What do you use to stiffen your MLD Burn?

I use 1/8 inch foam pad, folded to fit my back.  It’s nice to have around camp for sitting and for additional insulation and protection of my Xlite.

Being new to frameless packs this Spring, I tried many different packing styles for my MLD Burn over the summer, including stiffening it by packing tight and cinching straps down tight. This worked fine, but I stopped doing it. The stiffer packing style forms a fairly comfortably vertical tube that allow you to transfer most of the weight to your hips… but at a cost.

In the end the most comfortable configuration was a 1/8″ foam pad folded and packed against the back (just like Ben mentioned doing), then loosely stuffing most of the gear and quilt in the bottom (no stuff sacks). Lastly, the food and rain gear goes on top, then LOOSELY attaching the roll-top compression straps and over-strap. If carrying a bear canister (BB Contender 101 fits well), the rain gear forms a “U” shape around the perimeter of the cannister against the foam pad, to avoid any hard, rounded canister edges digging into my back.

A loose, baggy (i.e. non-stiff) pack bends and conforms better to the body and feels best, but YMMV. Packing tighter and stiffer, while transferring more weight to the hips, also tends to make my middle back hurt. In contrast, the baggy packing style requires more weight on the shoulders but it causes no back pain. Packing baggy still does allow some weight to be transferred to your hips from time to time to give the shoulders a rest, but I do this less often now and usually for short periods only.

Thanks

Have either of you tried the GG sitlight pad in the burn?

Not me, but it would probably be similar.  You probably won’t be pulling it out for breaks packed that way, but it would still be useful at camp.

A GG Sitlight pad is what I often use for day hikes in the Burn because it’s easier to fold and use than the GG 1/8″ x 60″ pad. Any pad that more-or-less fits the back panel will do the trick of providing some padding.

I picked up a Burn at the end of last year to use for shorter trips (coming from a frameless ULA CDT which seems huge in comparison). I do use a GG Sitpad as the backpad to help stiffen it. But I’m use to using a GG Torso + sitpad with my CDT. When used in the Burn, it filled up too much of the interior volume so I had to replace the torso part with a short neoair (which I’m not using to stiffen the pack). I pretty much pack the rest as I do my CDT. I pack the lower half as densely as possible. Quilt at the bottom in an oversize stuff sack that requires me to compress it some to get it to fit across the bottom. Food bag on top of that. And then I start to stuff my other gear’s smaller stuff sacks (tarp, bivy, tolietries, misc) along side the food bag, filling in the gaps with my rain or down jacket to tighten it up. Everything else gets thrown on top of the food bag and then the straps get tightened down. I had no comfort issues taking it out for a 4 day trip with up to 3L of water this past 4th of July which is the heaviest I’ve been so far. Had plenty of room left, so I could go longer, though I don’t think it carries as comfortable as my CDT does as it gets heavier. Could be I still need to experiment with packing it differently.

Isn’t it more a guestion of padding so thinks don’t poke into your back? Stiffening isn’t quite the thing for frameless, no?

I don’t use anything to stiffen my Burn but the key is to load the pack to get the contents into a unibody style frame.  I have a neoair against my pack sometimes with a bit of air to fill volume.  Then starting from the bottoms I alternate hard and soft layers which basically locks everything together.  For bottom to top, extra food bag, quilt and bivy,  cook set if taken and tarp, day’s food bag and extra clothes.  Then I use the top straps to get the smallest volume possible.  All of this makes a very stiff system the doesn’t poke my in the back.  I also found it helps to have food bags the are sized for the burn, more of a square design vs. rectangular.

I have used this system on long day hikes (with full gear) to six plus day carries since 2010, all with good result.  The key is getting a tight pack when loading.  Done right the Burn is a pure joy to carry.

I have not found a need to create a stiff framsheet in frameless packs, even when using a hipbelt. I feel like a softer pack conforms well to my back. I’ll put a single layer of fleece between my back and bear can, which I like mid-pack below my shoulder blades. Other than the can the only other hard thing in my pack is a cookset but I don’t bring that much these days. It all conforms comfortably to my back…

Certainly there are people with far more experience than myself who use different approaches but my $.02 to try carrying a frameless pack without any attempt to stiffen it and see how you like it.

ymmv/hyoh/etc

I use a Gossamer Gear SitLight pad strapped to the outside of the back panel using some shock cord. There are a few loops sewn around the perimeter of the back panel which are perfect for lashing the pad on.

This is great for a few reasons; I can easily remove and re-install the pad to sit on during breaks, it doesn’t take up internal pack space and provides better airflow for a dryer back and pack.

One of the things I like most about frameless packs is that they don’t need to be stiff.  I much prefer a softer bag that fits my back better.  As always, YMMV

I do fold my Prolite XS pad in half and place it against the backpanel.  Seems to soften any lumps.

That being said, the only thing I use the hip belt for is to hold the waist pockets. I wear it very, very loose.