The last 2 days here at Disney I’ve been using a pack to haul the families crap around roughly 2 8hr days in a row. I haven’t been using a waste belt and only have slight irritating feeling on one shoulder. No neck or shoulder pain just rubbing I’m guessing.
What was the timeframe any of you have with pack on before slight discomfort sets in. Pack I’m wearing has about 15lbs of stuff in it. I really don’t think that’s too bad considering the time length I’ve had it on. We have been pulling 10 hr days total away from hotel so I’m estimating about 8 hrs of back time each day roughly. For my experience mild irritations after 2 8hr days isn’t so bad.
Just looking for feedback from others with prolonged use of packs with lighter loads.
I wore an LBT 3-day around the Disney parks for several days with a full family-load in it. I don’t remember the specific weight, but I do know it was more than 15 pounds. By the end of long days (10-12 hours) I was ready to shed the pack. Less from friction and weight and more from having a lack of air circulation. Vented back panels can be handy.
My body was used to the pack otherwise, having hiked with packs, and that one in particular, extensively.
Pack it correctly, adjust the load to ride correctly, and get a quality built pack with ergo correct straps. Makes a world of difference.
There is not much you can do with the rubbing irritation except for changing your wardrobe to resist the friction.
To be honest I don’t have much experience with carrying a pack for a prolong time that is only about 15 pounds except for high school maybe.
But it sounds to me that your wearing it right because your not getting fatigue pain, You may want to adjust the waist strap or shoulder straps to position it differently.
Also as for packs. Ive used a lot but my favorite by far is the older model of the camelback motherload. Its not the most popular pack by far but ive never found a reason to replace it. It has everything I want in a pack and is very comfortable in prolonged use.
The key for me is playing musical chairs between shoulder staps, sternum strap and waist strap. When one area gets sore I loosen up and tighten on the other. With heavy loads you want the weight on your hips more than anywhere else.
With that said, I wouldn’t trade my Kifaru packs for the world.
After I got used to the more grippy material on the rear of the pack it no longer bothered me. Thanks for the feedback. The subject was on my mind so I thought I would ask
What exactly is the best way to wear a pack, as far as weight placement, and use of the straps?
I’ve done more than my fair share of rucking, but I never got it down to a science, always would just down a couple motrin and hope for the best. I’ve tried using the sternum strap but it seem that will super heavy loads all the sternum strap does is make it difficult to breath. I seem to always get sore in my lower back/hips, and shoulders. I’ve only used a waist strap once with terrible results, it was with a really old alice pack and both the shoulder strap’s emergency releases came undone at the same time.
I’ve used the Large ALICE with frame for 11 years now, and I’m just finally learning to use the Kidney Pad. Shifting the weight to the Kidney Pad changes the game up, for me at least.
I’ve always humped the weight on my shoulders and upper back, leaning forward when I walk. The Kidney Pad makes me stand up straighter distributes the weight to my hips more, taking some of the pressure off of my upper body. It’s different, but I’m adapting.
I laugh about it now too, happened back in basic, over a decade ago now. I have the new ruck now, the molle one with the plastic frame, I’ve gotten loads in it of probably close to 100 pounds, last ruck I did with it I had 100 rounds of .308, 240 rounds of 30-06, my etool, sleep system, tent, wet and cold weather gear, pair of ACUs, helmet, 3 liter camelbak, and a bunch of other various crap. Add on wearing my IBA sans plates and my tactical tailor MAV with the pouches loaded down with water bottles and other stuff. That one I only went 3.2 miles, once around the track that surrounds the Rose Bowl, had a cop pull along side me and ask me where I was moving too seeing how it looked like I had everything but the kitchen sink on my back.
I’m of the opinion that a quality backpack should just not cause irritation, period.
I have gone for days and weeks at a time hauling packs without ever getting hot spots.
A couple of years ago I did a big multi-summit through-hike in a park on Vancouver Island…we did roughly 15 (horizontal) miles each day, for 10 straight days, while summitting several mountains.
My knees were sore from the downhill sections…but my shoulders and back were 100% trouble free. Pack weight averaged around 45 pounds, I guess. We were probably in the packs 10 hours each day. The terrain was very rugged and it took all of 10 hours to do 15 map miles, even moving fairly quickly.
Anyway the point is simply that I think there is no reason a decent pack should be uncomfortable.
I don’t know if it is how long you use it or general conditions of use. I have run with a pack for several miles which ended up causing much rubbing at the hips and neck, but I could hike several miles with no problem at all. It seems if the conditions are wet, that irritation would easily become a problem too.
Somewhere on the Kifaru website there’s a tutorial on proper pack set up and technique. I’m on my phone so the link isn’t happening.
Patrick Smith created Mystery Ranch brand packs, sold the company and name and went on to creat Kifaru. He literally goes on multi week long camping excursions and hunting trips and brings along materials and basically creates prototypes in the field based on his needs at that moment. The guy walks into the Rocky Mtns with one pack and comes out with 2 or 3 a week later.
The guy knows a thing or two about humping weight and packs and shares all of that knowledge on their web site and on Youtube.
Not EXACTLY pertinent to the OP’s question - but reaching back into the 80s vault here, I used to get nasty boils on my hips where my canteens rode on my pistol belt whenever we’d do a long forced march. I’m not sure what it was about the pressure or motion that caused the irritation, but it made road marches a bitch.
It’s all about packing the weight properly in the pack so it doesn’t swing on hang funny, adjusting the straps properly, and matching the pack to the weight/size of the load.
I used to backpack, climb, etc. and never had much of a problem with my packs. I winded myself or wore out my legs before the pack became an issue. Did a solid 12 mile day (before elevation) with ~45lbs, and never had problems with the pack.
You want the dense objects close to your back, and up a little bit. Compression straps on packs are a god-send, as are sternum straps, load lifter straps, and properly adjusted hip belts.
I’ve used a Marmot Eiger a day/ climbing pack (20-30# max) and had no problems. Over that size/weight I use a large Lowe Alpine (forget the model) that is properly configured for me.
The length of the back needs to match so that the shoulder straps mount to the pack a little low and come up and wrap around your shoulder blades. Load lifter straps should extend from higher up on the frame and connect to the shoulder strap at a 45 degree angle. The length of your shoulder straps and tension should be adjusted so that the majority of the weight rests on your hips.
Thank you gentlemen, I looked up those videos and have made some adjustments to my ruck, we shall see how it pans out next weekend when I’m out in the field for 4 days training.
2 miles in waist deep snow for a week long stay at my cabin. I hit BS the 3rd time I broke through the crust in the snowmobile track. Gotta remember the snow shoes next time.
roughly 2 8hr days in a row. I haven’t been using a waste belt and only have slight irritating feeling on one shoulder. No neck or shoulder pain just rubbing I’m guessing.