Help with Backpack

Picture of you wearing the pack please! Need to see clearly what the issue is. So hard to tell from words. Might be mostly the wrong torso length. Might be something else.

First of all, many packs have bendable stays. They are not supposed to fit you perfectly right off the rack for the simple reason that everybody is different. If your pack is not one that can be adjusted in this way consider getting on that is. It makes a big difference.

However, from the way you are talking I'm guessing it might be something more basic. The first thing is to understand the principles of what actually makes a pack fit/wear well with a load. Its not the same as, say, whether a pair of pants fits. A picture of the "problem" pack would be worth 10,000 words. For what its worth, while there are a couple of different schools, the shoulder straps don't HAVE to wrap all the way around. For a big (on here we would call it huge, :-) ) pack like that, for weight shifting reasons you would probably expect them to wrap a bit fully loaded. The part that is wrapping around the back does zero physical lifting, though it might create some friction which can be good or bad, depending. It does not necessarily need to touch your back all the way around as this is not what it means for a pack to "fit". But some of the gap with you back, if it is indeed large, could be fix by the aforementioned custom bending of the stays (if you have this option) to fit the exact shape of your back.

For lighter packs very many of us vastly prefer a fit where the shoulder straps go straight back. This is the most comfortable (least weight) for the shoulders as long as it creates no other problems like lack of lateral stability. So by itself the space between you shoulder and the straps is not an issue.

Again, a picture if you can. Be sure to include down to your waist belt.

OK thanks! that really clears it up a lot. I thought that it HAD to wrap around your back all the way. Like I said the Baltoro wrapped around all the way, but was actually less comfortable since most of the weight was on my shoulders. Also, where could I get the stays custom bent? I'll get a picture on here soon… Thanks again!

"Like I said the Baltoro wrapped around all the way, but was actually less comfortable since most of the weight was on my shoulders."

Yes, actually the inverse of it not mattering is that if they really wrap ALL the way around the torso length of the pack is most likely too short. When this is the case then you get an excess of weight on your shoulders. A quick and dirty rule I like to give, that people of different tastes might argue, but not more than an 1/2 an inch, is that the shoulder straps should attach to the pack no lower than 1 – 1 1/2 inches below the tops of your shoulders. If it is more than that you might just have to short a pack for you.

You can bend the stays yourself. There are a few threads on here over the years how to do it, provided the pack you have has one you can bend. Basically patience and use a table edge to bend them a little at a time while constantly checking. You want a "s" curve, bend in and the small of the back and out around you shoulders. For one thing, when you do this the back of the pack at the top near you shoulder will come closer to your shoulders, so this sort of minimizes the "space" under the straps. Specific answers would depend on more details about how your frame work in the pack, and what it is made of. Investigate this, but be sure you know how to get it all back together before you pull them out. Usually it is pretty simple with some kind of stay pocket(s), possibly with a velcro flap you need to open to pull out the stays.

Of course, some are un-bendable stays/frames, and also one not intended to be bent if you could. Anything that has hollow cylindrical "tubes" in the frame is in the no-bend category, for example. Best are flat pieces of aluminum parallel to he back of the pack, or thinnish solid aluminum "rods"

I have found slowly bending them on a bear can works pretty well to get a smooth bend. Substitute your own hard round thing here.

Yeah the ones on the Naos are flat and thick as hell so they are really hard to bend (which is good when you are not trying to bend them)… Anyway I was just thinking of taking them to some kind of machine shop or fabrication place and having them bend them to the shape of my back. Is this a good or bad idea?

Maybe if you have a friend with a vice. There are some people on here with a lot of experience with shop work – maybe on of them will have an idea. Maybe post a picture of the stay – first thing is to make sure if can be bent well and will not just snap, I would guess. If it really is that hard to bend I'd guess that the original maker, at least, didn't intend for it to bend. An example of pack that are designed to be adjusted in this way are the ULA packs with frames.

My guess if you take it to a shop of some kind all they will do is put it in a vice and get the burliest guy in the place to lean on it.