Whether I am hiking, camping, riding an ATV or just going for a drive, the 5.11 Rush 24 2.0 Backpack DOES NOT leave my side. This pack carries all the survival items you could ever ask for. Let’s address durability, as none of the backpack features really matter if it falls apart.

It’s easy for any reviewer to toss words like quality or say something is durable, but stop and think about that for a second. What does it take for something to qualify as durable? I’ve loaded this tactical pack to the max, loosely strapped it to my ATV and repeatedly drove down the nastiest, gnarliest trails I could find. Over, and over again! This loaded-up pack bounced around hour after hour, day after day on the trails. Even in the rain, the dirt and the mud.

It is exhausting to have a pack flop around on an ATV. It makes you wonder when your precious gear will bounce off into the nether. So now we bungee the heck out of it, which goes from one extreme to another by somewhat crushing the pack. After all this, there is not one puncture, not even a pinhole on it – now that’s impressive! I’m almost afraid to say this as I don’t intend to set the bar too high, but the Rush 24 pack almost looks new.

Organization

Old school in the backpack department meant a canvas pack with two pockets and a drawstring. Before the 5.11 Tactical Rush 24 backpack, my packs were always genuine military. That means a main compartment, a front compartment and one small inner pocket. It also means contents are secure thanks to zippers, and the pack can expand with MOLLE attachments, which are covered below. However, all the little things need to go into ‘kits’ like fire, navigation, signalling and so on, just to have an ounce of organization. It’s as old school as the canvas, and while a valid process, it can slow you down when trying to get to something – let alone find it.

The 5.11 Rush 24 2.0 Backpack has plenty of spacious compartments and pockets to keep you well organized. It comes with 29 compartments – now, that’s a lot! Some of them are the main storage compartment, the hydration pouch pocket, the padded laptop (up to 15″), the sunglass pouch and a CCW (Conceal Carry) compartment. Yes, I know, in Canada, you can’t conceal carry. Instead, I hide my bullets and backup knife in there from my kids! And yes, even if they read this blog, they still won’t easily find this compartment. So while CCW is out, a pocket where one could hide things they don’t easily want found is handy.

It is not by accident backpack organization comes up early in this post. If a pack can’t store what you intend to carry, it’s not the correct pack! Nor do any of its “features” or tech specs matter. The first consideration for any pack should always be the size and having the right amount of pockets.

How Many Litres is the 5.11 Rush 24 Backpack?

The total capacity of the 5.11 Rush 24 pack is 37 litres (2275 cubic inches). From what I recall from a year ago (there’s no current reference on 5.11’s site), the ’24’ in Rush 24 means a 24-hour pack.

Respectfully, the same is true on their other Rush models, such as the 72. The 5.11 models do not imply litres – it simply implies hours. Compare that to my standard issue military 3-Day Assault pack, which comes in at 30 litres. Ie. the military feels 30 L suffices for 72 hours. At 37 L, the Rush 24 is very forgiving and just about the right size without becoming too cumbersome like a rucksack.

To peg the size correctly, I could easily survive 3 days with this pack, maybe longer. Not necessarily comfortably! Comfortably, 24 hours is more realistic, as suggested by 5.11 Tactical.

The main compartment of the 5.11 pack is quite large – 20″ H x 12.5″ L x 8″ (50.8 cm x 31.75 cm x 20.32 cm) to be exact. The front pocket is also of a fair size at 12.5″ x 11″ x 2″ (31.75 cm x 27.94 cm x 5.08 cm). Then there are all the little pockets on the back, sides and front. It even, has an excellent built-in admin pouch area, conveniently accessible through the front pocket.

Some Interesting Concepts

Since this is an outdoor blog and we always incorporate survival functions into our posts… this section is important. So, let’s define some things:

1. Tactical:
   • Relating to or constituting actions carefully planned to gain a specific military end. 
2. Camouflage:
   • Disguising of military personnel, equipment, and installations by painting or covering them to make them blend in with their surroundings.
   • Means to break up, vanish, help disappear.
3. The Gray Man:
   • A man who can blend into any scene or situation without standing out, hiding his skills and qualities

This Rush 24 pack incorporates them all – let me explain.

Tactical

Yes, 5.11 Tactical is more of a tactical company, and it shows in their packs. The pack has a tactical look and feel and shares the same qualities and features, which can’t be denied, especially with all the MOLLE webbing. Quite often one of the differences between tactical vs. military is the lack of camo, as tactical is usually plain.

The term tactical, however, is so ridiculously overused. In fact, it’s been reduced to a marketing ploy as there’s so much ‘tactical’ junk floating around. Junk you certainly don’t want to rely on when your life is on the line! Don’t get sucked into the “it’s tactical”, so it must be good nonsense.

On top of all that, we are not John Rambo, John McClane or John Wick! Unless you are military or law enforcement, you technically don’t have a real need for genuine tactical. So, don’t make purchases based on hype. The tactical aspects of this particular pack help PERFECTLY organize camping and survival gear, and its genuine tactical quality is also present here. In other words, there is a legitimate crossover where tactical has a civilian use.

Camouflage

Yes, the 5.11 24-hour pack is very camo indeed! Don’t laugh! Its plain colours and lack of camo as we generally know, allow this very pack to blend in… In the city! Sure, it will look a little off, but it’s not screaming at you. Remember that tactical bit, it’s become so trendy that the tactical look is everywhere.

Yes, you are reading BushLife, not “memoires of the city”. In keeping things real, a recently bought Realtree Max 5 camouflage jacket, just so happens to work perfectly with this pack. Why? Its creamy brown colour is easily picked up in the Max 5 pattern. Is it perfect for hunting? No. But it works and won’t be screaming in a blind or duck boat.

5.11 Tactical refers to the pack as Kangaroo, but anyone who knows the military will immediately recognize the colour as coyote brown. Regardless of what colour you call it, the 5.11 Rush 24 in Kangaroo is fairly at home in the woods. It just doesn’t provide breakup like camo.

The Gray Man

In Backpack Gear Load Out, you’ll see my pack has it all. By all, I mean everything one needs to survive – things like a headlamp, matches, compass, water filter and so on. And no, I’m not a prepper, or some tactical or militia type, nor a creep or anything else that may come to mind. I am an outdoorsman who has always come home safely thanks to skill, common sense and gear.

When off-roading 30 clicks into the bush on a cold November day, ask yourself, what happens when the motor shuts off in the middle of nowhere? Or an axle breaks, and there’s no phone service. You have to be prepared to survive if that machine breaks down! If not, no offence, but you are gambling with your life or worse, the lives of whoever else you suckered into going with you. So the gear that goes in your pack is quite substantial, not to mention expensive. It also takes years of careful use and planning to get it right.

Above all, if a really bad SHTF situation ever came up, civil unrest or so on, would you want desperate people to know what amazing resources are in your pack? Should you be attacked or forced to give up your gear? Gear you had the foresight, diligence and decency to put together to care for yourself and your family. Hence, the term gray man. To be able to blend in and not draw too much attention to yourself is an art. Since my pack doubles as a survival pack, it’s nice to have it in a gray-man form. This pack can walk back and forth between two very different worlds without garnering too much attention.

Weight

The 5.11 Rush 24 Backpack 2.0 is slightly heavy at 3.84 lb. (1.74 kg). While it may not sound like much, this is empty-pack weight. Unfortunately, weight is always the price to pay for heavier, more durable materials.

At 37 litres, filling this bad boy doesn’t help either. It’s not hard to easily pack it up, only to realize its contents weigh a ton when you try to pick it up. I don’t see weight as a problem as my activities are usually vehicular, even if that may be a canoe. But be mindful that it is a backpack, and you will be required to carry it sooner or later.

If you hike a lot, this may be a considerable issue. Serious hikers reduce their gear and packs to ultra-light equivalents. In this case, you better be prepared to open your wallet. Quality ultra-light gear comes with a heavy-hitting price tag, and there’s no way around it.

5.11 Rush 24 Backpack Specifications

The fabric of the 5.11 Rush 24 2.0 Backpack is a high strength, water-repellant 1050 D nylon. That is one of, if not the most important spec. Let’s look at some features:

• Self repairing YKK zippers
• Front lower pocket with internal slip and zippered pockets and multi-slot admin area
• Dual top zippered pockets with 6″ x 1″ name tape and internal pockets
• External front and side web MOLLE with 3×3 loop
• Dual external side zippered pockets (1 on each side)
• Padded laptop sleeve and dual mesh pockets in main compartment
• Rear hydration compartment / hydration port
• Contoured yoke shoulder strap system with web MOLLE
• Adjustable height sternum strap, two external compression straps
• Bottom panel web gear loops
• Concealed carry compartment
• Eyewear / tech compartment easily accessible on top
• Hook and loop nametape / flag / patch area
• Glove-friendly pull tabs
• MOLLE compatible with wrap-around MOLLE

The 5.11 Rush 24 2.0 comes in various colours, but to me, the kangaroo colour appeals the most.

What is MOLLE?

Many of you may be asking what is MOLLE. MOLLE stands for Modular Lightweight Load-Carrying Equipment. If you haven’t guessed it, it’s a concept from the military, and they love their acronyms.

What MOLLE means, is that you can attach any MOLLE-compatible pouch to your pack for added storage or organization. In military terms, that usually means a radio pouch, magazine holders, food rations bags, grenade holders, etc. While some of this may sound crazy in the civilian market, it’s not. For example, a grenade holder pouch is the perfect size for holding a headlamp – in a dedicated pouch, ready to be utilized, latched to the outside of your pack! That has saved my ass on several a night.

If you still think re-purposed grenade pouches are funny, know that several items you use daily, were originally engineered for the military. From common items like 2-way radios to saving loved ones with nuclear medicine. Civilians have been repurposing military tech (and items) as far back as militaries have existed. 

MOLLE webbing, by the way, is very strong. It can support loads of up to 60 lbs (27.22 kg).

5.11 Rush 24 Backpack Accessories

Wondering what else you can attach to your pack? Here are a few ideas:

• Patches
• Admin Pouch
• First Aid Pouch
• Water Bottle Pouch
• Comm Pouch
• Bleeder / Blowout Pouch
• Double Decker Pouch
• Mag Pouch
• Flap Sac
• MOLLE Sticks
• Gear Clips 
• MOLLE Clips
• Webbing Straps

What Can You Use the 5.11 Rush 24 Backpack For?

Everything! As mentioned earlier, this pack is quite versatile. The Rush 24 can be used in all walks of life: military, police, range bag, hunting pack, survival backpack, hiking backpack, and even as a plain old everyday backpack.

After testing and torturing mine, it’s truly up to the job! We love this pack so much, that we opted to get a second one in black.

Rush 24 Backpack Review, Conclusion

In conclusion, if you are looking for a versatile and durable backpack that can accompany you on any adventure, look no further than the 5.11 Rush 24 2.0 Backpack. With its extreme durability, ample organization, and 37-litre capacity, this backpack is sure to exceed your expectations. So why wait? Head over to the Cabela’s/BassPro website and purchase your own 5.11 Rush 24 2.0 Backpack today. Trust me, you won’t regret it!

Thanks for reading my honest review of the 5.11 Rush 24 backpack. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for more great content, or follow us on our social channels.

Bookmark this post on Pinterest for future reference!