Our Story
We are the Wise family. We love hiking in South Africa, who wouldn't right? We find hiking brings our family and friends together in a way that nothing else does. We started Freedom Ultralight because we wanted more people to enjoy our beautiful mountains and trails without the burden of an overweight pack. We think everyone would enjoy their experience of the mountains so much more if their packs were just lighter. In other words, to help others enjoy the freedom that lightweight hiking gives you. So how did we get here?
I (Chris) heard about ultralight hiking many years ago when preparing to trail run the Swellendam trail over a weekend with some mates. The thought of being able to carry a pack weighing less than 8 or 10 kg was intriguing. But work and raising a young family took over and I didn't pursue it further. That was until the boys got bigger and started overtaking Lynne and I on hikes. We are not as young as we used to be and couldn't keep up. All of a sudden, lightening my pack became VERY attractive.
I (Chris) heard about ultralight hiking many years ago when preparing to trail run the Swellendam trail over a weekend with some mates. The thought of being able to carry a pack weighing less than 8 or 10 kg was intriguing. But work and raising a young family took over and I didn't pursue it further. That was until the boys got bigger and started overtaking Lynne and I on hikes. We are not as young as we used to be and couldn't keep up. All of a sudden, lightening my pack became VERY attractive.
So, I weighed everything in my pack, removed the things I didn't really need, replaced my stove, and some other gear and eventually found that the heaviest thing I was carrying was the pack itself. That meant replacing the pack, but I could not find anything in South Africa under 1 kg (most packs were over 1.5kg). I found it interesting that the weight of a pack has not really been a selling point here. Importing a pack from upwards of R5000 was not an option, so I decided to make my own.
After tons of research, I came up with a design that incorporated all the elements I liked from the various US and European products. The hardest part was finding materials locally, but we finally found the right fabrics that were tough, durable and light enough. I then got to work sewing a 50 litre prototype which I tested in the Drakensberg. After some adjustments and a change of some material, I was finally happy with the construction. I then made one for Lynne. Friends and family started asking me to make them one and they enjoyed being able to choose their own colours and features. We kept hearing how comfortable the packs were and people were amazed that they could be so light. |
Some very kind people agreed to beta test packs for us until we were eventually happy that the product is worthy of the market and Freedom Ultralight was born.
The whole family is involved in the business, from product development, cutting and manufacture, marketing and accounting.
At this stage Freedom Ultralight is very much a cottage business run in our spare time. Chris works as a civil engineer and Lynne is an accountant. But we love it. We are thrilled knowing that our packs help South African enjoy our mountains more.
The whole family is involved in the business, from product development, cutting and manufacture, marketing and accounting.
At this stage Freedom Ultralight is very much a cottage business run in our spare time. Chris works as a civil engineer and Lynne is an accountant. But we love it. We are thrilled knowing that our packs help South African enjoy our mountains more.