ULA Conduit Fit?

My torso is 19.5 so I e-mailed ULA and asked for their recommendation and Brian (I think that was his name) said to go with the size large. It seems to fit me perfectly.

I don't know about pack height on your shoulders–that's more a quality of the pack itself than the sizing on the pack–but as long as the waist belt is positioned on your hip bones while the shoulder straps are comfortable, you're in good shape. Traditionally, a backpack's waist belt should transfer most of the weight onto your bone structure at your hips. Any significant weight on your shoulders is pretty bad for your back, particularly when you're on multiple day trips (though for most people 10-15 pounds is fine on just the shoulders, especially on short trips).

That said, I also have a minor grievance with the sizing of my own Conduit. I'm borderline between 19 and 20" like you and I don't like backpacks where the waist belt rides high on my waist so I went ahead and got the large. With nothing in the pack, it does seem like the torso length is too long, but with the backpack full of gear, the fit is just perfect. However I ran into another problem. The waist belt itself is almost at the end of its adjustment range. It fits as is, but if I were to lose an inch from my waist line, the waist belt would be to large for me to use. I wish they just made this pack in a regular medium instead of this s/m, m/l baloney.

Here’s a thread over on PBF where Brian Frankle himself chimes in on his “thoughts in regard to the torso sizing” of the Conduit and his other “frameless rucksacks”.

I found it helpful and couldn’t be happier with my Conduit, the way it fits, how high it rides, or how freely my hips swing/move while wearing it the way he (apparently) intended.

Hope that helps.

I emailed the guy and he replied asking for photos – with some specifics about how I loaded it. After I sent him the pics he emailed about a minute later and told me to send the pack back and he would send me a large. Sounds like your in the same boat – I read numerous posts about this before and after I bought my ULA. I think the ULA dude should find a better way to get the size right – its not a good thing when you have to pay shipping two times, and wait all that extra time to get your goodies.

Adam, could you copy and paste the relevant comments from PBF onto here? For some reason my IP address is "Forbidden" from accessing that website (and no, I was not banned from there).

Art, you probably get a dynamic IP from your ISP and someone else got it banned.

Anyway, the gist of what Brian said was the Conduit is designed with a 20" long back panel (to fit your avg sleeping pad width-wise) and he designs his frameless rucksack-type packs so they ride high and the belt is at your waist for load control versus your hips for load bearing like a traditional framed pack.

I'm sorry, and this might seem to silly to some (most?), but I thought about it and just don't feel quite right about posting someone else's words from someone else's website. Maybe I'm wrong…

Chris summarized what Brian had to say very well already.

I'll just add that, personally, I was surprised at how much better I liked the Conduit once I started using it as Brian intended.

When I first got it I tried using a Big Agnes Cyclone SL Chair Kit (6 oz) inserted into my folded GG Nightlight Torso as frame stays. I positioned the hipbelt over my hips and got decent load transfer.

Eventually I tried it without the chair and with the belt fastened around my waist instead, providing load control/stability but not any transfer of weight. Fifteen to twenty pounds felt just fine on my shoulders, and the pack did not move around on my back at all. All in all it felt good.

What surprised me was how, after hiking twelve miles with plenty of elevation change, my legs/hips felt SO much better than when I'd worn it the other way. My hips were able to swing much more naturally, like I was walking without a pack on, and the improvement in comfort was HUGE, even just a few miles into the day.

Maybe this is just a quirk of my own physiology, and not likely to affect others, but maybe not. YMMV

Anyway, the point is that Brian intends for his frameless packs to be worn differently than his (or others') framed packs, and the positioning of the shoulder straps and hipbelts reflects this. He mentioned (in the post in question) that maybe he ought to start referring to the belts on the Conduit/Relay/Amp as waistbelts rather than hipbelts.

Sorry this post turned into something of a novella, but hpefully this helps someone.

Good luck.

I hiked 53 miles in a Conduit last March and would agree with the consensus that it's a slightly different fit than other packs. My max pack weight was probably 23-25 pounds, fully loaded up with water and food towards the beginning of the trip. I used mine so the weight transferred onto my waist, but after the second day I realized that my virtual pack frame wasn't stiff enough to transfer weight in the same way as a traditional pack does. The pack is really designed to be used as the previous poster suggested, to put all its weight on your shoulders and just stabilize the weight with the belt. I think for future longer hikes I will be buying one of ULA's stiffer-framed backpacks. There's a history of back problems in my family and I have no interest in carrying on that "tradition" with my own back.

No problem Adam. Thanks for summarizing the info, though. I'm not a big fan of PBF anyway so I will not likely go searching for the info very vigorously.

I'd like to thank everybody for all your great help and suggestions. I emailed Brian (he responded almost right away!) and he said that he recommended the small/medium but to try it out with some weight in it.

Well, I have done just that and I have to say that it actually works very well. With my sleeping pad placed along my back, the pack is quite stable and I could actually carry most the load on my hips.

I am a little concerned about the sternum strap's height so I'm going to send Brian some pictures just to be sure.

Dana, those sternum straps are adjustable in height…

DOH! Now don't I just feel like an idiot.
I think it was the intro to a Scott Adams book that said, to paraphrase: "We all have moments of stupidity. It can come at any time. We don't even realize we are being stupid until after it's already happened, or never at all."

Thanks for pointing that out Robert! I completely overlooked the adjustment. :)