touchingheartstouchingminds.com’s Summary
After reviewing RuckPack and RuckPack Energizer, we have to say that although it is an impressive focus shot, we think it could use some improvements.
Despite being targeted at improving cognition, we saw that numerous key cognitive enhancers were missing from this supplement drink. Specifically things like Bacopa, Citicholine and Phosphatidylserine would help a lot in here.
RuckPack still has plenty of good ingredients, but it’s our number 1. To see my current cognition stack click here.
RuckPack Energy Drink
This is our RuckPack Energizer review, a cognition supplement drink or “focus shot” made by special operations personnel for special operations personnel.
Sometimes it misspelled as ‘Ruck Pack’, or ‘Ruck-Pack’, but the correct spelling is RuckPack.
It was first seen after closing a deal on the TV show Shark Tank and claims to be exactly what you need to keep you:
- Focused
- Energized
- Better Power Output
- More Endurance
There’s a lot of claims being made about this supplement, and in this review, we look at all the angles to see if it is the best option out there for you by analyzing the ingredients, side effects, the origins and more.
Here’s the video from Shark Tank that started it all:
In this review, we’ll be looking at RuckPack, and their caffeinated version: RuckPack Energizer.
RuckPack Energizer
RuckPack is claimed to be a peak performance nutrition shot. It is claimed to give your body exactly what it needs to help you survive in the field, but also to help the average person get the most out their day, work, gym session – you name it.
There are several forms of RuckPack available on the market:
- RuckPack
- RuckPack Energizer (our focus for this review)
- RuckPack D3 Spray
They even have a protein powder and t-shirts available.
RuckPack Energizer is available in 3 flavors: Citrus, Strawberry and Raspberry. A 15 pack of RuckPack currently costs $49.99 from their website and is the caffeinated version of RuckPack.
RuckPack vs RuckPack Energizer
The original RuckPack is very similar to RuckPack Energizer – the big difference is the caffeine.
RuckPack is completely caffeine-free, whereas RuckPack Energizer is packed with 240 mg of Caffeine extracted from Green Tea.
This has some benefits, but we feel the original is a much better bet, as Caffeine can cause jitters and energy crashes which aren’t ideal.
RuckPack Drink Ingredients
Below is the full ingredient list of what’s used in RuckPack Energizer:
- Vitamin B3 – 20 mg
- Vitamin B6 – 4 mg
- Folate – 400 mcg
- Vitamin B12 – 500 mcg
- Biotin – 300 mcg
- L-Citrulline-DL-Malate 2:1 – 1750 mg
- Carnosyn Beta Alanine – 500 mg
- N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine – 500 mg
- Alpha-Glyceryl Phosphoryl Choline – 150 mg
- L-Theanine – 120 mg
- Caffeine – 240 mg
- CoQ10 – 100 mg
As you can see, there are a lot of ingredients in RuckPack Energizer, on the whole it looks pretty good – however, we feel there are few changes that could be made to this focus shot to make it more of a cognition supplement rather than a pre workout.
Below, we look closer at the main ingredients and see what they do and how they can help you:
Vitamin B3, B6, Folate (B9) and B12
The Vitamin Bs don’t seem like much in RuckPack Energizer – but they actually make more of a difference than your realize.
Combined B3, B6, B9 and B12 can help improve your overall absorption of nutrients which can help you to get more out of the ingredients in RuckPack Energizer.
Not only that, the Bs can help promote mood balance, mental energy, memory and long-term brain health.
They’re a good combination of nutrients to have in here.
L-Citrulline-DL-Malate 2:1 – 1750 mg
This is a good addition to RuckPack Energizer. It doesn’t exactly help cognition, it’s more of a pre workout – but it can help in other ways when it comes to this nootropic.
L-Citrulline has been seen in numerous cases to help promote blood flow by significantly increasing your body’s levels of nitric oxide which is responsible for circulation.
L-Citrulline can help you absorb the other ingredients in RuckPack Energizer more easily – but also help with endurance, blood flow and muscle pumps.
Carnosyn Beta Alanine – 500 mg
Beta Alanine is a good addition to RuckPack – but again, but it’s more of pre workout ingredient than a nootropic.
It’s an amino acid which can help by buffering the acid in your muscles which can help improve your overall endurance.
The only downside to it is that it may cause paresthia which is a mild itching in both the hands and face. It’s not dangerous – but it can be very distracting.
It’s not ideal for improving focus – but it can help with energy.
N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine – 500 mg
A good ingredient for focus in RuckPack. L-Tyrosine is an amino acid which has been seen in numerous studies to help reduce your levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
When you’re stressed, your cortisol levels are higher and you’re more distracted. However, using something like L-Tyrosine can help to lower your overall levels of the stress hormone and allow you to be calmer and more focused throughout the day.
It’s good for you keeping you calm and collected throughout the day.
Alpha-Glyceryl Phosphoryl Choline – 150 mg
Also known as Alpha GPC in RuckPack Energizer. Alpha GPC is usually used in pre workouts for its ability to boost your power output.
It can help improve your strength and endurance throughout the day and has only been seen in a few cases to actually support focus.
L-Theanine – 120 mg
This is a fantastic addition to RuckPack. L-Theanine is an amino acid that is commonly found in herbs like Green Tea – but has a lot of support for helping with overall focus.
Supplementing L-Theanine has been seen to help promote focus, calmness and overall concentration. It works well combined with caffeine and gives you a calm, in-control mindset while riding the stimulating highs from the energy boosting caffeine.
Caffeine – 240 mg
This is a huge amount of Caffeine in such a small product like RuckPack Energizer – but it could still offer some assistance for you cognition.
Caffeine is arguably one of the most potent natural stimulants on the market. Research shows that it can help promote energy, focus, metabolism and even power output in the gym.
We have a mild problem with Caffeine in cognitive boosters – namely because they can cause energy crashes after a few hours of using it. At a dosage like this in such a small bottle, it may also have some potential to cause side effects.
CoQ10 – 100 mg
This is a molecule that is found in your body which can help to create energy. It can help reduce blood pressure and promote blood flow when supplemented correctly and can even help energy and focus.
This makes it a good addition to RuckPack for both a better gym session and for concentrating better throughout the day.
Ingredient Summary
As you can see, there are some good ingredients in RuckPack Energizer – however, we do have some concerns with the nootropic side of this focus shot.
The ingredients are good – but we feel there aren’t enough when it comes to the nootropic side. Alpha GPC, L-Tyrosine and L-Theanine can help but we would like to see more.
For example:
- Citicholine
- Phosphatidylserine
- Rhodiola Rosea
- Bacopa Monnieri
Are just some example of what would’ve been excellent additions to RuckPack.
Is RuckPack Energizer Safe? | Side Effects
Yes. We believe RuckPack Energizer is safe to take as long as you don’t have a low tolerance to caffeine.
The caffeine dosage in RuckPack is large, and taking it in a small bottle could hit you quicker than expected. Side effects from too much caffeine too quickly include:
- Headaches
- Jitters
- Raised Heart Rate
- Raised Blood Pressure
- Nausea
And more – standard stimulant problems. The L-Theanine should be able to help with this in RuckPack, but it’s still something you should be concerned with.
Note: This is only a problem for RuckPack Energizer. The original RuckPack contains no caffeine.
RuckPack Energy Drink Shark Tank Update
Shark Tank was just the beginning of RuckPack’s success, since then the company has gone to achieve many great things and was even featured again in a follow up episode of RuckPack Beyond The Tank.
Since the show, RuckPack expanded from their original line of caffeine free shots and released RuckPack Energizer, which is what we’ve reviewed here.
RuckPack Beyond The Tank
When appearing on Beyond The Tank, RuckPack had appeared to reformulated the product from the original formula and concentrated more on the ‘nootropic’ side of the drink.
As we’ve noted, it still doesn’t have a lot of cognitive enhancers, but we’re happy that RuckPack went a little more in this direction. You can see a clip of Beyond the Tank below:
This was in 2017, so it may have even advanced further since then – as we’ve mentioned there is now a protein line for RuckPack too.
Ruckpack Energizer Shark Tank Follow Up
It seems like despite the growth of RuckPack, it seems to have been dialed back a bit over the recent years. There was talk of them launching their own fitness range with grenade-shaped kettlebells, however these no longer appear to be available on the company website.
RuckPack does not seem to be sold on Amazon any more either. It may only be sold from their website and in stores like Walgreens.
RuckPack Energy Drink Reviews
RuckPack Energy Drinks are now used by all walks of people – not just soliders in the army. Below, we’ve compiled a list of personal reviews that customers have had from taking RuckPack and RuckPack Energizer.
Like everything, there’s a real mix of both positive and negative reviews – but not a lot of them go into much details of their experience with RuckPack:
As you can see, these customers have had a good experience with RuckPack – but you don’t feel like you’re getting much insight into the product.
Likewise with the negative RuckPack reviews:
However, the side effect report from Ramy is interesting. We assume this to be the high caffeine dosage.
Finally the review that stood out to us the most was this one:
“Hoped For More Bang for My Buck”
I was hoping to not leave my desk to join the other lemmings waiting in the line to get a mid-morning lift. If it was possible to save both time and dough by chugging back a RuckPack, I was in. Unfortunately, it seems I keep myself caffeinated at such a high level that the amount in one of these handy little bottles isn’t sufficient. Two’ll do-er, for sure, but then the price of two costs more than my regular morning triple shot, so, I’ll be back to waiting in the line once I finish off this little case. I do love the opportunities the company creators are providing to our folks in service and wish them much success. If there’s an Extra, Extra Strength version in the future, I’ll give it another go (but, RuckPack, if you do, please experiment with the flavors. Perhaps a mocha?).
Alarmingly RuckPack Energizer was not enough for S.Trasny to the point that they had to take two shots to meet their needs. That’s 480 mg of caffeine!
It also shows that there is some issue with the flavors of RuckPack which we noticed in other user reports and reviews. This is a clear sign that RuckPack needs some reformulation to suit all needs.
We firmly believe it needs more cognitive enhancers to make it stand out more as a nootropic.
RuckPack Combat Nutrition Energizer Sports Review Summary
We like RuckPack, it has a charm to it that you don’t see with much supplements / focus drinks. It has an impressive story and run by some passionate people. However, we think it just needs a few changes to the formula before we can recommend it as an effective nootropic.
RuckPack comes in numerous versions and flavors. You can either have caffeinated version of RuckPack with RuckPack Energizer or the original product. Whichever one you choose we still think it needs a boost from something like Bacopa, Citicholine, Phosphatidylserine or even a mood booster like Rhodiola Rosea.
Our Current #1:
Mind Lab Pro
Mind Lab Pro is the best nootropic I've tried and reviewed. For the value, effectiveness and overall cleanliness of this supplement, Mind Lab Pro blew us away and is our top rated nootropic.
Containing 11 study-backed, well researched ingredients that work in clear, study-backed dosages, MLP is an impressive formula that delivers fantastic results in a way we've not seen before.
It's allergen-free, vegan, non-gmo and much more. If you want something that works, safe and won't break the bank, you should read our full review.
I've tried it myself and 100% vouch for it. If you want to learn more about my experience, click below.