This picture made me go lightweight

"The way he is carrying his pack … Yuk! I simply couldn't."

And probably shouldn't. Notice the knee brace he is wearing…

Hi Casey

> I'll give that a try next time.
That's what the Forums are for: sharing ideas.

Cheers

Here is a picture that made me go light…

Dave and I met these guys as we were doing a 20 mile day-hike, peak bagging trip at Mt San Jacinto. They stopped us to ask for directions as they did not have a map and were messed up on their location and directions. (We gave them a map.) I could not believe their packs and asked the one guy if he minded me taking a picture of his two-night, 13-mile trip load. He said “sure” and turn to let me get it in all its glory. They really were fun guys. I told Dave that I wished we were spending the night as I would love to be in their camp. Since all their gear was on the outside of their packs I figured the inside had a LOT of booze…

I especially liked the 1.5 L water bottle (the heaviest item of all our loads) on the furthest point from Dude # 2’s back.

Casey wrote;
"The pack, especially the wide shoulder straps, are comfortable enough that I don't use the hip belt. One day I'll cut it off."

I finally cut the hip belt off of my Miraposa recently since it was just in the way…and I like it even more now.

My experience…weight distribution is everything, especially without a suspension system or hip belt. Get all of the heavy items low and close to your back, and the lighter items stuffed towards the back side. It will ride close and comfortable. Conversely, my wife had tried putting her 2 liter platy in the back pocket of her Miniposa and felt like she was getting pulled backwards (because she was). Just simply moving it to the side pocket made all the difference in the world.

These are from Point Reyes in January. Urban teen group
BPL Bay Area membersHYOH of course, but I think we had more fun.