The Rich World of Indonesian Ultralight Backpacks
Indonesia Is Badass at UL
I made a post on r/Ultralight a couple days ago about the booming ultralight scene in Indonesia (you can see it here). It turns out that Indonesian hikers are serious about ultralight: from what I can glean, selection bias notwithstanding, ultralight is actually the predominant form of backpacking there. This is worth talking about for us in the Anglosphere because in my view, the UL community has a thinly-veiled prejudice toward "West is best," and the meteoric growth of UL culture and cottage backpack manufacturing in Indonesia is proof that folks in other places can do it just as well as Westerners can.
The reason I originally embarked on this journey is because I read a post about Indonesian cottage manufacturer YSR Packs here. The original poster mentioned their custom 400D nylon pack coming out to less than 30 USD, which is completely jaw-dropping if you're at all familiar with the prices on mainstream UL packs. Of course, the prices can be several times higher when using materials more exotic than nylon, but even with cutting-edge fabrics like Ultra, a cottage pack from Indonesia might come out 150 to 200 USD cheaper than a Western analogue.
It should be patently obvious how amazing this is. Source: YSR Packs
Now, here comes the refrain: I am a broke college student. Getting access to awesome pack designs that are weight-competitive at a fraction of Western prices is just too good to pass up. To my knowledge, Indonesian cottage brands are the only manufacturers doing technical UL at such competitive prices. Many of these excellent ultralight designs blow Chinese brands like 3F UL and Naturehike out of the water, and somehow they're still cheaper!
Why are these packs so cheap? One reason is the fact that labor is much cheaper in Indonesia than in the West, and Indonesia is already highly involved in modern textile and apparel manufacturing. But another reason is the fact that the Indonesian rupiah is highly undervalued, which you can see via the Big Mac Index. In fact, the rupiah ranks as the second-most undervalued currency out of all the currencies the Index tracks! So now really is the best time to buy Indonesian—it's only getting more expensive from here.
I think this is also an instance where the typical ethical objections that first-worlders have against buying from developing countries don't hold water. None of these Indonesian UL manufacturers are being exploited in giant factories that churn out human misery and environmental devastation in equal measure; they're skilled craftspeople who are passionate about this sport and are using their skills to support themselves and the hobby community. And the Indonesian UL scene is clearly homegrown—given the evident obscurity of these manufacturers in the West, they aren't being forced to cater to the whims of a bourgeois export market.
Another concern that I've seen is that these brands rip off existing Western designs. Well, some of them do. The number one offender is probably the unfortunately-named Parlente Equipment and their highly suspect running vest pack (one smart-aleck on Instagram christened it the "Parlente Joe, Eh?"). But is this a huge problem in and of itself? Ultralight backpacking has always been a community focused on cooperation and idea-sharing. We are all indebted to Ray Jardine, GoLite, etc. None of us would be carrying sawn-off toothbrushes and little dropper bottles of hand sanitizer if we hadn't seen someone else doing something creative and iterated upon it. Frameless packs in particular are an area where, in all honestly, not much innovation is possible aside from fabrics and little differences in design. The entire UL philosophy is focused on subtraction, and there are only so many things you can subtract from a pack until it becomes a glorified plastic bag with straps on it.
Really, "Mount Laoganma"? If you're gonna be racist, at least try to match your stereotypes to the right country.
At any rate, the brave defenders of Western UL civilization can rest assured that Indonesia will not be taking over what remains the most technologically challenging area of ultralight backpacks, which is the framed pack category. Surely, the envelope-pushing framed designs from brands like Durston Gear and Superior Wilderness Designs will remain the gold standard for many years to come. However, frameless packs, which require less machining and R&D, present an opportunity for new entrants to compete, innovate, and excel, as many Indonesian cottage brands are now doing. This is something we can all celebrate.
Kawipack: My Favorite Design so Far
Kawipack unequivocally has my heart. When Pa'lante sacrificed its weight competitiveness for gorpcore gimmicks with the release of the 2024 V2 (why does it have a laptop sleeve?), many ultralighters despaired. Yet Kawipack manages to capture both the sleek, chic look of Pa'lante's most timeless designs without compromising on weight, which is cause enough for any backpacker with at least a mild concern for fashion to rejoice.
The Kawipack KV30. Yes, I am aware it's basically just a spin on the popular MYOG Mountain Flyer design. Does that make it any less sweet? No. Hence my earlier comment: glorified plastic bag with straps. Source: Kawipack
The simplicity. The contours. The bottom pocket. Oh my god. It's all I've ever wanted. I need one so badly.
Compare it to the similarly beautiful Pa'lante Ultralight and you can see why I love the Kawipack KV pattern so much:
The Pa'lante Ultralight. I found one for sale on Backpacking Light for 125 USD. I wonder if the seller will ever get back to me. Source: Pa'lante
Kawipack offers a couple options for volume on this model, ranging from 27L to 32L. They also have a 22L model called the Rapid 22. I might have to get all of them. The Manichean struggle between insatiable consumerism and UL minimalism rages on.
Consider this a threat: I will be posting a Kawipack review once I get my hands on their stuff. It will be amazing. The sense of smug superiority I'll feel when I tell people on the trail I got my pack handmade by an obscure cottage manufacturer from Indonesia will be mythical. And the Instagram humble brag post that'll go up once I finish my SHT thru with it this summer? Yeah, that'll be one for the history books.