Pack weight - shoulders, and hips

[Lophophaps]

Until the early 1980s or thereabouts, packs had all the weight on the shoulders and back. Any waist strap was mainly cosmetic. From then, larger pack designs have usually included metal straps from the top to the hip belt, which is shaped to sit on the hips, taking some of the weight. The result is that packs are much more comfortable to carry, as the shoulders and spine do not need to support as much weight. The pelvis and legs are much stronger.

I'm wondering how much weight is on the hips for modern packs. The best I can come up with is significant, but a perecentage eluses me. Does anyone have a percentage of the weight for how much of the pack is supported on the hips? This would be a general figure that may and probably does vary between packs, individuals and weight.

[RonK]

My pack is adjusted so all the weight is on my hips.
Shoulder straps and stays are adjusted such that two fingers can be easily slid under at the shoulder.

[slparker]

I'm with RonK.

I have my shoulder straps a little tighter because i don't like undue sway in my pack.

Army packs still use the old-fashioned design (no effective hip belt) and I can tell you that it ain't no fun carrying 35kg primarily on the shoulders. in an effort to make it more comfortable soldiers resort to using an 'alice' pack which has a strut over the hips and an offset external frame that allows some of the weight to go to the posterior pelvic crests - albeit at the expense of having the weight distributed even further rearwards from the centre of gravity. Sort of like an anti-aarn pack.

[ofuros]

Same as the two posts above, 90-100% on the hips...my dickie back wouldn't cope otherwise.

[GPSGuided]

For packs at or above the 25-30L range, unless the weight can be fully adjusted to go on the pelvis, it's a dud pack design and needs to be avoided at all cost in 2016. Shoulder straps are only for balance.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Strider]

Aarn Guiding Light - 100% on hips. I believe some Aarn packs even have removable shoulder straps.

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

I would have 75%+ on my hips when I start a walk, but this means the hip belt is tight (I have no waist so the only way it stays put is if it's tight).

Eventually the tightness of the hip belt annoys me and I put more load on the shoulders so I can loosen off the hip belt a lot more. Once my shoulders get start feeling it, then I do the opposite.

I tend to constantly adjust and tweak the straps as I walk and shift load between the two. I probably always have at least 50% on my hips, sometimes up to about 90%.

Having got my pack weight down from 20kg+ to less than 15kg for a week walk, I find my shoulders benefit the most.

[neilmny]

Pretty much 100% on my hips.
The shoulder straps adjusted to stop the pack falling back only. The weight pulling back with very little downward load.

[devoswitch]

Pretty much fully on the hips. Unless gradient is ridiculously steep with a heavy pack where I'll put a lot of load on my shoulders to bring weight forward.

[Suz]

80-90% hips and 10-20% shoulders is my aim. what i would really like is a helium balloon with me and my pack attached. just a-floatin over the landscape.

[GPSGuided]

what i would really like is a helium balloon with me and my pack attached. just a-floatin over the landscape.

This will come close.

[Suz]

o wow, headlamp and weightless pack all-in-one - poifect.

that guy is taking the party with him on that trip - might find a lot of friends on the drug heavy Appalachian Trail.

[Eljimberino]

Depends if it's frameless or not.

[Mark F]

Could be problematic in headwinds.

[slparker]

Saw the doco 'sherpa' on the weekend. Very few of the sherpas used their hipbelts (even when not in a climbing harness) and seemed to prefer bearing the weigh on their shoulders with the bottom of the harness around their buttock level, which I thought was unusual.

[neilmny]

They seem to carry huge weights suspended on a band around their foreheads too.

[RonK]

They seem to carry huge weights suspended on a band around their foreheads too.

Hehe - I've even seen porters carrying backpacks in their doka.

[ErichFromm]

For packs at or above the 25-30L range, unless the weight can be fully adjusted to go on the pelvis, it's a dud pack design and needs to be avoided at all cost in 2016. Shoulder straps are only for balance.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

+1 This was what I was told when I bought my pack from Bogong some time ago. When adjusting pack you should have it all sitting on hips and then only tighten the shoulder straps after - with the little strap joining your shoulder strap to the pack at a 45 degree angle... Which is why packs that have swiveling hip pads are awesome (e.g., Gregory Baltoro).