Realized I was packing my pack all wrong after a guy on the JMT pointed out my hip belt

I had been backpacking for like 5 years and always thought my packs were uncomfortable. On the John Muir Trail last summer this older hiker at a camp spot just goes "you know your hip belt should sit lower right?" Told me I was carrying 90% on my shoulders. Adjusted it and suddenly my 35lb pack felt like nothing. Has anyone else had a simple gear adjustment totally change their hiking experience?

3 comments

3 Comments

brian_smith61mo ago

Holy crap, same thing happened to me! I was hiking the Grand Canyon rim to rim a few years ago and my shoulders were killing me by mile 7. Some random guy at a rest stop just walked up and asked if I knew my hip belt was riding way too high. He showed me how to loosen the shoulder straps and really cinch the belt down on my actual hips. It was like magic, suddenly the load just disappeared. Felt like an idiot for suffering through so many trips before that lol. Now I always make sure to adjust it before I even start walking and offer advice to newbies I see struggling the same way. It's one of those things you don't know you're doing wrong until someone points it out.

patricialee1mo ago

Once you feel that weight shift from your shoulders down to your hips, it's like a whole new world opens up. I had the exact same lightbulb moment when I finally got the belt positioned right, ended up stopping to re-adjust three times on my first try until it clicked. The trick I always tell people is to make sure the hip belt is sitting right on top of your iliac crests, those bony points on your sides. If it's riding above them or sliding down, you're just carrying the pack with your shoulders and that's a recipe for a wrecked neck by lunch. Another little thing that helped me was leaning forward slightly while I cinch the belt, it seats it better against my hips before I tighten the shoulder straps. Little adjustments make a massive difference, for real.

phoenixb341mo ago

and that's exactly the kind of thing that translates everywhere. @brian_smith6 you nailed it, it's always the little stuff nobody tells you. Like I used to sit in my office chair all wrong for years until a coworker pointed out my elbow angle was jacked. Fixed it and my shoulder pain vanished in a week. Or the way I hold my phone too low and get that neck crick. Someone just has to say "hold it higher" and boom, problem solved. We all figure out bad habits and just... live with them. Until someone calls it out. Then it's just embarrassing how easy the fix was.