Kakwa 40 (Durston Gear)

[R L]

I concur.  Ain’t no thing.  See ya on trail.

[Daniel C]

Anyone know whether shipping is imminent? I saw that it is supposed to be around the 25th. I wonder how many days for transit? I have a trip out west with my kids on the 5th of July and anxious to see if it comes in time. Car camping mostly, but may get a night or two in the backcountry. So not too concerned, but would be great to try it out.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

I think they’ll probably ship out late next week, but it still depends on how smoothly the shipping goes from the factory to Kaviso.

[Daniel C]

Thanks, Dan. My first product of yours, it’s an awesome looking pack. It  seems like you’ve thought of everything and have hit that sweet spot of a transition to UL for most people that aren’t quite ready to fully jump into frameless.

[Zack L]

Hey Dan. I’m a big fan of the ladder/daisy chain along the front of the Durston 40L and the Hanchor Marl so that I can run shock cord to take tension off of the mesh as well as additional lashing options. Do you see yourself adding that feature to this pack?

[William S]

Surprised there’s been no update to the thread since they’ve shipped and people should have them in their hands. I received mine yesterday and looking forward to trying it out this coming week. It looks awesome by the way 😀 Well done Durston 👍

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Mine arrived 3 days ago, unfortunately I am over 4,000 away from home right now :-(

 

BTW, there is a whole thread on Facebook: Durston Gearheads.  A few have been arriving without chest straps.

[Bruce Tolley]

@ William. Please go backpacking and write a review of the pack for us!

 

[George W]

Mine arrived a couple days ago. I immediately filled it to about 20 lbs and wore it for a while. It was comfortable. The shoulder strap mesh pockets are a little small, a cheap 16 ounce water bottle barley fits, it’s tight. They’re sized for bear spray.

The pack is skinnier and taller than my HMG 2400 SW, Which makes the load lifters functional. This could be good or bad depending on how you load it.

The hip belt appears to have a bit more padding than the HMG.

I’ll probably load it with my gear today and see how everything fits.

It’s been in the uppers 90s F here, so I haven’t done much with it.

[CFDTuc]

Received the Kakwa here last week, and hope to get out and use it in a couple weeks.

 

In the mean time, I’m hoping someone could chime in on seam sealing from the exterior.  Thinned out obviously but what product?  Seam Grip WP?  Seam Grip +SIL?  Silicone?  Urethane sealant?  I can’t find any resources about sealing Ultra fabrics except for taping from the interior.  I realize it’s already ~95% “waterproof”, but I’d like to cut down on some of the seam weeping and do it before the pack gets dirty and harder to seal.

 

I’ll also echo the comment that the strap pocket size is really bear spray sized, and a comment I saw elsewhere about a few more tie-out loops along the bottom for strapping on a pad would have been perfect.  I’ll stich them on at a later date.  Otherwise, can’t wait to get on the trail with it!

[George W]

I just got back from a 100 mile hike so I unloaded HMG 2400 into the DD. I reloaded the Ursack too.

With water and food I was at 20lbs and 1oz.

Everything fit inside about the same, with maybe slightly more room in the DD. The pockets on the DD are smaller, I could put everything in them, but there wasn’t any extra room. The 2400 had room left over. Two 2 liter water bottles fit in each side pocket with room for something else that was small. The front pocket was tight, but the stuff did fit.

The side pockets were easy for me to reach and remove the bottles, but I don’t have problems reaching water bottles.

The biggest difference is that DD has a distinct shape, and it holds that shape. The back is flat and comfortable. It has more of a tight, secure and controlled feel.

The 2400 is more of a sack, load it differently and you get a different shape. No complaints, it’s comfortable, it’s just a different feel.

The hip belt on the DD is a bit more comfortable and easier to adjust. But again, I don’t find the 2400 hip belt to be uncomfortable.

The shoulder strap pockets are small, but I left a water bottle in one for a couple of days and it loosened up a little. The mesh and the synch cord have enough room/stretch, it’s the stitching for the synch cord channel that limits its ability to stretch and receive the bottle easily.

The hip belt pockets easily had enough room for my S22 phone. I’m not sure I’d put my phone in one though because on me the pockets are wrapping around me. The phone is in the curved pocket trying to straighten it out. For me this isn’t uncommon, so I don’t put my phone in hip belt pockets.

[Mike]

I can reach my water bottles and the pockets are huge. Don’t miss my Palante at all.

[Lowell k]

I purchased a large and medium. The width size on the shoulder pads on the large are uneven and the yolk is a bit off center, so the pack doesn’t sit correctly on my shoulders. The medium is missing the sternum strap and the waist belt was not sewn in place on one end so I can’t cinch it.

On a good note I can reach the water bottle pocket which is unusual for me.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

“I’m a big fan of the ladder/daisy chain along the front…Do you see yourself adding that feature to this pack?”
I may add more loops, but I don’t think we’ll add a full daisy chain. Partly it would make the front pocket a bit smaller, but also it would add a bit more weight than I’d prefer. Would more grosgrain loops suffice for what you’re after?

“The shoulder strap pockets are small, but I left a water bottle in one for a couple of days and it loosened up a little. The mesh and the synch cord have enough room/stretch, it’s the stitching for the synch cord channel that limits its ability to stretch and receive the bottle easily.”
The aim of the shoulder strap pockets is phones/bear spray/sunglasses moreso than larger water bottles, but as you say they do stretch out some. A 1L SmartWater bottle will slide in and is about the max diameter but is too tall to be stable, whereas 500-750ml bottles can fit reasonably well (depending on their shape)

“I purchased a large and medium. The width size on the shoulder pads on the large are uneven and the yolk is a bit off center, so the pack doesn’t sit correctly on my shoulders. The medium is missing the sternum strap and the waist belt was not sewn in place on one end so I can’t cinch it.”
Sorry about this. If you get in touch with Kaviso via [email protected] they can sort this out. The factory did forget to add the sternum straps on part of the shipment so ~3% of packs were missing that and we’re sending it out. Other quality issues are rare so that’s unfortunate to have them on both of your packs (my apologies). We’ll happily fix this for you.

[Lowell k]

Thanks for the response. We have never met, but I am a fan not only of your products but your commitment to your customers. I will make the exchange, go on a long hike, and report back :)

 

[William S]

I had a small issue with my pack and Kaviso was very responsive and quickly sorted things out. Delayed my test trip but we’re back rolling again :)

Additional grosgrain loops would be a welcome addition I think. They would add options for those that want to add some cordage to hold things without adding extra some may not want. Mby two more in the middle of the sides of the back pocket (there are two at the top and two at the bottom already) and mby some loops on the bottom for those that want to carry a pad or something there?

[Tom M]

I received my Kakwa missing the chest strap and Kaviso was quick to respond and make it right. My first impressions of the pack were great and I was excited to put some miles on it. This pack was going to fill an empty spot in my quiver as I needed something that could haul at least a week + worth of food for a upcoming 300 mile trip. Luckily I decided to do a shake down run prior. I loaded it with 28lbs of gear and headed for the Cabinets. Everything felt comfortable and stable when scrambling just like I wanted.

Then at this pitstop I noticed the waist belt was starting to pull from the stitching.

 

 

 

By the time I reached the trailhead the next day the waist belt was ready to completely exit.

My other issue was with water in the lower portion of the pack. It rained steady that second day and when I unloaded the pack afterwords there was significant water inside. With no drain holes in the side pockets Im sure that was the issue. I spoke to Dan and there is a upgrade coming on the next batch to address the stitching issue. For me personally I would like to see drain holes in the side pockets and an ice axe loop. Once I receive the updated version I will definitely seam grip the hell out of it and use a pack liner.

 

[Mike]

It’s insane for me to believe that its the case that your pack was literally falling apart. Lots of us here have the pack, have taken it out, and have had zero problems. Given the attention that is taken into reinforcing the stitching in particular, I have no idea what you’re doing to your packs. How would pressure even be applied there while hiking anyway? Is this some attempt to malign the pack in general? Too many weird variables here to not be skeptical.

[Tom M]

Mike,

What I do with packs is actually get out and use them. I know Dan personally and I was hesitant to bring up an issue but I have a duty to be honest to the readers of this forum. This is part of a text sent to me from Dan “Sorry about this. On a few packs they did make the seam allowance too small at the hipbelt so the fabric could pull out like that.”  What should be recognized is that the customer service is top notch, not try to discredit my assessment.

[Mike M]

I have no idea what you’re doing to your packs.

Hmmmm from what I read of his post, appears he was using it

If folks experience a issue with a piece of gear and post about it, is that maligning or is that something a potential purchaser (or even the manufacturer) may find useful.

That’s a rhetorical question.

 

 

 

[Philip Tschersich]

Yup. The first thing I thought when I saw that damage was “insufficient seam allowance.”

A potential bummer is that I suspect there is no easy visual inspection you can do to determine which packs will suffer from this issue.

On the pocket drainage thing, it’s very easy to heat up the tip of a framing nail (or similar metal rod) with a propane torch, or gas range, or camping stove until nice and hot, and then simply touch it to the fabric where you would like a drainage hole to be. It will instantly melt a hole that will allow water to drain, and it will melt the fabric ends to prevent fraying. Just make sure that you’re only melting through the fabric layer you intend to, and no others.

[jscott]

Or…use an internal or external WP rain cover….

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

As I mentioned, my apologies about this issue. We have seen a few instances of this issue (well under 1%) which I think are caused by the pack happening to be sewn with a bit smaller seam allowance than spec (since the hipbelt wing is manually inserted into the seam) combined with Ultra being a looser weave fabric so it is more sensitive to that and probably should use oversized seam allowances.

I wholeheartedly stand behind my packs, so for an issue like this we’ll happily warranty this pack (of course) and will be increasing the seam allowance here for the next run as a safeguard against instances where it may happen to be a bit less than usual.

For rain, I find that water can leak out the seams about as quickly as it can enter (since those seams are taped) which I why I didn’t add specific drain holes. But it does sound like in some circumstances that might not be enough so I may look at some revisions there.

Regarding the ice axe loops, there are small grosgrain loops and the 4 corners of the mesh pockets so it is quite possible to rig up an ice axe carry with the current lash points.

[Mike]

I almost facepalmed through my head when I read “he used it”.

[Greg D]

Tom M/Philip,

I suspect the geometry of the belt – specifically how the belt joins to the back of the pack with a wider gap (~1/2”) at the top than at the bottom – may have contributed to this failure as well.

For me personally, even with the belt cinched down tightly, I found that the hip belt was loose around the top of the belt, with a decent gap around the sides of of my hips. This resulted in the full tension in the belt and pressure on my hips being confined to a small strip around the bottom of the hip belt. This is obviously going to create a concentration of stress through the stitching at the bottom of the hip belt where it meets the pack, rather than being distributed evenly through the stitching from belt top to bottom. Compounded with the issue of reduced seam allowances on some packs, this could cause the hip belts to fail/separate near the bottom first. This seems consistent with your report and another on trek-lite.

I would think that having the belts sewed onto the pack with uniform width top and bottom, or a little narrower at the top, may more evenly distribute weight/stress through the hip belt and stitching, and reduce the likelihood of something like this happening. (I had a quick look at home and the majority of my packs have belts attached to the pack narrower at the top compared with the bottom – that geometry seems to contour better with the body/hips).

[Author]

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