Took me 3 years to figure out I was carrying my pack completely wrong

I was on the Muir Trail last fall, about day 4, and my shoulders were killing me as usual. This older guy passes me on a switchback and casually asks if I know my hip belt is supposed to take most of the weight. I laughed it off at first because I thought I knew what I was doing. But then I watched him adjust his own straps and realized I had my hip belt sitting way too low, basically on my hips instead of around my waist. So I stopped and tried it his way, and it was like a totally different hike. All those years I thought back pain was just part of the deal, but I was just doing it wrong. Anyone else have that moment where a random stranger fixed your whole setup in 30 seconds?

2 comments

2 Comments

simon_coleman13d ago

Wait, did you actually try the adjustment or are you just assuming it's overblown? Because the difference between carrying 30 lbs on your shoulders vs your hips is literally night and day in terms of pressure points and fatigue. I used to think like you until I had a bad fall and a physio pointed out my belt was wrong, took maybe 10 minutes to unlearn muscle memory.

spencer40714d ago

Some people act like this is some life changing revelation but honestly it's just a backpack. You loosen a strap and tighten another and suddenly you're a whole new hiker? Kind of doubt it made that big of a difference. Maybe your shoulders were just sore from not being in shape. I've been hiking for years and never had a stranger stop me about my belt placement and I've been fine. People overthink gear way too much. It's just walking with stuff on your back.