Natural Backpacking Project
Prompted by concerns about synthetic fabric’s microplastic shedding and general nastiness, I started a research project using exclusively natural fibers to build apparel and equipment for backcountry travel.

I built a complete kit for summer backpacking in the Oregon mountains. It uses only metal and natural materials, nothing petroleum-derived (although I didn’t worry about dyes on this project). And due to the amount of processing needed, I skipped cellulosic synthetics (like rayon, viscose, bamboo, Tencel) on this one - just plain cotton, wool, silk, and linen. Even thread had to obey the rules, and all waterproofing agents as well (so no paraffin-based waxes were allowed).

The goal is not to claim that naturals perform better than synthetics, but to explore what compromises are needed to use lower-impact gear and clothing, and to show that in our bioregion, hardcore, highest-performance synthetic materials aren’t always necessary.

The kit turned out better than anticipated. The kit’s complete base weight (sans food or water) is about 11.2 pounds. Comfort and coziness were very high. The biggest challenges were the shoes (bought from Feit) and the sleeping pad, neither of which were very comfortable.

I’ll be showing the collection at Dutch Design Week in October 2026 and continuing research into oiled silk in 2027.

Project Sponsors:
Lavalan Wool Insulation
University of Oregon College of Design
Photography:
Adam Newport-Berra