Correcting Slippage by Osprey Hipbelt

[Sam Farrington]

Posted before was the MYOG pack built to take an Osprey Hipbelt:

The recess in the belt behind the small of the back was good, because it prevented any rubbing against the lower vertebrae that are wearing out.

But the pack had a tendency to slip downward at the small of the back. Note in the above photo, to the right and left of the sleeve that holds the belt in place, that the recess in the belt extends wider than the sleeve.

Tried an REI Kestrel belt, but it did not help, and weighed more. Belts like these are designed to slip behind a lumbar pad. Tried sewing on a lumbar pad, but as feared, the pressure on the lower spine became uncomfortable after a while.

Some dense raw foam knee pads from Home Depot, about 5/8″ thick, were flattened and cut to the shape of strips that would fit in the Osprey belt on each side of the center holding sleeve on the pack. Then cut the belt vertically at its center, creating a slit to insert the foam strips and slide them into place where they would fill the recess to the left and right of the sleeve. Then the slit was glued shut. The result looks like this:

Tried the pack for an overnight in the fall, and there was much less slippage. There are some bony projections on the pelvic girdle on each side of the lower spine, and the added foam grips them fairly well. There is less need now to overtighten the belt.

This arrangement has worked out well. Almost all the weight of the pack is on the pelvic girdle and legs rather than the spine, there is no pressure on the spine, and the pack does not slip down during extended backpacking. Because the belt is held in the sleeve only with Velcro, it rotates with the hips just enough to make walking easier.

Happy Trails

 

 

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