2023 – 2024 · Denver, Colorado
Ultra-light travel gear for the modern explorer.
ULT Gear was a one-person product lab: about thirty ideas for gear I wished existed, taken as far as tech packs, factory samples and prototypes before the math caught up. This is what got built.
The idea
Three tribes, one bag
Ultralight backpacking, digital nomads, minimalist travel. Three groups buying the same kind of gear from three different aisles. ULT Gear sat in the overlap: one small backpack, ultra-packable clothing, and accessories that disappear when you're not using them.
The products
Thirty ideas. Fifteen that left the sketchbook.
Every card is a real project with real artifacts: factory samples, tech packs, annotated revisions, patent searches. The status pill says how far each one got.
Packable Apparel
Packable Bags & Day Packs
Portable Travel Accessories
And the ones that stayed on paper
- Packable Puffer JacketTech-pack templates gathered, never drawn up.
- Packable Rain JacketWindbreaker tech packs collected as the starting point.
- Packable Rain PantsConcept only.
- Convertible PantsZip-off legs. Concept only.
- Arm and Leg SleevesWinter layering without a second set of clothes.
- Quick-Dry Merino Travel SocksResearch on merino blends and silver-ion antibacterial yarns.
- Quick-Dry UnderwearConcept only.
- Minimalist Barefoot SandalsVibram outsole, three straps, under 12 oz. Notes only.
- Ultralight BackpackFeature research: load lifters, mesh suspension, quick-release straps.
- Hanging Toiletry BagConcept only.
- USB-Powered Battery BeltPrior-art search, February 2023, alongside the heated towel.
- Ultrapackable Tech AccessoriesChargers and cables that disappear into the belt or the pack.
Behind the products
Materials and testing
Fabric swatches in 50D and 75D, wash-and-dry tests on the kitchen counter, sample orders laid out on the bed, and packing layouts to see what a one-bag kit really looks like.
The storefront
Before the products, a store
ULT Gear launched in 2023 as a curated shop of the best ultralight gear already on the market, with the plan to swap in ULT Gear's own designs as they came off the line. The store ran; the line never came off the line.
In my own words
How it ended
I had about thirty products I wanted. Yes, I know that's insane. That's just how my mind works.
I took many of these ideas well past the design phase. I worked with clothing and shoe designers to build tech packs, had fabric samples shipped from specialty shops, used a 3D-print shop for hardware components, and a product-design company for the more technical ideas. I built real prototypes for many of them, some of which I still use today, others I can only laugh at.
But all of these ideas ran into the same problem: cost. A single shoe mold costs about $10k, and a usable prototype would have been $20k minimum. Custom 3D-printed parts were in the thousands just to design. Specialty fabrics were a nightmare to source, and manufacturers had minimum order quantities in the thousands. By the time I added it all up, I was staring down $15k to $25k just to produce one size of a single product.
Maybe people learn this in business school. I learned it in the real world, and for that, I am moderately grateful.
More projects at tchristiaan.com