Your Experience with Aarn Bodypacks?

What did you think of the articulation functions?

Awesome concept

Both of my Aarns are over 10 years old so the design is a bit different from the current models.

I have the Natural Balance and the Effortless Rhythm , both with balance pockets.

Both have the solid foam hip belt with Flow motion . Very comfortable and yes I find the way they move as you do works for me.

Part of the weight is to do with the built in liner. It can be taken out but I like the idea as I have not had any water ingress so far.

They do have a lot of straps and adjustments but once dialed in for you I think they give you pretty much a custom frame.

Do all the balance pockets/bags have frames/stays? What shape are the front pocket frames/stays? Are they all the shame? https://www.aarnpacks.com/collections/balance-bags

See next post

Do all the balance pockets/bags have frames/stays?

Yes the balance pockets do have small frame stays that stop them collapsing.

I have a Featherlite Freedom which can do a week of food for me if packed carefully though I am not an ultralighter (about 14lb base weight). It is the most comfortable pack I have used. Others I have tried – Osprey, an ancient UL pack called the Mithril by George Cole, an UL back the won best pack on this site about 10 years ago (can’t remember the name). The reason is the balance pockets which completely change the way you walk and have an enormous affect on comfort as per this blurb https://www.aarnpacks.com/pages/balance

Beware myths promulgated about this pack:

• You won’t see in front of you (nonsense)
• The balance pockets crash into rocks (I am not a rock climber)
• It is hard to put on (there is one extra strap compared to a normal pack, big deal)

I recommend the larger balance pockets(12L) as I like to shove as much in there as possible to push my center of gravity forward. These are not normally sold with the Featherlite Freedom but perhaps you could ask if you want them.

It’s definitely a weird pack. I tried my friend’s first and couldn’t make a decision. Then I tried one on in a shop and still couldn’t make a decision. Then I just bought one and 15 minutes into a 4 day hike and I was a convert. I have tried on others packs my friends have on hikes just for a brief period and immediately felt dragged backward from the load. Poor buggers, I now feel sorry for everyone else.

I’d liken the weight forward pockets as about a 4kg comfort softener, perhaps even more. I really need to do an experiment on this someday but let’s just say I’d never go back unless I was obsessed with SUL for shorter trips.

I’ve used a similar concept in my myo backpack for 20 years or so.

Works great!  Pack is balanced.  No leaning forward.  Pack weighs 1 pound.

The Aarn packs are overbuilt and quite heavy for what they do, by UL standards.  But they do what they do very well.  Let me explain:

Moving weight to the front does balance better, and feels better.  But it works best when it’s quite a lot of weight on the front to more closely balance the back.  The situation in which I have found them most useful is when carrying a lot of water on some desert hikes– water is heavy, and a 3L bladder in each front pouch balances nicely.

Otherwise, really, they aren’t worth the weight IMHO.  Unless, of course, they have some newer lighter product now of which I am unaware.  I have a Featherlight Freedom, ostensibly one of their lightest at the time.

It is also worth noting that having those metal front stays pointing directly at my femoral arteries disturbs me significantly.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts on Aarn Bodypacks!

Dean, I had not thought of my femoral arteries and the lance-like balance pocket stays. Good point;)

For those of you that have the Featherlight Freedom, does it have any type of compression system? From the pics I would think not. And that is a second rub, apart from weight, on Aarn packs – they are generally larger in capacity than an UL backpacker might want.

Dean might be right in that typical UL loads don’t require counterbalancing. My interest in Aarn is mainly for longer man + dog trips where I carry both our food. His food averages 1 pound and 1 liter per day. A three-season trip would have to be 2 weeks or more before I would need the full capacity of the featherweight freedom + balance bags.

A better capacity fit would be the Mountain Magic series, but those packs have little webbing belts and I would much prefer the excellent-looking “Pelvic Form” belt on the Featherlight Freedom and larger models, mainly because the upper piece of webbing appears to cross the abdomen above the iliac crest. Compression of the abdomen tends to promote chest breathing.

After finally devising a frame that puts all the weight on my hips, why would I ever want to transfer it back to my shoulders and back?

Sam,

My myog backpack puts all the weight on the hips.  The front bag hangs from the top corners of the frame and the frame is fully supported on the hips.

Stumphges,
I was under the impression that the front pack(s) on the Aarn were supported by straps running over the shoulders. Either separate straps, or the same straps that support the back pack. If I’m wrong, then “NEVER MIND!” – Rosanna Rosannadana

Hah! The computer put my reply above your earlier post. AI, My Eye.

Sam, I was under the impression that Aarn  packs are meant to transfer all weight to belt. Amiwrong? The only other to do that, while also balancing weight fore and aft, is to slot into the sides of the belt with articulating frame. Is that what you’ve done?