Rucksack Waist Straps

[Green Dweller Beloved]

Hi,

I'm in a market for a new 100 ltr Rucksack and one thing I want is a waist strap which fits properly i.e. around the hips, to properly distribute the weight.

Some bergens attach around belly height to enable belt webbing to be used which is bad for your back and I want to aviod this.

I'm looking at perhaps a Snugpak Bergen or more likely a Bergaus Vulcan Cyclops.Does any one know if the waist belt goes around the hips or belly on these rucksacks?

Also, I read a review of the Vulcan somewhere here and the owner was saying they hadn't found the pocket for the hydration bladder. Does it definetely have one??

Thanks
GDB

 

[Green Dweller Beloved]

OK guys, I'm very close on buying a Bergaus Vulcan Cyclops, but just need to know if the waist belt is designed to go around you hips or whether it designed to fit higher than hips to enable webbing to be worn as well.

Someone must have a Vulcan Cyclops in here right ??

 

[Mastino]

The vulcan fits around your hips and if you want to carry a belt order, either wrap the waist belt the other way aroud the pack or chose some low hanging pouches (the old SAS fashion).

 

[Surrey Yeoman]

Hi again GDB,

Why buying a new bergen?

I thought someone had given you a PLCE bergen from your previous threads? Couldn't you get rid of the pong, or was it just uncomfortable?

 

[Green Dweller Beloved]

The Army issue PCLE bergen has a waist strap that fit to high on the torso and is very uncomfortable under weight. My back would kill me after walking a couple of hours. Your lower back has to continually compensate for the fact that you're top heavy and off balance with all that weight high on your shoulders. A very poor design I reckon.

I suppose if you need to wear a webbing belt (I don't) then there is not a lot of choice but I reckon anyone who has been unfortunate enough to have to wear one of these for any considereable amount of time, under weight would have surely suffered at the end of the day ??

If you have a hip strap which fits around your hips properly, it will take most of the weight, which prevents you from being top heavy/unbalanced and takes a lot of the strain off of your lower back.

I didn't want to fork out £140 for the Cyclops Vulcan rucksack unless it fits me properly and as not a lot of places that you can walk into stock these, it's not like I can try one on.

Cheers for your help

GDB

 

[tommy the cat]

Ive been struggling with the same issues!!!! Would love a chiroproctor to pipe up here and give us their two penneth. If you speak to some army guys they say you need the bag high up as it is more stable higher up....my mate swears by bergens although he now uses a a berghaus but not sure which one 50 60l I think.
I think my problem is I want a bag to go long distance walking, air travel and bushcrafting which I think may be a bridge too far!!!!!! I also wanted to come in under £100!!!!
Please let me know how you get on Dave

 

[Voivode]

Speaking as somebody who routinely carries ~24kg into the backcountry for days at a time, you want a pack with a hip belt that rides low, not high. The hip belt distributes the weight off of the shoulders and keeps it around your hips, where it's stable and doesn't stress your back. You should be able to adjust the bag so that the shoulder straps aren't carrying any load at all, just stabilizing the top of the bag to keep it from tipping backwards. It also helps to pack your heavier gear near the bottom of the bag if you can manage it; being top heavy is not a bonus when ascending or descending steep trails. I can't suggest any models for you though. What we have and what you have are probably different beasts.

 

[Zodiak]

Agreed, when I was doing silly miles for days on end with 30-40 lbs I yhad an external pack frame with a belt that sat just over the wiode bit of my hips, bt allowed me to have the weight really high.

It was far more comfortable thay way, however being a modular system (Brown Best) you could adjust it almost any way that you wanted.

 

[Green Dweller Beloved]

Agreed the weight should be on your hips.

A friend described it as the metronome effect. On a metronome, the higher you position the little weight, the more the thing swings about. If you slide the weight all the way down then it's much more stable. The same applied to rucksacks.

I've read also that at least 60% of weight should be on the hips. With rucksacks whose waist straps are designed to go higher than awebbing belt almost 100% of the weight is on your shoulders. Not good!

 

[spamel]

The PLCE is a great bergan BUT as with so many things, a design may work brilliantly for one person but not for another. Also, the PLCE comes in a short and long back version, and if you don't fit into either, then forget it!

I use a long back now, but when I was running about with webbing I sometimes preffered a short back bergan as it was above my pouches. Which ever way you cut it, it is a cheaply desiged and made but robust bag for soldiers to cart their kit around. Notice I didn't say in relative comfort!

 

[addyb]

I've never been too picky with the waistbelt on my pack and it holds 80 litres without counting the sidepouches. I usually adjust it so the waistbelt fits snugly right over my hips. I think the higher you can get your it to sit without putting off your balance the better. But as Green Dweller said, it's a nightmare if you seat it too high. There's a fine line between comfort and pain. I just prefer to use my hips to carry as much of the weight as possible. It saves my shoulders.

Adam