Ruckpack Review: Don’t Buy Before You Read This!
User Rating:
31%
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What is it?
Ruckpack is a nootropic supplement designed by former Marines. They invented the blend while on duty in Afghanistan and then began mass-marketing it to civilians in 2024.
Their advertising claims that it is able to increase alertness and mental performance, even in stressful situations. It is said to be a stimulant that gives energy longer than other energy shots, and that is healthy for daily use.
The top nootropic aid on the market is Memotenz. Their memory and cognition booster has been shown to improve users’ mental functioning in a variety of ways.
Click here to see everything that goes into Memotenz’s unique proprietary blend.
Ruckpack Ingredients and Side Effects
Ingredients:
| A-GPC |
Branched Chain Amino Acids |
| MSM |
Theobromine |
A-GPC: The common abbreviation for Alpha-glycerophosphocholine, a compound that contains choline. A-GPC is manufactured naturally in the body, but can also be synthesized in a laboratory or found in some forms of red meat and organ tissue.
A-GPC is a phospholipid similar to lecithin that, when absorbed, can be metabolized into the neuroprotectant choline. Choline is a part of the neurotransmission process and is thought to be important for preventing cognitive decline.
It has not shown any sort of boosting effects in terms of cognitive performance except in those individuals with severe choline deficiencies. Most people manufacture enough of the chemical on their own that supplementation is largely unnecessary.
There are no known side effects for A-GPC at this time. It is well tolerated by the majority of people.
Branched Chain Amino Acids: A specific form of amino acid group that includes leucine, isoleucine, and valine, three of the nine essential amino acids. Branch chain amino acids (BCAAs) have a number of different functions in the body.
BCAAs play a role in metabolism, protein synthesis, immune function, and brain function. They are generally beneficial for the body, however they are unlikely to provide much of a nootropic boost.
BCAAs are so broadly used by the body that there is no guarantee when you consume them that they will be used for brain function, and even if they are it is mostly in in the maintenance of a healthy baseline for mental performance.
Like choline, BCAAs are a natural part of the body, however increased levels of them does not always translate to increased effectiveness. Users will not experience any sort of perceptible boosting effect from taking BCAAs, and they are not of any use as a study drug or short-term performance enhancement aid.
It is possible that taking BCAAs as supplements can lead to side effects in some individuals. Some possible consequences to BCAA ingestion include fatigue and the loss of muscle control. People are not advised to take BCAAs before engaging in physical activity or activities that require precise coordination. It is also not recommended that people with any of the following conditions take BCAAs:
- Pregnant or breast-feeding
MSM: The common abbreviation of methylsulfonylmethane, a sulfur molecule that occurs naturally in the body. It can also be derived from certain kinds of green plants, animal byproducts, or synthesized in a laboratory.
MSM is a popular joint health ingredient because of its anti-inflammatory properties, however it is not known as being effective for mental performance. The conditions that it has been shown to help treat include:
Our panel of health and wellness experts in general recommend MSM as a supplement, however not for any nootropic reasons. It has not been shown to improve memory, cognition, thinking speed or accuracy, focus and attention, or any other category that you would use to measure a brain health and performance aid.
Theobromine: An alkaloid most commonly found in cacao, the raw form of chocolate. It is the second most common central nervous system stimulant in the world behind only caffeine. Despite the similarity of their names, it is not at all related to the chemical bromine.
Theobromine is not as potent as caffeine, however its effects are still very similar. It increases heart rate and widens blood vessels, which can be useful for brain function as well, however it can also lead to serious fluctuations in blood pressure, both up or down, depending on the individual.
It is not properly considered a nootropic aid because it does not increase brain function. Users that are particularly fatigued may notice a boost in their mental performance, however that is more related to alleviating the detrimental effects of fatigue than actually changing the brain’s functionality in any meaningful way.
Theobromine consumption can lead in some cases to theobromine poisoning. The more theobromine that is consumed, the more likely users are to experience the following symptoms:
Theobromine poisoning is often called “chocolate poisoning,” however it is unlikely that users could consume enough chocolate to affect them negatively. When taken in supplement form, however, it is much more likely, especially if users are not aware of how much they are taking.
Click here to see which nootropic supplements have the best chance of working for you and your specific needs.
Ruckpack Quality of Ingredients
Ruckpack has an odd ingredients blend for a nootropic supplement. Most of the ingredients are ineffective short-term boosters that may have some long-term protective value but will not be able to offer much in the way of increased mental performance capabilities.
The main exception to this is theobromine, which is both less effective than caffeine and more dangerous than most other nootropic supplement ingredients. It is not recommended in general, however the way that Ruckpack displays their ingredients blend makes it even more dangerous.
Ruckpack does not list individual dosage amounts for their proprietary blend. They list the combination as 810 mg in total, but offer no information about how that is distributed. With a chemical like theobromine that has such a low upper daily limit and such serious consequences for overdose, it is irresponsible not to know how much you are taking at a time.
Follow this link to learn which nootropic agents tested the highest in our independent analysis.
The Price and Quality of Ruckpack
Ruckpack comes in the form of a once-daily liquid shot, similar to a 5-Hour Energy. Each shot tends to be far more expensive than most supplements that come in pill or capsule form. Their website lists their price as:
- 1, 15-count box of Ruckpack shots: $41.50
When shipping and handling is factored in, users are paying as much as $3 per day for the supplement, which is well above the normal range for products of this nature.
To see all of the top nootropics on the market today and how they all compare, just click here.
Business of Ruckpack
Ruckpack is a nutrition and supplements company founded by former Marines who based their products on chemicals that were given to soldiers during wartime. Their contact page lists the following information:
Phone Number: (800) 877-7502
Address: PO Box 270543
San Diego, CA 92198
Email: [email protected]
Ruckpack originally got their start up capital from the television show Shark Tank. There is no evidence of any formal legal complaints having been filed against Ruckpack.
For data about which nootropic supplements are the best at improving users’ memory and attention span, follow this link.
Customer Opinions of Ruckpack
Some people have said that they like Ruckpack, however there are also quite a few people that claim it has not worked for them. By far the two most frequent responses on Amazon are one star, the lowest rating, and five stars, the highest. These are some of the comments that previous customers have left:
“I saw this product on Shark Tanks and wanted to like it because I’m a former Marine too. I hate to say this about former service people, but I took the whole box and got nothing whatsoever from their product.”
“Disgusting and ineffective. This stuff tastes like licking a baboon’s butt and is just about as effective.”
“I could get over the awful taste if this stuff worked, but it didn’t. It did give me the runs all afternoon, but that’s about it. Trash.”
The most common complaint, which was found even in the positive reviews of the product, was that it tastes and smells very bad. The next most common reaction was that it was ineffective, and there were also several reports of unpleasant side effects.
Click on this link to get access to the complete library of our experts’ reviews of the best nootropic supplements on the market today.
Conclusion – Does Ruckpack Work?
Ruckpack would be potentially useful as a long-term neural health aid if it was not so expensive and did not use theobromine in their mixture. Since they do include the low-quality stimulant, however, our panel of experts was unwilling to recommend their product to our readers for any purpose.
Most of its ingredients are not able to provide any kind of short term benefits, making it highly ineffective as a study or work performance aid. The inclusion of theobromine and its high cost make it ineffective as a long term neural health aid.
As such, there are very few practical uses for Ruckpack. There are far less expensive nootropic supplements on the market that will be far more effective for the vast majority of individuals.
The nootropic supplement that has been the most effective for the widest range of people is Memotenz. Its ingredients are effective for improving mental performance in a variety of ways including boosting memory, thinking speed and accuracy, and attention span.
Many nootropics are good for either the long term or the short term, however Memotenz’s balanced ingredients blend is useful for both. Click here to see all of the ways that Memotenz has improved its users’ mental performance.
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