Choosing Your Backpack

Fitting Your Backpack

Ensuring a proper fit is crucial to selecting a pack. To avoid a bad fit or back pain, the key considerations are pack size and suspension systems. Finding the right pack size depends on your back length, not your height. To find your back length, have a friend measure your spine following these steps:

Locate the most prominent vertebrae at the back of your neck. It's the large bump about level with the top of your shoulders.

Find the top of your hipbone. Follow this point around in a straight line to your spine. Lay a measuring tape directly against your spine, and measure the distance between the two points.

Wearing a loaded pack should make your body feel heavier, not feel as though you're shouldering a large weight. If the suspension system is working, most of the pack's weight will be transferred comfortably to your hips. Try on the pack: loosen the straps on the harness, put it on then acquaint yourself with how they affect the pack's fit.

Then, try it out:

  • Load the pack up with 22-33lb (10-15kg).
  • Put the pack on, place the hip belt over your hipbones, fasten the buckle and tighten it. The padding should wrap around your hipbones.
  • Shoulder straps should be far enough apart that they don't squeeze your neck and the strap ends should be no more than 4 inches (10cm) from your armpits.
  • Adjust the top stabilizer straps to about a 45-degree angle.
  • Fasten the sternum strap and adjust the lower stabilizing straps until comfortable.
  • Walk around and play with the adjustments to find a perfect fit. The pack should feel like an extension of your own body. Remember, if it does not feel right now, it certainly won't after hours of backpacking.

Fitting Packs for Women

  • Women tend to have shorter torsos, narrower shoulders and wider hips, and the pack must fit to these parts.
  • Shoulder straps should be closer together on the pack. If they are too wide, they may slip off. Padding on shoulder harnesses is usually too wide, long and straight for women, and may cause chafing in the armpits and restrict the chest. Look for packs with shoulder straps that can be replaced with narrower, shorter straps with an angled yoke, designed to conform to the shape of a woman's upper body.
  • Hip belts typically don't fit women's hips, which may cause the bottom edge of the belt to dig in while the top sits awkwardly or doesn't rest on the hips at all. Loosening the hipbelt won't help, as it won't support the pack's weight and will cause excess pressure on the shoulders. Look for packs with hip belts designed for women.
  • Finally, choosing the proper pack length is extremely important. If the pack is too long or too short, the hip belt will sit in the wrong place and the shoulder straps will carry most of the load. Improper pack length can also make the back and lumbar padding gap and bulge, causing major discomfort.