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. Twenty-three 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. The words between them are how it actually went.
Clothing first
I started with clothing because it seemed like the simplest place to begin. I wanted one of everything with the ULT Gear label on it: hoodies, shirts, shorts, socks. Quick-dry, wrinkle-resistant, stain-resistant, with built-in packing pockets and zippered pockets everywhere. Every feature I look for in travel gear, in every piece, designed for minimalist travel.
That's where I learned about tech packs, material sourcing and minimum order quantities. Some ideas died because I couldn't get the materials I wanted. Some died because an existing product already did it better. Some died because it's nearly impossible to explain a design to a factory through text and pictures, and manufacturing in the US was too expensive. Most died on the minimum order. Shipping didn't help: sending samples and prototypes back and forth meant two to three months per prototype, so a few rounds of improvement would have taken years.
Packable Travel Shorts
Packable Travel Pants
Ultralight Packable Hoodie
Ultralight T-Shirt
Apparel Tech Packs
Packable Puffer Jacket
Packable Rain Jacket
Quick-Dry Travel Socks
Convertible Pants
Arm and Leg Sleeves
Everything Else: Apparel
Stayed on paper
- Packable Rain PantsConcept only.
- Quick-Dry UnderwearConcept only.
Bags, in parallel
Alongside the clothing I worked on backpack, day pack and sling bag concepts, and hit the same walls: rare, unavailable or prohibitively expensive materials, long waits, and existing brands that weren't perfect but already had the recognition and the cult following. They died for the same reasons.
Packable Day Pack
Packable Waist Pack
Security Chest Sling
Ultralight Backpack
Everything Else: Bags
Stayed on paper
- Ultralight Waterproof Clip-on BagsSmall dry bags that clip to the outside of the pack.
Physical products
I had a long list of physical products too, and pursued a handful: ultralight waterproof clip-on bags, a security belt that combined my favorite travel features (no metal, stretch fabric, hidden pockets), an ultra-portable drying rack for the perennial problem of nowhere to hang clothes in a hotel or hostel, a packable picnic and beach blanket, a free-standing toiletry bag for bathrooms with no counter space, and a packable wash basin for doing laundry in the sink.
The path was the same each time: product designers in Atlanta, a 3D print shop in Denver, manufacturers in China, material sourcers in Switzerland. So were the constraints: rare materials, manufacturing minimums, long prototyping timelines, and the cost of every prototype and component.
Hidden Pocket Travel Belt
Universal Drying Rack
Packable Wash Basin
Packable Beach Blanket
Free-standing Toiletry Bag
Ultrapackable Tech Accessories
Everything Else: Accessories
The technical ones
Some of the concepts were technical: a packable heating pad for drying clothes, a packable heated hanger, heated clothing in general, a portable ultrasonic cleaner for washing clothes. They relied on technology I knew existed in other products, without knowing whether I could adapt it to mine. So I started by testing what was already on the market to see whether it worked as advertised: staining and cleaning tests, heating and drying tests, packing and wrinkle tests.
A lot of the time went into finding out what was possible, technically and legally. Could I license the technology? Could I change a design enough to stay clear of a patent? Did I need patents of my own, and did any already exist? For most of these ideas, the real work was deciding whether they were possible and worth pursuing at all.
Heated Drying: Pad, Hanger, Towel
Portable Ultrasonic Cleaner
Stayed on paper
- Packable Heating PadA pad to dry clothes on; bench-tested with a heating element and thermostat.
- Packable Heated HangerConcept only.
- Heated ClothingConcept, tied to the USB battery belt as the power source.
- USB-Powered Battery BeltPrior-art search, February 2023, alongside the heated towel.
SwitchKicks
The project I spent the most time on was SwitchKicks. Shoes have always been the traveler's problem. At a minimum you need sandals, hiking shoes and something casual, and ideally a dressier pair, a higher-ankle hiker, and a cold-weather shoe if your route crosses climates. So I wondered whether I could build a layered shoe system: a minimalist base shoe for the beach or barefoot running, with slip-on layers that change its function or its look. Patterns and materials for style, an adjustable base for traction.
I worked with two shoe designers to get the concept down. It died when I learned that a single shoe mold, one size of one style, runs $10k to $12k. For a system built on a flexible base plus layers, materials and outsoles, that meant something like $500k to $1M in R&D before anyone could try a pair on.
Stayed on paper
- Minimalist Barefoot SandalsVibram outsole, three straps, under 12 oz. Notes only.
Why it ended
Every idea died from some mix of cost, time, and the slow realization that I was building for a market of one: me. I still believe I could have found customers and built a new market. But without serious investment, it was never going to happen.
Who I worked with
Product designers in Atlanta. A 3D print shop in Denver. Manufacturers in China. Material sourcers in Switzerland. Two shoe designers. One clothing designer.
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.