REVIEW: K-Tek KSUHP1 Hip Pack

Aaaaaaaaaand we’re back with this week’s edition of “I Love K-Tek, And Everyone Else Should Too!”

Seriously, I very often find myself here, singing K-Tek’s praises and it’s absolutely for good reason. They are constantly seeking feedback from their user base, and painstakingly working on new ways to make our jobs easier and more efficient. Instead of simply churning out endless pouches and bags that feel generic, they honestly look for what real life professionals want and need down to the specifics. You can tell with all of K-Tek’s gear that they went through a lot of trial and error before they settled on a design. The new Hip Pack is no different.

In case you hadn’t already guessed, I really love it. The whole utility belt concept is something that all location sound people have at least thought about at one time or another. We don’t want to add weight to our bags by filling them with all of the extra gear that we might need while away from home base because it’s just going to make everything so much heavier. In fact, there are entire clubs of people who sit around looking for ways to create the most stripped down, streamlined bags possible. We all want to save our backs, and a long day of wearing a massive sack, full of metal can take its toll.

So, how do we find that balance between saving weight, and keeping things on us? We could wear a backpack, a jacket, etc. All are workable options, but they aren’t as handy or as practical as wearing some sort of belt or bag on the hips. This is where K-Tek has delivered us from confusion.

The Hip Pack reminds me of tactical or climbing gear in the way that it fastens to your hip. Truly active people need a series of straps coming from multiple sections to really keep everything snug against the body. If you picture a regular tool belt, it definitely has loads of places to store a myriad of little odds and ends, but if you try to run with it, you’ll likely be in for a rude awakening. It’s going to flap up and down, and probably shake out all of your goodies. The Hip Pack solves this problem by having a strap for your waist AND a strap for your leg. If you watch my video review above, you can see me running and skipping down the street wearing it. It’s a delight, because I’ve found it to be remarkably comfortable to wear in general, plus I can also sit in it without feeling the need to remove anything. That’s kind of a godsend when you’re on any sort of run and gun shoot.

It’s just so incredibly convenient to have this area for the little things, and for it to not add any weight to the bag. As you can see above, the Hip Pack has two sections, both with webbing on the sides to keep from having the flaps fly open when you unzip them. That’s even when both sections are open at the same time.

Above you can see the inside of the outer section, as well as the webbing that I mentioned, which keeps the pouch from spilling out everywhere. This is the kind of thing that I mean when I say that K-Tek really thinks before it designs something. It’s a small, but crucial detail that may have gone overlooked if they hadn’t been so thorough.

There are areas for pens, tweakers, or even the Mic Drop that I have in there. You can also see a Lectrosonics LT transmitter in one of the two transmitter pouches. Very secure and, as always, lined with orange soft side velcro.

In the inner section, there is another LT in one of the additional two transmitter pouches, along with another separated elastic pouch, a see-through zippered pouch, and the same webbing as before.

So to sum it all up, K-Tek keeps upsetting the fashion world by making orange cool again. They do it by creating such amazing gear that truly focusses on what we as professionals need, even when we aren’t sure of it until it’s put right in front of us. It’s comfortable, easy to set up, has great storage options, and doesn’t need to constantly be taken off between setups. I didn’t realize how much I needed the Hip Pack until I got my hands on it, and now I scarcely believe that there will many times where I won’t be taking it into battle. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Well done K-Tek.

Now here’s that picture of me again, so that you can see how cool that I look wearing it. You know that you’re jealous.