ZPacks Zero (Size Medium) … Help me with the hip belt

I like 1" belts for frameless packs. I'm happy with 20-25 lbs without any hipbelt and I can push that upwards by about 5 lbs if I add a 1" belt. I just finished a 3 day trip with 25-30 lbs in a frameless pack with a 1" belt and I was happy with how that carried. others will disagree.

To me, padded hipbelts go hand in hand with a frame. They help a little on frameless packs, but they're most useful when combined with a frame.

Only you can answer that question. If you normally are comfortable with just using the shoulder straps, then with those weights you say you use, you should be fine without the hip belt. But if there are times when you felt you might have been more comfortable with the hip belt transferring some of the weight then you may strongly consider using the belt.

I'm buying a Burn even though I already own a Prophet for a number of reason, not the least of which is to get a frameless pack without a hipbelt.

Ditto everything Dan said. Try some local hikes carrying 20lbs on your shoulders with whatever pack you have now and see how that works out for you. If you can carry it 10+ miles without discomfort, I'd just skip the padded hipbelt.

I knew someone was going to respond as "D M" did … its true, only I can really make the call.

Appreciate Dan and Ian's comments. Feel like you have affirmed my thought process.