Kahakka backpack origins

Written by Stefan Melander, product manager, Finn-Savotta Oy





You probably know the Kahakka packs, which we released in 2024. We have now sold around 16 000 of these, they’ve been pretty well received which is nice.

But you probably don’t know why they exist, where they came from.

So, focusing on the 25L model which is for me the “main” thing here, of which the 15L is a smaller variant. This design was born out of two separate phenomenons.

One is the Finnish Defence Force M20 combat pack. A design I worked on when working at Varusteleka, we did the design work for it and later on Savotta won the tender to produce and supply them to the Finnish Defence Forces. After it came out lots of people started asking if we’d ever sell them on the consumer market. No, we wouldn’t then and we won’t now. The IP is owned by the FDF, and the design is not one that really makes any sense on the commercial market. But it would of course be nice to have a decent pack of this overall type in our product range.

Now the other part of the origins story comes from Ukraine. As we all know Russia started their full scale war on Ukraine in February 2022. And as many of you know Savotta has been supplying gear to the Ukrainian armed forces since the very start of all that. Our very first donation of gear was put together in a couple of days, and a friend of mine came to pick that up here in Karstula and drove it into Kyiv. This donation included all sorts of sensible warfighting stuff we had in stock, including a bunch of Jääkäri S backpacks.

The defence of Kyiv was in quite a hectic stage at that time, and this donation was handed out to a bunch of guys organized into the defence of the city by Azov veterans. This bunch would later on form SSO Azov Kyiv, and would later on form part of what was to become the 3rd separate assault brigade (which now is in the process of forming one of Ukraines first army corps). Some of those guys would also volunteer to be flown into Azovstal to reinforce the besieged defenders there. You can see some of our stuff in Butusovs documentary about the defence of Azovstal.

So, after some time we heard feedback that the Jääkäri S backpacks we had sent we’re very well liked due to how simple and strong they were. Guys were using them to carry mortar rounds and all that and were real happy that they didn’t break like most chinesium packs they had available in shops at that time. Now this got me thinking.

On one hand we had demand for “something like the FDF M20 combat pack”, and on the other we had interesting feedback from Ukraine on the Jääkäri S. So, we started working on something along these lines. What I wanted to do was something which is better than the both of them, more complete if that makes sense, and more overall functional. A really damn sensible, straightforward (or as Mr. Felix from Redbeardtactical said: “pragmatic”) combat pack.

Figuring out what should be done better was easy. Both the M20 and Jääkäri S lack in carry comfort. And the Jääkäri S especially lacks in “off-the-shelf readiness”, you need to get and attach extra pouches if you want to carry anything more than what fits in the main compartment. And the Jääkäri S had only one side compression strap per side, making carrying anything on the sides really difficult. The guys who went into Azovstal with our Jääkäri S did so with all sorts of gear taped to the sides of the pack.

So, better carry comfort, better functionality overall and it should be a ready to use package which offers enough space, compartments and carrying options for carrying all kinds of surprises. Because in military use those “surprises” are everyday, you can’t just carry exactly what you yourself need, there’s all kinds of other stuff that needs to be carried, and it changes from day to day.

Then after we had some pretty ready prototypes done I played around with the idea with a friend of mine who’s in active duty in the FDF, and understands the realities of “big army” day-to-day life. This is where the final decision was made to go for sewn on “carry all sorts of stuff” side pouches, instead of PALS webbing. A “brave departure” from our typical packs until then, but one that I personally really like. It’s silly that you’d have to buy a hundred – two hundred euros worth of pouches, pads and stuff to turn a Jääkäri S into a functional backpack.

So, after the Kahakka 25L was pretty much worked out we went ahead and slimmed it down etc. to get the Kahakka 15L, a clearly smaller pack for those who need to carry less. But for me it’s the 25L that is the main thing, it’s also, in my opinion, the minimum size of a sensible combat pack for use here in Finland where you often need to carry high-loft insulation garments and such, so you won’t freeze to death when doing nothing.


That’s it really, the story of the Kahakkas! Sensible packs, straightforward and simple, but not simple to the point of stupidity.

Stefan Melander,
Product Manager
Finn-Savotta Oy