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?
Yeah I was thinking of using seamgrip or something, but I dont know if I should try to remove the frame and turn the pack inside out to apply to the seams from the inside or just wing it and go for the outside seams...
Couple thoughts.
contact the company to ask for advice. This will both possibly get you advice and inform them their customers care about this issue.
if they don't get back to you, what's the thing you can do that will not damage the pack? Ripping fabric or cutting threads will mess with the structural integrity. Sealing seams inside looks nicer than outside, but you don't want to damage anything in the process.
Good idea on contacting the company. I hear Durston has good customer service. The frame is removable through a Velcro flap so I doubt it would be too hard to remove and replace, but I'm thinking of sealing from the outside now instead.