Correctly Fitting a Backpack

[Northmountain]

There are differing opinions about properly fitting a backpack. The two videos below explore two of the most common opinions.

If you and your family members haven't carried your emergency packs on your back for any length of time, nor have adjusted them to fit your bodies or have subsequently purchased packs that are actually wearable, you are risking complete failure in a walking bug out situation.

The Fit and Weight of your packs will quickly tell the story. Parents with smaller children will probably find that they actually can't carry the additional weight they've added to their packs from the packs of their children. Fathers will quickly find that even on their best day, they can't carry the weight of the water needed for their family.

Take the time now to seriously test your pack fit and the ability of the wearer to carry its weight. Many will find that they have to get much or most of the weight from their packs down on wheels This is especially true for youngsters, seniors and folks who aren't used to long duration physical exertion and of course, the ever present issue of water weight (even if you plan on refilling your containers in streams and lakes rather than carrying 3 or 4 days water with you).

Don't allow your family to fail because you haven't tested and used your emergency packs / kits in advance. The best planned kits may not be worth much if they can't be carried in a real emergency.

Obviously, there are many, many scenarios that may arise in an emergency that don't equate to long hikes with your pack on your back, but as the preparedness gurus in your family, you have to prepare for the scenarios that are most likely to occur in the lives of your family in your best estimation.

There are a number of folks in this group who have excellent real world knowledge and experience on this topic. Let's hear from you so everyone can learn from your experience.

[AZ Prepper]

Great information and extremely important to know. You pack and wear your backpack wrong and it could put you out of commission, depending on the weight distribution.

[BackBlast]

There are a number of folks in this group who have excellent real world knowledge and experience on this topic. Let's hear from you so everyone can learn from your experience.

I'm not an extensive backpacker, most of my actual experience was on a mission carrying a load and hitting my limits and as a scout in my youth...

I read on survivalblog that a good rule of thumb for long term carrying is 1/3rd of your body weight as the upper weight limit for a fit human (a similar limit applies to pack animals).

We had horrid packs on my mission, which were required to avoid the "student" look. I like to be prepared so I carried quite a bit for a while. It agrivated a group of back muscles to do this. I had to stop the offensive activity for around a month to get them back to normal. Better to avoid over use conditions entirely I think.