Hey y'all-
I have always had the impression that winged hip belts are more comfortable because they "wrap" your waist more, which is to say distribute pressure over a larger area.
Built-in hip belt pockets, like those on the ULA Conduit and Catalyst, retain this pressure distributing quality.
I've been considering one of the Mountain Laurel Designs packs, but the hip belt is just a strap and I worry that adding the hip belt pockets would create two points of contact where the pressure from the pack would be concentrated, creating sore spots. Is this an accurate assumption? What do people find from experience?
