Getaway readers’ favourite hiking and camping gear brand K-Way commandeered The Mountain Club of South Africa’s Cape Town premises to pull the wrapping off their new range of gear for the upcoming winter of 2013.
K-Way always lays it on at their events and this year was no different. A few K-Way brand ambassadors where in attendance including human gazelle AJ Calitz and Africa’s most travelled man and K-Way ambassador Kingsley Holgate seen below with legend adventure photographer Jaques Marais and K-Way Big Cheese Nick Bennett.
AJ Calitz, Kingsley Holgate, Jacques Marais & Nick Bennett
Kingsley really loves K-Way
New take on tech
There was an overwhelming amount of kit to touch and drool over at the event. I’d seen quite a lot of it before but there where a few individual items that caught my eye…
The backpacks
While K-way may be considered by most to be an out-and-out outdoor brand they’ve been adding and improving their urban pack lines too. I particularly liked the lines and functionality of the commuter ‘Firewall 30’ day pack. It’s extremely lightweight nylon bag with the purportedly comfy ‘Air-flow’ harness system and hides both laptop and tablet cushioned compartments within and has pouch and earphone apertures.
K-Way Firewall 30 Daypack
It’s quite likely that because I own one that the Kilimanjaro 35 pack caught my eye too. Why I noticed and am giving it column space here is because K-Way have updated the pack with an access zip in the bottom and it’s something that I always felt it needed. I use this (older version) pack a lot and it can swallow an expedition or festival weekend’s worth of gear very easily. But getting at said kit has always been a case of unpacking it all to get to the stuff (sleeping bag!) stashed in the base. Now I’m not saying they listened to my suggestion, jeez I wish! The K-Way staff used these bags on their Kilimanjaro expedition which presumably lead to the improvement. What’s excellent is that they have properly tested and acted decisively to improve an already excellent product. Double thumbs up, dudes.
K-Way Kilimanjaro 35l pack
A Technical winter
The size and extent of the K-Way winter clothing range is really intimidating. I mean, rails and rails of fleeces, hard and soft shells, waterproof jackets, 3-in-1’s, and even kit for skiers. Yes, that caught my attention too, skiers? Really? Well yes, surprisingly there’s enough demand for skiing kit in South Africa for the K-Way team to develop and manufacture clothing specific to the demands of South Africans who go skiing. The special demands we as a skiing nation have according to K-Way senior buyer Ryan Weiderman, are that many of us only go once or twice. So they developed a line that performs exactly as any skier would expect incorporating snow skirts, ski pass pockets, wicking and repelling fabrics etc. But… instead of forcing you to buy a frankly expensive set of gear for single use they’ve developed a line of ‘modular’ skiing gear which is adaptable. When you return from conquering the pistes you will be able to remove the inner layers and have a fleece for say, cool evenings or use the outer shell as a stand-alone rain jacket. Another nice touch indeed.
It’s not all tech and survival though because among the unique superlight feather down waistcoats and jackets, waterproof shells and sub-zero capable thermal gear I spotted this gem…
K-Way Monkey Jacket
I now covet one of these toasty looking, furry ‘monkey’ jackets. They’ll be available available for men as ‘The Gibbon Fleece’ – and women get the ‘The Vervet fleece’.
The K-Way Crystal Ball
To really hammer home the message that K-Way is becoming a very serious player in the true technical clothing market, attendees were shown a Felix Softshell jacket and given options to customise it – shoulder pads, elbow pads, chest and interior pockets and even a removable rain hood. Then after the visit each delighted invitee was presented with a made-to-order jacket which had been constructed while we ‘browsed’. While it’s all very cool to get free stuff – it’s an innovative approach demonstrating not only what the K-Way men and machines are capable of, but way more importantly, a glimpse into the possible future of the retail clothing game. Custom gear on demand? Anyone? Watch the K-Way space…
