Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kadi Fedde. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Kadi thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you’re open to it, can you talk to us about the best (or worst) investment you’ve made. What’s the backstory and the relevant context behind why you made the investment

One of the best, yet riskiest investments we’ve ever made for our business was our Adler. We placed a bid for $300 NZD (about $200 USD) sight unseen for a dirty old industrial sewing machine, hoping it worked and we could fix it up. It was made in the country of Western Germany. Previously, it had been used for trampoline manufacturing and was covered in black grime. Not even sure if it would turn on, we paid for it, loaded it into our van and took it back to the barn.

My partner and I spent a whole weekend with cotton swabs and headlamps cleaning every nook and cranny of it. We replaced the clutch motor with a new servo motor which has variable controlled speed, and is much quieter. We even 3D printed a tiny piece to realign the needle. At the end of the weekend we had accomplished our gear maker’s rite of passage and had a working industrial sewing machine! I painted the hand wheel and named her Addie.

Kadi, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Kadi, I am an avid outdoors woman, entrepreneur, mum-to-be, and blessed sister amongst my amazing community. I love hiking (called tramping in NZ), jumping in mountain lakes or rivers, doing yoga outside, gazing at the stars, taking bubble baths, collecting pinecones, working puzzles and doing pyrography.

When my husband, Cameron, and I lived in Colorado we started dabbling in making our own gear. It all started with wanting a big fancy pyramid tent but not wanting to spend all that money. So we thought, why don’t we buy the material and spend the time to learn how to make one ourselves, saving half the cost! Soon after that we tried our hand at a very simple backpack. Next, I decided to give DIY packrafts a try. I finished them just in time for our next big adventure.

A few years ago, we moved to New Zealand where we lived in our van for more than a year, backpacking various tracks all over the South Island. After completing a couple of the Great Walks, we realized our mass-produced packs just didn’t quite have what we needed, or had features we disliked. So we started making our own, that way they would be just the way we like them and have only the features we want.

We ordered some fabric, did some test printing to see if could make them colorful, and upgraded our sewing machine to one that could handle sewing through multiple thick layers of materials. We even built a custom stand to support our sewing machine inside the van, that can also collapse down and be stowed away, since space is limited. As we designed our packs and their features, we continued to travel around New Zealand, sewing in our van along the way.

Once our packs were completed, it was time to test them out by taking them on more of the Great Walks. Along the way, people were starting to notice and enquire about our packs. “Are those just day packs? they’re small” “I love the colors!” “Never seen packs like those before!” “What brand are your packs?!” The more we chatted to folks along our adventures, the more we realized there was a market for these here, people were interested, and would much prefer to support a local brand than ship internationally. And thus, The Very Least Ultralight Gear was born! We placed a large order from our supplier for fabric along with various bits and bobs, filed a partnership agreement to the NZ government and we were in business! The idea behind the name is “take the very least with you,” bring only what you need and nothing more.

One random day, while on a run, I felt an intense yearning to take on Te Araroa, New Zealand’s long distance thru-hike. Never having done a thru hike and only a handful of backpacking trips this seemed like a wild idea. Nonetheless, my husband was keen so we started planning! Of course, we would have to take our homemade pyramid tent and packs and with us, but we also started making additional accessories to bring. We made packing cubes, pot cozies, headlamp hat clips, mittens and rain mitts! We had an incredible time: we saw so much of the country, learned things about ourselves and each other, and it did wonders for my depression and anxiety. After 888km of Te Araroa, we unfortunately had to quit the trail due to nagging injuries that weren’t going away. To this day, I still dream of completing the trail, perhaps in sections with our future little adventurer. This gave us time to start up our business and start creating colorful packs for others to show their trail flair too. We just like making cool stuff and sharing it with others.

Making packs is by far the most fun part about our business, but we are continually challenged by the less fun stuff, like marketing. We love making, and even nerding out about our materials, or all the features on our products, but we dislike social media, and putting ourselves out there feels scary. Perhaps its the fear of larger success. So even this interview has made me all sweaty! We’re getting better at it though, and we may soon enlist the generous help of an eager family member.

Now we’re solidly set up to make ultralight backpacking gear using lightweight waterproof materials. We make backpacks, fastpacks, tramping accessories, bum bags (fanny packs) and wallets. We are currently prototyping tents and have plans to introduce our rain mitts and pot cozies too. We use Dyneema Composite Fabric, which is not only waterproof and abrasion resistant, but with its polyester woven side, it allows us to print on it. This is one way we are able to differentiate ourselves from others. We can print custom colors, designs, even photographs to make each pack as unique as its user.

We started by making packs that met our needs, but now we are working to ensure they meet the needs of our customers too. Currently, we primarily do custom made-to-order packs, which is a very fulfilling challenge to create something tailored to each individual. We do have our smaller products shelf stocked and ready to ship out, and we’re hoping to have shelf stock of some packs too.

I’m particularly proud of the features on each pack. Based on trail experience, we have very intentionally thought them through, tried them out and have found them to be the most helpful. One example: we have universal compression straps that can be used on the sides for compression, on the bottom for attaching items (such as a packraft), or removed altogether if not needed. They are also compatible across our products therefore can be used on backpacks or fastpacks. Another one of my pride and joys is our modular bum bag. It can be added as a hip belt pocket to the backpacks, moved up to the chest strap of the backpack in the case of river crossings, or can be removed and (using the detachable y-strap) converted into a standalone bum bag to take into town while leaving your pack at the hostel.

Our philosophy is quite simple: we just want to make cool stuff for others! What I love most about backpacking is the simplicity. I love only having what you need to live on your back and being one with nature while getting to go to the most remote parts of the country. If we can help someone else experience this easier, lighter, (and more colorfully) with our gear, knowledge and experiences, then we have succeeded.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

We manufacture all our own products! We each had sewn a little bit during our time with Scouts, mainly patches on our scout sashes. I made some PJs and a felt skirt for my sewing badge. We got back into sewing by making our own tent during Covid. For our tent, we learned more technical sewing skills by watching multiple Youtube videos. After that we were hooked!

For the first backpack we made, we purchased a basic pattern and instructions from bagbuff. Every iteration of our packs since then have been our own designs.

In general, we just really like to make stuff: if it can be made instead of bought, we’ll make it.
For example, with our 3D printer, we have 3D printed and built our own tools, including my webbing wheels and stand, my zipper assistor, our desk cage for filming, and most recently, supports to stabilize our cutting table.

One thing we’ve learned along the way about manufacturing our own products is that we put so much love, energy and thought into each one, that they’re almost not profitable. We’ve been working hard to streamline our processes and are hopeful for the future!

We’ve gotten into the habit of examining every backpack we come across, and found that our quality exceeds almost all of them. We’ve been striving to make each pack perfect but this has caused slow production and frustration. Perhaps we can learn to strive for perfec, rather than perfect.

Through it all, it’s been a great learning experience, Cameron and I have discovered who is better at what, though we haven’t quite figured out how best to put our strengths to work more efficiently.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

We are really good at what we call ‘productive procrastination’. This is where we find or create tasks that ‘need’ to be done that, on paper, are productive and good, but in reality are just delaying the important difficult tasks. For example, we made an entire inventory management system; including part numbers for each tiny piece of hardware, that we no longer use because it was needlessly complicated for our current situation.

Another challenge we’re trying to unlearn is that we both always want to work on everything together. We are both so eager and excited to make cool stuff that we generally enjoy working on things together. However, this is time inefficient and we sometimes get into indecision gridlock where we can’t agree on something, therefore halting progress.

We had to unlearn that each part of the process has to be perfect before we can even start. In it’s place, we learned that making mistakes and failure is okay. In fact, they are crucial to learning and growing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theveryleast.co.nz
• Instagram: @theveryleast_ug
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theveryleast_ultralightgear

Image Credits
Teya Rose Media Cameron Fedde Photography