I hiked up to emerald lake in the Trinity Alps, CA over 4 days. Great views and saw some really awesome wildlife. The Kakwa is my first real 'Ultralight' pack and it weighed in at ~20lbs fully packed with food and water. I felt like it carried great, and was super comfortable for the whole trip. I have a few gripes with the pack though: the front pocket could be longer, and stretchier IMO, the right water bottle pocket didn't securely hold my nalgene, and the pack isn't seam sealed at all. It seems like a bummer to have a pack made out of waterproof material and have no seam sealing at all. I used a pack liner and all my down gear stayed dry through the rain but water definitely came through the seams. I'm thinking of trying to seam seal the pack myself but I'm not sure how to go about it. Does anyone have tips on products and application?
BPL discussed it a little bit here. Your mileage may vary, I didn’t see any long term reports and Ultra is a very weird fabric when it comes to adhesives.
It’s not really critical though. You should still use a pack liner with fully sealed packs. High stress seams, such as shoulder straps, will still allow water in. Pack liners allow you to access the interior of the pack during active precipitation. Eventual Ultra delamination will kill the waterproofness regardless.
Signed an MYOG enthusiast!
Thanks for the link! After reading there a bit I'm thinking of going with aquaseal around the outside seams. I'm not really trying to 100% waterproof it, just make it more water resistant. Not like I'm taking it pack rafting or anything!