Please help me fit my pack

It's hard to tell with the green bandana but your straps look like they are adjusted so low to where they are attached to your pack that they are below your shoulder blades. I'd bring them up probably four inches so they are just below your C7 and see how that fits.

With what you are describing, it sounds like your backpack might be loaded improperly if they're pulling against the front of your shoulders. Where are your heavier items and what is your base weight? I find 20lbs total weight to be the threshold of where I can carry my pack without a hip belt comfortably but that's definitely a YMMV kind of thing.

There's definitely something going on with your sternum strap digging into your chest to keep your shoulder straps where they ought to be but I'd hesitate to focus on that too much without addressing a couple other issues mentioned above.

I agree with Ian's comment. Set to medium or a bit larger. My build/pack size is similar. This is what I do:

Loosen all straps fully.

Put pack on.

Lean forward to take weight off hip belt. Buckle hip belt over belly button, maybe slightly higher or lower… whatever feels like it rides on your hips supported. Tighten as much as possible without discomfort.

Tighten shoulder straps as tightly as you possibly can without them being uncomfortable. If they're too loose, your pack will slip downward and ride too low.

Tighten load lifters slightly and carefully while walking until the load feels like it's sitting right.

Adjust sternum strap to be level and about two finger widths below the collarbone where it meets the sternum. Fasten and then tighten just enough so that shoulder straps no longer feel like they dig into your shoulders.

On the pack I typically use, I don't have load lifters, and I only use the sternum strap when carrying heavier loads, such as in the winter.

I don't own that particular model of pack. However, let me comment about packs in general.

Look at the photos, and start from the chest area. You see where the shoulder straps leave the sternum strap and go up to the crest of your shoulders, then they go over the crest and go down several inches to where they attach to the pack. In general, that isn't right.

For every properly fitting pack that I have ever owned, the shoulder straps go over the shoulder crest, and then they go _over_ (horizontally) to where they attach to the pack. If they go down by very much to attach, then that is wrong. At least that is the way they fit on me. YMMV.

Once you get all of that straightened out, the sternum strap is easy to fix. For lots of years, we never had any sternum straps. However, if it seems to constricting, they can often be raised or lowered on the shoulder straps. Additionally, an elastic insert can be placed on the long side of the sternum strap to allow expandability in the fit. The elastic insert is done with 2-4 inches of heavy elastic (at full stretch) that is backed onto 1-2 inches of grosgrain strap but not sewn. This allows you to inhale and let your chest expand, yet it holds the shoulder straps snug.

–B.G.–

You guys were all correct. I raised the torso so that the shoulder straps attached much higher on my body. This was just below medium on the adjustable pad. It helped a lot. I also pulled the load lifters pretty tight. Although the back part of the shoulder straps still have space between them and my shoulders, the pack itself was flush against my back all the way up and down, and there was much less pressure on my shoulders in the front. So although it doesn't look pretty, it actually feels much better.

My base weight in that pic was just under 22 lbs ( no food and water). I also have it packed with the tent in the bottom compartment, then the sleeping bag on top of that. So the heavier stuff is way down.

Thanks for the help. I am planning to start going lighter, by the way…considering an Exos 46 as my next pack, but am scared as my toros measurement is the top range of small, or the low end of medium… REI had only a small, and it was definitely to high up due to my thick shoulders. The protein bar pouches in the shoulder straps were on top of my shoulders lol…would love to try on the medium in person before committing, but can't find any locally.

The torso length setting shouldn't make a difference where the pack rides on your hips. There's something wrong there which makes other issues hard to parse.

More pics with the shoulder harness on large would be useful.

Dave, I see what you mean, I think. If you always tighten the belt with the pack hiked up on your hips, you can tell if the torso is correctly adjusted by the fit at the shoulders….is that what you mean.

I took a pic with it on medium, corresponding to my post above, and another with it set on large:

Medium

Although you can't see it well, the shoulder straps were touching my shoulders, at least some of the way., and the pressure in the front was a lot better.

Large:

On large, the shoulder straps were at least 1" above my shoulders, and touched nowhere! But the pack was still pretty comfortable believe it or not.

Hello Michael,

I agree with Ian that your shoulder straps are connected far too low on your pack. I also believe you should lengthen your torso length an inch or two. Play around with keeping the bulk of your pack weight closer to the middle of your pack. Like myself you appear to be cursed with a large upper torso and small hips which is great for hauling firewood, building rock walls, or putting transmissions in cars but hard to fit non custom packs to your body type. For me using a little longer torso length and packs that have lower back pads helps keep the weight off my shoulders. I have tried many of the popular cottage packs but the cheapo rei flash is by far the best fit for my body type. If I was wiser I would buy a McHale.

Haha, large upper torso for sure, but not small hips… I am 5'8" and weigh 215, and wear 36 pants. In fact I was going to post and ask what you do when you need a medium torso per osprey, but you have a large waist. They tend to size their packs so they only fit small torso and waist, medium torso and waist, and large torso and waist. That's why I am kind of scared to try an exos.

Will definitely fiddle around with packing things in different configurations just to see how it affects the fit.

You guys are commenting that the shoulder straps are attached too low, but by this I hope you mean I have the torso length adjusted too short…there is no way to adjust where the straps actually attach.

I've never owned an Osprey and don't fully understand how the adjustments are made. My assumption is that the hip belt is fixed and the torso size is adjusted by moving the shoulder straps up and down. My ULA Ohm 2.0 is the opposite of that so there are a variety of ways to do this.

Could you share a picture of how it's adjusted?

I used to work in a gear store and I spent a decent amount of time fitting people for packs.

In your photos it looks like you could actually go with the medium or large setting. If you can go somewhere in between I think it will fit best for you. I can tell this because a shoulder strap should wrap around the tops of your shoulders and then attach to the pack. The shoulder straps should never be mounted below your armpits.

The biggest problem is you are taking in the load lifters TOO MUCH. People automatically want to tighten every strap as much as it can go but with backpacks it requires a delicate touch. The only straps you should crank down are the lumbar strap!

For comfort, your shoulder straps should be simply resting firm against your body and shoulders but never tugging on your shoulders. When you walk you should be able to feel a very small amount of movement of the straps against your shoulders from the pivoting of the pack on your waist. If you cannot, the load isn't transferring properly to your hips and is too much on your shoulders — the exception being packs with pivoting hipbelts or shoulder straps. You should adjust your shoulder straps with the load lifters completely slack.

Your load lifters should be taut but not cranked down. From slack, keep pulling in the load lifters until you can feel the shoulder straps being tugged on. Then pull in about a quarter to half an inch more. Load lifters are something an experienced backpacker will find themselves adjusting throughout the day to keep the shoulders comfortable and the weight properly balanced. Learn to find them while walking and play with them as you walk to see how different tensions feel. You'll get the hang of it. You won't be sore at the end of a long day.

Finally, the sternum strap should also be taut but not cranked down. One of the greatest causes of discomfort for inexperienced backpackers come from a sternum strap that is too tight. The sternum strap is simply to keep your shoulder straps from sliding off your shoulders. Many people benefit from having the shoulder straps just a little closer together than they sit without the sternum strap, but it should never be tight. Resist that urge.

Once you have everything dialed in it should be pretty comfortable. At the midpoint of a pack's weight capacity (typically 25-30 lbs for an internal frame) you should never really feel weight or tugging on your shoulders in a neutral standing position. Shoulder straps on a frame pack are more to control the pack's balance and not so much to carry weight. Most of the weight should be transferred into your hips and iliac crest. When you start to reach the top end of a pack's weight capacity you will feel some weight on your shoulders.

Hope this helps.

Ian, the shoulder straps are attached to a torso pad which can be slid up and down. The Velcro is just below the osprey's feet.

And Stephen, thanks for that explanation. I will be doing an overnighter today and will incorporate these techniques to adjust my pack. Never knew the shoulder straps were supposed to be at the top of your shoulders in the back, until I started this thread.

Large torso setting for sure. Ease up a lot on those load lifters unless your load goes north of 30 pounds.

This won't solve any hipbelt or lumbar interface issues you may be having. Looking at the photos the belt looks ok, but the padding might be a bit short. Make sure you extend those funny padded wings if in doubt. In the end you might be better served by a pack where you can size the belt separately (Gossamer Gear, ULA, etc), but exhaust your option first.

The circuit is such a great all-around pack, and the adjustment comes from the hip belt (you raise it up or down on a Velcro pad…meaning you have pretty much infinite length possibilities within the range).

It carries very well, has a nice frame if you aren't ready to minimalize that yet, and is light and honestly, I think it costs less than the exos models.

On another note…don't put the tent on the bottom…put your sleeping bag on the bottom and your tent in the middle (especially if your tent is kind of heavy). The heaviest stuff should be in the middle, towards your back.

Good luck!

David, let me ask you why large? When I had it on large (as you can see in the pic), the shoulder straps barely touched my shoulders at all, and all the weight was on my hips. I am guessing your answer might be if I ease the load lifters off, the shoulder straps would drop more onto my shoulders? When I tried that, I got the severe backwards pulling in the front, like the pack was falling backwards off the top of my back.

Those hip pads are fully extended, but my fat gut is the real problem, not the pads! lol

Seriously, on the hip pads, the are extended and I don't think you can see it in the pic, but they almost meet in the front. It is a lot more comfortable than when I had them adjusted further back on each side.

Jennifer,

I am on a really tight budget, and I got REI gift cards for Christmas. The Osprey Exos was one of the ones on sale there for $119 last week, but all they had was a small. Now i think they are completely sold out. I guess one possibility is to hold off and save money for a ULA or similar, but the budget is tight for that. I have heard so many good things about that pack.

Michael,

I’m not David but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

From looking at your last picture, it looks like your load lifters are cinched down which will pull the shoulder straps off of your shoulders. If you could releases the tension off of the load lifter straps and take another side profile picture, that'd give a better idea of how well it's fitted to you with the most recent adjustment.

We went on an overnight to Rapidan Camp area in Shenandoah…great day on Saturday, but winter monsoon on Sunday. Anyway, I set the pack on medium, and it felt pretty good most of the day. I am not sure why everyone is so against load lifters being tightened, because when I do them about halfway tight, it really pulls the top of the pack towards my back to where the load is against my back the entire length of the pack. I will keep fiddling next trip this spring and see how large feels, etc, but it was pretty tough on a one night trip to fiddle around since we had one day entirely in rain.

thanks again for all the tips, it really helped me.

Ian,

I am thinking that you are correct, and it does lower the strap down, but at the same time it feels like the pack is falling away from my back, and this is where that pressure on the front of my shoulder starts happening.

I will see if I can load some stuff in my pack again and try the load lifters less pulled, and take a pic for you. It may take me a while though as I am retired for the winter for tax season (I am a CPA). lol

"I am not sure why everyone is so against load lifters being tightened, because when I do them about halfway tight, it really pulls the top of the pack towards my back to where the load is against my back the entire length of the pack."

To be clear, I was asking you to loosen them up for sizing purposes.

I have nothing against load lifters and use them with my ULA Ohm 2.0. I crank them down some on flat ground or going uphill and loosen them when going downhill. Between the load lifters and the adjustments I can make between the ULA's hip belt and the pack, it makes for a great spot weld.

The most important thing is that you are comfortable when carrying the pack. Close second is that your balance isn't compromised when you are carrying heavy load across difficult terrain. All this is IMO. If you're happy with how you have this pack adjusted then I'd say rock on.

Edit: looks like we were typing at the same time.

Thanks, Ian! We were typing at the same time for sure. This pack fitting is so finicky. I have had this pack on about 7-8 weekend trips, and I am just now coming close to getting it to feel right. It doesn't hurt that I am trying to carry less weight than I used to (25-30 instead of 30-35).

Thanks again!

At our local outdoor store, they have Osprey fit clinics every year with reps from Osprey — and I was told that the shoulder straps on Osprey packs are supposed to ride high above the shoulders (like in the photo of you with the pack adjusted to the "Large" setting). According to the rep, that is how they are designed.

So maybe you should try your next trip with the setting on "Large", and see how that feels…

Michael – I think you are on the right track here in terms of adjustment, though It's not entirely clear to me from the photos where the point at which the shoulder straps meet the pack is in relation to the tops of your shoulders. I once sold a lot of packs, and before and since that I have made quite a few, and the norm in my experience for internal frame packs with good hipbelts is that the attachment point of the straps should be anywhere from level with your shoulders to a couple inches below it. Lower or higher than that and the load will move around too much, and if it's higher you basically can't carry any weight on your shoulders even if you want to.

However there's another point here that may or may not be something you can adjust out. You are obviously a very muscular guy, and it looks like due to that your back has a more pronounced curve outward below the shoulders. This means that unless the pack is shaped to follow that, the upper part of the pack will trend away from your body. To counteract this you can tighten the "lifter" straps, but if they are trying to flex the pack, its contents, and the frame in order to shape it to your back, you'll experience a lot of pressure on the front of your shoulders – as you say you do. I could be wrong since I'm just seeing photos of you with the pack on, but this is something I occasionally ran into when I was selling packs, and it may be the case for you. If the pack has stays which you can bend to shape you can improve the situation – you might try that.

I will keep looking into these tips, including seeing if I can bend the stays or not. It's funny, but my wife said that months ago: that I was more muscular than most guys, and my shoulders stick out in the back instead go going straight down. She's a genius!