Durston Kakwa 55 Review

The Kakwa 55 is clearly designed for extended adventures in desolate, wild landscapes. The internal frame offers ample support for heavier carries, making it easier to go longer between resupplies. Challenge Ultra 200X is a specialty fabric renowned for its abrasion and water resistance, and is the choice fabric for packs that cost twice as much as the Kakwa 55. This pack is highly capable without being over-designed or over-complicated.

Comfort

Given just how light this pack is, the Kakwa 55 comfortably carries everything you need to tramp through the wilderness for weeks on end. The most impactful features on overall comfort are the pack's internal frame and padding, as well as its padded hip belt, which now includes lumbar support.

The lumbar support pulls double-duty as a sweat-absorbent material across your lower back. The rest of the pack, however, is less breathable – Challenge Ultra 200X, by its nature as a waterproof fabric, doesn't offer much in the way of ventilation or sweat absorption.

Unlike some other ultralight backpacks, the Durston Kakwa 55 includes an internal, removable metal frame and very minimal back padding. The frame works together with the hip belt to transfer weight effectively from your shoulders to your hips, and load lifters pull the pack's center of gravity closer to your own. All work well in concert– the claimed 45-pound load limit is higher than others advertise, but still feels grounded in reality.

Ease of Use

Rather than introduce dramatic changes and half-baked ideas with each new version, the Kakwa 55 has been holistically refined over time, with small improvements to dial in this simple, effective design.

The internal frame and stiff pack fabric help the main compartment stay open on its own, making it easier to put items in or take them out. The top opening is extra wide, tapering in towards the bottom, which really helps for packing bulky items like bear canisters. The Challenge Ultra 200X pack fabric is essentially waterproof, so you don't need a pack liner to keep your gear dry. Unlike Dyneema, Challenge Ultra 200X is both abrasion and puncture-resistant, so you don't have to baby this pack.

The voluminous side and center exterior pockets provide ample storage and easier access to items you'll use throughout the day. The hip belt pockets and shoulder strap pockets are even more convenient for smaller items, like snacks, water, and sunscreen. One of our favorite flourishes is a small waterproof pocket embedded in the left exterior pocket – it's perfect for storing valuables that simply cannot be lost, things like money, keys, and prescription medicine.

Weight-to-Volume Ratio

The Kakwa 55 is a fairly large-capacity pack that's really designed to carry bulkier items, like bear canisters, days' worth of food between resupplies, and heavy water carries between sources. The manufacturer specs a maximum load capacity of 45lbs (20.4kg), a very heavy load for an ultralight pack!

The size “M” we tested, with an “S/M” hip belt, offers 70 liters of total carrying capacity, including interior and exterior pockets. With a svelte base weight of 31 oz (879 g), that works out to one of the lowest ratios of base weight to carrying capacity in our lineup. Considering that packs with a better ratio lack a frame or back padding, this number is all the more impressive.

Here's the breakdown of the main pack and the few components that can be removed:

• Main pack: 27.47 ounces (779 grams)
• Aluminum frame: 2.93 ounces (83 grams)
• Back padding: 0.60 ounces (17 grams)

The total advertised volume is split between the main pack body's internal volume and the external pockets throughout the Kakwa 55. We measured the internal volume at 55 liters, which matches the manufacturer's claims and is slightly larger than past revisions (which we suspect may have been under-advertised).

The center exterior pocket of the Kakwa 55 swallowed up seven 1-liter Smartwater bottles, while the two side pockets held three each. Both shoulder-strap pockets can hold one SmartWater bottle each (with half the bottle sticking out). The smaller hip belt pockets held tight 10 Clif Bars each, which is more than enough for all-day snacking.

Adjustability

The Durston Kakwa 55 is only moderately adjustable, but enough for you to make minor changes to how your pack carries. Fairly standard adjustment points include the hip belt, shoulder straps, sternum strap, and load lifters.

Perhaps one of the biggest improvements to the Kakwa 55 is the addition of more hip belt sizes – you can now choose between S/M and M/L hip belts, regardless of torso size. If you choose the correct size from the get-go, the adjustments you do make work all the better. However, the hip belt is fully integrated with the pack itself and cannot be removed or swapped.

Functional load lifters, aided by the internal aluminum frame, can be adjusted depending on how top-heavy your pack is. The single sternum strap attaches via a daisy chain to the shoulder straps, and it's easy to adjust its placement thanks to a simple yet secure hook system.

As your pack size diminishes alongside your rations, side compression straps keep gear from jostling inside the pack, and a top “V” strap compresses and secures the main pack body from the top. However, there's a reasonable limit to just how small the Kakwa 55 will compress. It may look a little out of place on weekend overnighters – remember, this pack is really designed for extended trips.

Should You Buy the Durston Kakwa 55?

The Kakwa 55 is a simple, durable, and extremely functional ultralight backpack. It swallows up tons of gear, yet it's still comfortable enough for any thru-hike or cross-country trip. It's not going to be the very lightest pack on the market, nor does it have every feature available, but the Kakwa 55 strikes a good compromise between usability, comfort, and, of course, price.

What Other Ultralight Backpacks Should You Consider?

The Challenge Sailcloth Ultra series pack material is really what sets the Kakwa 55 apart from other packs, offering unmatched abrasion, puncture, and water resistance. The Ultralight Adventure Equipment Ultra Circuit is an equally spacious pack that features even more durable Ultra 400X fabric in areas of the pack that take the most abuse, as well as Ultra Stretch Mesh on its exterior pockets. However, it's much more expensive than the Kakwa 55. The Gossamer Gear Gorilla 50 and Six Moon Designs Swift V are both directly comparable to the Kakwa 55, in terms of capacity and price. While the Gorilla 50 is slightly smaller and more comfortable, the Swift V is more adjustable.