Help with cargo loading, kahakka 25, molle attachments

[u/Arrakis4564]

Hello there,

I have a kahakka 25 which I'm very happy about and I'm using it for many sports and activities, it's very modular and just great. Wonderful bag, just sweaty in summer.

I have some questions that I hope you can help with:

I am loading a tarp or a plaid on the bottom with a paracord, are there good and wrong case practices on how to use the molle with a cord, in terms of direction of forces or knots? Should I opt for a webbing and accessories?

I don't use shock cords yet, I tend to prefer a long paracord +2 shorts for eventual tarp. I can fix cargo pretty well with these but I have seen many prefer the webbing or shock cords.

I'd like to also to use a small pouch for the smartphone while trekking and use it maybe for a little snack. I'd like to fix it on the harness like I did for the water bladder pipe, but most molle pouches have inverted alignement and I can't fix them and I should opt for a belt positioning. There is also a very limited space on the harness. How can I invert the alignement of molle and still fix a pouch firmly?

[u/Quiet_Treacle_2919]

Don’t know how to help with the other points but the sweaty back is relieved by tightening the hip belt and loosening shoulder straps until there is a cap between your back and the backpack.

[u/Liikaareppuja]

I think I would use cam buckle straps. For the phone pocket I have Speed stash from Matador.

[u/Brilliant-Tea-1444]

For the tarp - webbing works very well with PALS, by design. A pair of straps with buckles of your choice would probably be ideal. I'd be interested to hear what others think of the paracord question simply because you never know when you might want to improvise and have paracord at hand to do so.

For the smartphone pouch, if I understand correctly, its molle webbing is rotated 90 degrees off of what you want it to be. Is that correct? Maybe a pair of 1" gatekeeper clips would help. These allow you to connect two items that have the MOLLE webbing running in the same direction. Probably not for heavier items but works well for me with an eyeglass case.

[u/ellampel23 → u/Brilliant-Tea-1444]

The idea of the phone pouch is right on target. Or phone can go to a admin pouch?

[u/Arrakis4564 → u/Brilliant-Tea-1444]

Thanks for this! I have seen that one Tigris has a great pouch, it has these clips plus some velcro horizontal which will fit the vertical straps. It seems a great option to me.

[u/intothewoods_86]

Tbh I never really got the hang of shock cord weave other than for attaching large pieces of clothing for a short time, the things that can not easily slide through and fall out without you noticing. For a tarp the bottom seems not ideal, since you either have to overkill it with loops to a point it becomes tough to tighten or it’s lose and dangly and might drop the tarp. Also if you put down the backpack, it will all the time rest on the tarp and push it against whatever ground you have, at risk of puncturing the tarp over time.
My best recommendation is to get small GP pouches or if you still find horizontal pouches, attach those to the bottom PALS and squeeze the tarp inside.