Gearing Up with Outdoor Vitals KotaUL Ultralight Backpack

I hadn’t heard of this brand, or this bag, but from their marketing video on their Kickstarter campaign, it looked like a great door-to-trail type of pack. We’ve all seen backpacking packs in line at the airport or slotted in an overhead bin with straps dangling and swaying every direction. The KotaUL, while an adventure backpack, has the streamlined and simple look of a travel backpack. It has straps all over for securing items or resizing for all body shapes and sizes, but has the balance between function and fashion dialed in.

It comes in either black or a forest green: classy, not flashy. The outer material is a special Spectra ripstop fabric, which cuts down the weight while maintaining durability. Although the seams aren’t taped for full waterproofing, it has a 1500mm HH rating.

The bag has storage and features everywhere. The overall capacity of the bag is 45L and the main compartment holds 37L. It has a padded laptop sleeve (that is raised 4″ from the bottom of the bag so your computer never hits the ground), a padded bottom panel, an additional stretchy mesh pocket, and an internal compression system (i.e. three small buckles down each side internally to expand or compress the pack).

The front compartment also has a stretch mesh zippered pocket, a mesh tablet sleeve, two nylon sleeves, and a hidden mesh pocket. The top compartment has two inner zippered pockets, a key clip, and security loops. The side pockets are zippered with stretch mesh, so the pack expands outward rather than cutting into the pack volume inward.

There is a removable inner aluminum frame, a removable hip belt, and removable straps all over for a really customizable fit and content security. The back panel is padded with a mesh overlay for comfort, yet breathability and there are 4 grab handles (top, bottom, and one on each side) for easy maneuvering.

My favorite feature of the pack is that the main compartment zipper is full-length. I can lay the pack down and open it fully – there’s no digging to the bottom of the bag and no pulling out all the stuff because I packed things backwards. It was also thoughtfully designed to be a contrasting color internally so things are easier to find.

My least favorite feature of the pack is that there are no pockets on the shoulder straps. That’s where my phone goes, my headphones, my wallet, my chapstick. If I don’t have the waistbelt on, these things are stuffed somewhere I can’t remember, so I wish they were a little wider like a running pack to have my phone right up front.

Overall, this is a great new travel backpack on the market that fits a weekend of adventure into a very well-organized bag. It’s not trying to be an overnight mountain backpacking bag, but for wandering a city or an airport or day trips on the trails, it has the versatility, comfort, and durability for both.