Tump Line

I have thought about this some and I don't think Ulers will add a tump line because it might infer they are laboring, when a light load is supposed to 'look' outwardly easy to carry.

You may be right.

(*) But just think of the "unusual" factor — (probably) no one else around you would have one.

(*) Furthermore, I'll bet it could be lighter than a hip belt.

(*) Heck, even make it multi-use — I'll bet that in camp it could be used for some sort of line — tent line, clothesline, whatever….

:)

— MV

It could be entertaining to see a tump line on a small pack. It could be diguised as a hat perhaps. Since you already have experience with them you should give it a try and report back.

Actually, I am thinking of trying out the idea. It's not on the top of my stack, but it is there somewhere. My intent would be to handle the occasional load that is too heavy to be comfortable for your pack.

Suppose your pack is not comfortable with more than 20 lbs, but for this longer trip you need to start out with 30 lbs. Wouldn't it be nice to have a way to bridge those first few days until your food gets eaten down a bit?

Like I said, it is on my mind, but not currently active.

— MV

Bob, Since you have experience with tump lines it might work well as you propose. When I've played around with tump lines, though, I found that the extra stress and strain on my neck muscles and upper back wasn't worth the weight transfer. I suspect that if you regularly used a tump line you'd build up those muscles and just generally get more used to carrying weight that way. But for occasional trips, I dunno… Let us know!

You are making a good point.

When we used them in Canada, we set up the canoes so that we could vary the proportion between the shoulders and the tump line. Early in the summer, we just used the tump line to give our shoulders a break. By part way through the summer, we carried most of the weight on the tump line, with just enough on the shoulders to help with stability. As you noted, we had to work into it.

Another way to look at it is that it is similar to shoulder straps / waist belt trade off on a pack frame. You vary the proportion as needed.

The key is being able to vary the tension on the tump line. Many people seem to believe that a tump is all-or-none — a bad idea as you noted.