If you’re anything like me, you bring a lot of gear with you on your range trips, including ammo, eyes and ears, targets, spare mags, cleaning kits, spare parts, and rangefinders. With all that gear, you’re either subjecting your shoulder to some serious fatigue (before you even get to your lane at the range), or your range bag is quite literally bursting at the seams with too much gear and not enough storage space. Either way, it’s frustrating and annoying to have to decide which gear is actually worth taking.
I’d always seen those guys who had the collapsible rolling carts and wagons and admired their ability to carry all their gear without looking like a pack mule, but the wagons and carts appeared to be rather clunky and, dare I say, “nerdy.” But then I saw the GPS Tactical Rolling Range Bag, a free-standing and highly portable tactical/professional range bag designed to transport a large quantity of gear to and from the range. Knowing the struggles of transporting a ton of guns and gear to remote ranges, I had to put it to the test. And let me tell ya, it didn’t disappoint.
About the GPS Tactical Rolling Range Bag
The GPS rolling range bag is built around a rigid, freestanding frame with a Teflon-coated 1000 Denier polyester shell. Why does that matter? Simple. It’s built to handle rough weather and those remote, backwoods shooting ranges. It’s incredibly strong, hard to tear or rip, and it’s highly water and stain resistant. The oversized all-terrain “ATV” wheels easily tame gravel parking lots, muddy fields, and pavement, and a telescoping handle allows for comfortable, convenient transport and carry with shooters of all sizes.
Other notable features include:
- Box and Bar track reinforced stitching in all critical areas
- Lockable YKK zippers
- Silent paracord zipper pulls
- Internal honeycomb frame
- Patent-pending Visual I.D. storage system
Storage Space Galore
I count a whopping 13 total pockets on this bag, including four interior pockets inside the main compartment. And they’re not small pockets either. Each pocket features a wide opening and a sewn-in Visual I.D. storage system icon for quick pocket identification and easy access to your gear. I especially liked how deep the pockets were. Once you unzip them and start adding your gear, the pockets seemed to just get bigger and bigger.
As a guy who would always forget which pocket held what, I truly appreciate the Visual I.D. system. There’s no more guesswork or wasted time searching through each pocket to find your target staple gun or ear protection. The zippers are also rather quiet. Not that it matters too much for a range hound like me, but for a tactical shooter or gear-junkie hunter, every little noise is cause for concern and the quiet zippers do a nice job of eliminating unwanted noise.
Roll On Along
The beefy, rubberized wheels and the telescoping handle make quick work of rolling over muddy fields, gravel roads and parking lots, pavement, and dirt. They’re quiet on smooth surfaces, and handle every rock and bump with ease, all while maintaining stability and control. And, for what it’s worth, two reinforced carry handles allow you to pick up and carry or load the thing in the back of your truck without straining your back or risking breaking the telescoping handle (though it seems to be more than strong enough to handle it if you had to man-handle it a bit).
Forget the Pistol Cases
The Tactical Rolling Range Bag comes equipped with a built-in pistol cradle and a dedicated pocket for pistol magazines, eliminating the need for those bulky plastic pistol cases and freeing up your hands for essential gear. This unique and advanced design makes it easier for handgunners and tactical shooters to transport multiple pistols, magazines, and other gear. For me, that means I can carry most of my full-size, compact, and sub-compact handguns, plenty of mags, mag loaders, ammo, and cleaning kits without juggling six or seven cases, an ammo bag, and my eyes and ears.
Imperfections
I’m not going to pretend that the GPS range bag is without fault. There are a few things I noticed that I wasn’t a huge fan of and might be a bit of a hangup for some folks. First and foremost, with the exception of the lid and the foam pistol cradle, there is absolutely no padding in any of the compartments. Even in the main compartment, you can feel the rigid plastic frame. The durable frame would surely withstand most drops and bumps, but I guess a part of me expected there to be at least some padding.
Another minor annoyance — and this might just be me — is that the two semi-rigid front pockets are so close together that I struggled to get my chubby fingers to grasp and manipulate the zippers without tugging at them or using my other hand to move the other pocket and zipper out of the way. Again, it’s minor, but it was kind of annoying and if I were in a hurry (for whatever reason), it might be cause for some concern.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the GPS Tactical Rolling Range bag is of incredible quality and a must-have for tactical shooters and gear junkies like me. Though it isn’t exactly cheap, it’s packed to the gills with quality-enhancing features and handles just about anything you can throw at it. I’ll likely never go back to a soft-sided range bag with an over-the-shoulder strap or single carry handle. They’re just not strong enough or spacious enough for all of my gear. Nor will I worry about whether or not I can haul my guns and gear to and from those remote ranges without throwing my back out while looking like a pack mule.
