The Sierra Block 1 in the Afghan war print certainly turns heads when it comes to packs. It’s certainly not contained to your normal tactical colors of black, FDE, or OD green. The Afghan war print on the Sierra Block 1 litters the pack with grenades, AK 47s, and fighter jets. It doesn’t look like any kind of tactical pack, but it can certainly serve as one. The Sierra Block 1 is a step above your standard day pack in size, and wouldn’t fall outside the realm of a day pack. It’s a large enough to be a single person bug out bag for short term emergencies. During my Sierra Block 1 review, I packed my bag as an emergency bug out bag.
Packing the Sierra Block 1
I loaded my Sierra Block 1 with the following,
- 3 MREs
- 1 Poncho liner
- 1 Field Jacket
- Two Sets of Marine Corps Cammies
- 1Tac water bottle with filter
- 1Tac 1200 Lumen Flashlight
- Esee 4 Survival Knife
- Esee Advanced Survival kit
- AMK Trauma Kit
Everything in this bag would get me through 2 to 3 days. # days would be pushing it. My 1Tac water bottle has a filter system that can filter up to 396 gallons of water, so as long as I can access water I’m good to go for some time. For fun, I tossed in a ten-pound plate from Uncommon Breed.
Hitting the Road
Pacing the Sierra Block 1 was easy. The main pouch has a zipper that goes down almost the entire side of the ruck. This allows you to easily pack the bag, as well as unpack the bag when necessary. The internal pouches offer plenty of extra room for small goods like hygiene kits, extra magazines, batteries, and just small handy stuff. The main pouch has a mesh inside for storing other small and valuable gear separate for other items. Perfect for important documents, IDs, and other important goods. The rear Laptop pocket is where I set the ten-pound Uncommon Breed plate.
I’ve explained before that I find three miles to be the perfect length to test a pack. Anything under 3 miles is easy, and you can’t gauge just how well a pack is made. Any ten-mile hump is gonna suck regardless of how great the back is. At 3 miles you can get a good idea of just how much it could suck.
So 3 miles was the set goal. I live in the middle of nowhere with plenty of trails, and dirt roads to walk down. Because I’m a writer for the Loadout room and I’m always testing gear my neighbors are used to seeing me doing seemingly odd things with gear. This was the first time one stopped to look at the pack and it’s pattern.
Form and Function
After 3 miles I felt surprisingly spry. I don’t really keep in hiking shape, but I felt zero shoulder, lower or upper back pain. My legs felt great all around. I could have easily gone farther if I chose and done so without pain. The padded shoulder straps and rear padding kept things nice and comfortable.
The Sierra Block 1 is a well made, and versatile option for a rucksack. It’s well designed, and there isn’t any room wasted. The guys at Bravo Co really made a space efficient pack. It’s a great choice for both the urban adventurer and the wildland explorer.
