Kifaru lumbar irritation

[TxRPLS]

I was doing a walk on relatively flat ground, loaded with 50lb on my ark frame plus the rifle in the gun bearer, so about 60lb total.

About 1.5 miles in I started feeling some irritation on my lumbar area and stopped to make some adjustments which included strapping rifle to the pack and out of the gun bearer. This did not seem to help and at about 2.5 miles I knew I was going to start getting blisters so I dumped the weight out of the bag and continued with just a rifle for the next 2 miles.

The pack is a year old and I have done some hunts with it but never carried anything heavy, this was probably the heaviest load it has had.

Any ideas on adjustments to make to keep from getting blisters on my back. Sorry for the ugly man back in the pic.

 

[isleofGough]

The replacement pad is better than the one that came with the Ark frame originally.

 

[TxRPLS]

The replacement pad is better than the one that came with the Ark frame originally.

Do I need the whole pad or just the foam?

 

[isleofGough]

Just the foam. The original was hard foam with a leatherette coating. The new one is dual density.