Back Suspensions and Belts

[ScottR_EHJ]

Dotman, can you grab the graphs off 24hour? Post them for me? I am swamped today.

 

[Kevin_t]

Here you go. I highlighted the suspension area. We know we got dinged on the harness, but it was a pre-produciton tester as well and that was the feedback we needed. I also think, for the type of hunting Scott and Nevada do they probably would have been better suited with a 4800 with a side zip and base talon, as it would have a lb lighter, and better sized for the review.

View attachment 13814

 

[ohhiitznik]

I've had 205 in my bikini frame on multiple occasions while training. Its heavy but she doesnt slip. I'm 6'4 260 for reference and I've got a butt to help hold the belt up.

 

[ohhiitznik]

that is 135 lb load that doesn't slip.

 

[Angie123]

You guys are so tough, and strong! Amazing feats of strength.

 

[5MilesBack]

that is 135 lb load that doesn't slip.

Looks like you use the same thing I do to test pack holding weight.

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

To be clear on the MO, 3 piece belts were comfortable on me above 80lbs. Both Kifaru belts I used in the past were good, and i don't expect that to change in the future.

 

[Aron Snyder]

Don't be posting photos of your smashed thumb, Scott!

 

[123 4/8 P&Y]

You guys are so tough, and strong! Amazing feats of strength.

Wait until they start posting pics of their hernia repair scars.

 

[Angie123]

I have a hernia scar too!! We could have soooo much fun

 

[S&S ARCHERY]

Thought I would throw my two cents in here and go over what we have found in the last year of testing and developing the Exo Mountain Gear pack. I did just write an article on this a couple weeks ago but it didn't really cover the argument of a one piece design vs: a three piece more on the use of a lumbar pad and doing a soft flexible hipbelt over a rigid one: http://exo-hunting.com/findings-hip-belts-lumbar-pads/ I will just say this is my opinion based on what we have tested over the last year and we will always be on a quest to find something even better. I could easily see with a different frame design and concept you could come to a different conclusion. What we did was look at the facts that we know about the human body and then went out and tested our theories on how the pack would interact with the body. We have a trail about 5 minutes from my house that is a 3 mile loop with a 1,000ft climb and on average once a week over the last 12 months we have loaded up our pack and others with a 100lbs of sand and did the hike. Loaded with that much weight you find a packs strengths and weaknesses pretty easily; sometimes they show up right away and sometimes they don't show up until a couple miles into the hike.

One very important thing to mention and as Aron said there is no one perfect design as there are just too many body types out there but there is going to be a constant variable that the majority of us share. 5milesback being the exception if he has bone spurs in the sacrum area, I could see where a lumbar pad would really hurt in that situation. Designing our frame and suspension I was lucky enough to have a good friend who is a chiropractor so we spent the better part of a day going over X-rays and looking at spine profiles, a true flat back person shows up maybe 5% of the time. Flat back meaning that their spine profile as its meets the sacrum doesn't have much if any curve to it. When loading up the pack with weight you have to look at the bone structure as that is where the weight is going to transfer, soft tissue will get in the way a little but overall the weight will continue pushing until it hits something hard. Going back to Aron's point 3 points of contact is better than 2, we aren't perfectly round barrels and have a lot of contours in our lower body. The lumbar pad is designed to fill the gap between the Illiac crests (hip bones) that is made from the lower curve in our spine. By filling that gap we create an extra point of contact which helps transfer the load to broader area.

With a normal spine curve you can see from the side view there is a natural spot for a lumbar pad to fit and from the top view you can see the empty space that is created, if you just had continuous padding nothing would fill that void and the weight will slide down to the butt or transfer to the hips causing excessive pain. This is definitely something we noticed when removing the lumbar pad from our pack, we really had to cinch the hipbelt down tight to keep it from sliding down and the pain/pressure on the hips became almost unbearable after about the 1 mile mark.

View attachment 13950

As I read through this post one thing I think should be clear is the distinction between a 1 piece design being a solid hipbelt from end to end or just a belt with the lack of a lumbar pad. There is definitely a difference as some 1 piece belts can have a raised area in the lumbar and some can just be continuous padding. Technically our hipbelt is a one piece design as the sides are connected with a small sheet of poly-carbonate behind the lumbar pad, this is where our frame attaches and the poly-carbonate sheet helps distribute the load over a wider surface area. But our belt is very similar in overall design to the Kifaru being a 3 piece design. I have not seen a Paradox belt in person so I'm not exactly sure how it lays out and by all accounts could be a great belt that works with their frame and overall design. I can say for us and our frame design the lumbar pad was absolutely necessary.

Here is a picture of me hauling 150lbs of sand, you can see the hipbelt is sitting relatively perpendicular to my body. I was hunching over trying to show the gap for ventilation in the lower/mid back area.


Steve

 

[Blackcow]

I'm starting to think that until this whole one piece, three piece belt thing can get sorted out, all packs should come with no belt.Just a tumpline.