The Lowe Alpine Kulu is a very clever and well thought out general backpacking bag, which can turn itself usefully to almost all adventure sports.
The USP of the Kulu is the 'Travel Flip Belt', which ingeniously allows for the hip belt to be folded down and across the bottom of the bag, with the belt clips then attaching to the side of the bag into the useful carrying handles. It's designed so that once the waterproof travel cover is also put on, there's no exposed straps, making it easier to check in for flights, load on buses, helicopters...
It works really well, other than I'm not sure you could trust baggage handlers to use the two front exposed lifting handles (which would be great if lowering the Kulu on a rope) and not simply rip the waterproof travel cover off. There's also a very marginal weight gain, but still at only 2.1kg overall, you'll hardly notice.
As with all Lowe Alpine products, the Kulu ticks all the necessary boxes. The carrying straps are well shaped with suitable padding; the belt is sturdy and has two handy camera sized pockets.
There's an elasticated pocket on each side, suitable for stuffing a jumper in or carrying water bottles (if you aren't using the internal pocket for a hydration bag along with the external straw loops).
There's an extendable top, with both internal and external pockets; when used with the side compression straps it's easy to adjust the overall bag size between 55 and 65 L. If looking for use in major expeditions try the 65/75L version.
Inside the bag can be either packed as one space, or an internal divider can split it into lower and upper sections. We really like the external front opening flap for the upper section, which allows very good access to the bag, rather than having to dig in blind from the top.
The Lowe Alpine Kulu's 55/65L size makes it perfect for almost all adventurous day outings, be it hiking or climbing, and just as perfect for small scale longer expeditions, weekend breaks and gap year travels.
