KS Ultralight Packs

A place to chat about gear and the philosphy of ultralight. Ultralight bushwalking or backpacking focuses on carrying the lightest and simplest kit. There is still a good focus on safety and skill.
Forum rules
Ultralight Bushwalking/backpacking is about more than just gear lists. Ultralight walkers carefully consider gear based on the environment they are entering, the weather forecast, their own skill, other people in the group. Gear and systems are tested and tweaked.
If you are new to this area then welcome - Please remember that although the same ultralight philosophy can be used in all environments that the specific gear and skill required will vary greatly. It is very dangerous to assume that you can just copy someone else's gear list, but you are encouraged to ask questions, learn and start reducing the pack weight and enjoying the freedom that comes.

Common words
Base pack backpacking the mass of the backpack and the gear inside - not including consumables such as food, water and fuel
light backpacking base weight less than 9.1kg
ultralight backpacking base weight less than 4.5kg
super-ultralight backpacking base weight less than 2.3kg
extreme-ultralight backpacking base weight less than 1.4kg

KS Ultralight Packs

Postby damoprz » Sun 05 Feb, 2017 9:48 am

I have been looking at getting new packs for my wife and myself. I am close to buying two KS 40 packs, with the XPAC VX 07 fabric, the removable frame, sit pad pockets and a removable belt pocket.
Anyone have any experience with their packs?
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Re: KS Ultralight Packs

Postby oysters » Wed 31 May, 2017 8:33 pm

I have a Tao with some custom options, built a couple of years ago. Actually one of the Tao pictures could well be my pack.

KS makes excellent gear! His website is clunky, but he's good over email, describe what you want and he'll tell you how to order it.

I also got a custom little daypack done in the same xpac material (VX07) for my daughter (two years old at the time). Its perfect.
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Re: KS Ultralight Packs

Postby Stew63 » Thu 01 Jun, 2017 5:25 am

I'd never heard of these KS packs before - thanks for enlightening me! Looks great and another option to the ZPacks, HMG, MLD etc.
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Re: KS Ultralight Packs

Postby damoprz » Sat 03 Jun, 2017 3:06 am

I ended up moving to Germany, which sucked up all my money. Once my relocation reimbursement comes through I plan to buy two of the KS packs for hiking around Europe. I am deciding between the KS40 and the KS30, since it appears that most of the hiking done here is hut to hut maybe I only need the smaller one. I was originally looking because my Ohm2.0 is not tough enough for Australia and some of the tougher XPAC fabrics looked promising without stretching the budget to a HMG Southwest. I will post a review when I have taken them for a spin.
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Re: KS Ultralight Packs

Postby Mark F » Sat 03 Jun, 2017 5:49 pm

If you are in Germany I would check out Laufbursche who makes excellent packs in materials including XPac to order. He was ill but have not heard of the business closing.
"Perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove".
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Re: KS Ultralight Packs

Postby damoprz » Sun 04 Jun, 2017 12:29 am

Those Laufbursche packs look amazing, but a little over of my budget.
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Re: KS Ultralight Packs

Postby Stew63 » Sat 22 Jul, 2017 8:46 pm

After realising my newish green 60ish litre ZPack Arc Haul Zip is just WAY too big and too heavy for my UL needs I'm about to pull the pin on a KS pack from Japan. The KS packs are truly a thing of beauty! Now to decide between a fully customised KS30 or a customised KS27Z both in VX07. With all the extra bits and pieces/options it should weigh in at about 350grams - compared to 900grams for my Arc Haul Zip. I bought a 25litre plastic rubbish bin today from Bunnings as a packing template to confirm I can easily pack all my UL stuff/food etc. into that small amount of space - success! The amount of options offered is mind boggling and Laurent is always open to further customisation and adjustments - unlike Zpacks/HMD/MLD of 2017 that will no longer 'customise' their packs. Laurnet at KS seems to answer my emails within minutes!
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Re: KS Ultralight Packs

Postby whitefang » Sun 23 Jul, 2017 7:56 am

I'm another about to order a KS40. My Exos is just too big for my needs and the KS40 seems like good pack that bridges between framed and frameless weight carrying capacity .
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