This site uses cookies for better user experience and analytics.
HANDMADE IN HEMET, CA SINCE 1986
Firefighter Gear Bags, EMS Bags & Trauma Bags — Made in the USA
Ballistic nylon, 1000 denier Cordura, and a signature suede leather bottom. Veteran-owned, hand-built for fire, medical, wildland, and honor guard crews who can't afford gear that fails.
Ruffian Fire has hand built American made gear bags for firefighters, EMS, and honor guard units since 1986. Meet the veteran-owned team behind every stitch.
1986
A canvas tool bag maker in Hemet
Every Ruffian bag starts the same way it did in 1986: on a workbench in Hemet, California, not on an overseas assembly line. Richard Fixen founded the company as a small canvas tool bag maker, supplying department and specialty stores across California.
1990
Firefighters start asking for more
By the early 1990s, firefighters started asking Richard for something more rugged gear built for the job, not just for carrying it. Word spread. Within a decade, Ruffian gear was standard issue with wildland crews across California, and agencies came directly to us to build exactly what their teams needed.
2014
Bill Harder brings Ruffian online
Bill Harder took over and brought Ruffian into the modern era a real e-commerce storefront and an expanded product line, including our aviation gear.
2024
Jason and Tom take the helm
Ruffian changed hands again to Jason and Tom, two U.S. Army veterans who met at the police academy in 2005. They know what it means to trust your gear with your life, and they bought Ruffian to keep that standard going, not to cut corners on it.
Under their ownership, we split into two focused brands Ruffian Fire for first responders, and Ruffian Classic Canvas for our original tool bag line and 2025 was our best year yet.
BUILT TO A STANDARD, NOT A BUDGET
MATERIALS & CRAFT
A gear bag fails at the worst possible time mid-call, mid-fire, mid-shift. Over forty years we've settled on the same short list of materials, and we don't substitute them to save a dollar.
01
Hand-Cut, Hand-Sewn
Every bag is still cut and sewn by hand in our Hemet, USA workshop which is what lets us build to the exact specs a department asks for, custom sizing and unit patches included.
02
Signature Suede Leather Bottom
A bag's bottom takes the most punishment. Our reinforced suede leather bottom is a detail few other manufacturers bother with, and it's become one of our most recognized features.
03
YKK #10 Zippers
Heavy-gauge, trusted across outdoor and tactical gear. A jammed zipper on a trauma bag isn't an inconvenience, it's a liability these open smoothly call after call, year after year.
04
3M Reflective Tape
Every bag is lined with reflective tape so your gear, and the person carrying it, stays visible at a nighttime scene, on the roadside, or in low-visibility smoke.
05
Padded, Organized Interiors
Compartments are lined with 400D pack cloth over 1/4 inch foam padding, so supplies and tools are cushioned and organized, not thrown in a sack.
06
Ballistic 1680D & 1000D Cordura
The exterior shell on most Ruffian bags the same class of material used in military and tactical gear resists tearing, abrasion, and punctures far longer than standard nylon.
Add customer reviews and testimonials to showcase your store’s happy customers.
— Author's name
Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.
