Kifaru (or any) Pack Belt Question

[mAv]

Got my Duplex in earlier in the week- Had a chance to take it out on Tuesday for 3.5 miles or so with ~40lbs of bricks in it. I had it evenly weighted with some padding below, around, and above just to stabilize a bit. All in all, I think it went pretty well. I will put the disclaimer out there that I have very little experience with packs, so trying to make sure I'm not screwing anything up on my end.

Now for my questions- after, I was pretty raw on the "point" on the front of my hip bones. I'm not 100% sure if part of this was caused by my pants rubbing, the belt rubbing, or what the deal was. I think it's possible though that I had the belt positioned too low- I'd say the middle of the belt was probably at or just below the point on my hips. I put it back on yesterday and positioned the belt higher and it felt more 'resting' on my hips than previously. My question is- am I better off having the midpoint of the belt higher than the point on my hip bone? It seems like this would be the way to make sure the weight was distributed to my hips- and I didn't feel any hot spots on my back (granted I was only walking around my house for a few minutes after I adjusted it).

Second- how far should the hip belt come around your sides? I wear ~32 or 33 size pants, and have a small belt. From everything I've read this should work just fine- but it seems like the belt doesn't wrap around my hip bones like it should (or how I had it in my mind). Don't have any pictures but I would guess that the end of the belt sits maybe 1-2 inches in front of my hip bone. Is that normal or should I have potentially sized up to a medium? I guess I feel like the 'meat' of the belt wasn't far enough around my hips to adequately support it.

I'm looking forward to taking it out again and raising the belt placement up a bit to see how I feel after. Hopefully can knock out some time on Sunday. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[realunlucky]

The medium belt will not fit you its to big

 

[Rizzy]

I have the same waist size and had the same problem with my hip points. For me it only happens with 80+ pounds in the Bikini frame though. I have a belt that is 31" tip to tip, I think it is a small. I talked to Aron Snyder at Kifaru and have a little bit bigger belt on order. It is important that the belt wraps around far enough and if it is to short it will not. The 32-33 waist seems to be on the border between two sizes of a belt and if you gain/lose a couple pounds one way or the other the belt will not fit. I plan on having two belts to combat this, because I don't work out daily to maintain my figure

 

[Ray]

Make sure your pants are above your hip bones. Make sure your pants belt - if any - is really thin.

I could never fully resolve my wear points on my hips and just started taping up with Leukotape P. My issue has nothing to do with the belt design, just my fat body.

 

[5MilesBack]

Make sure your pants are above your hip bones.

Who on earth wears their pants above their hip bones? If I did that, I'd need a 40+ inseam length.

 

[Ray]

Who on earth wears their pants above their hip bones? If I did that, I'd need a 40+ inseam length.

Old men...or nerds...

I should have said above or below. I have a goofy pelvis and leg structure and tend to wear my athletic cut clothes without a droopy butt. Tends to put the waist right at or under the hip bones.

 

[husky390]

Were you wearing jeans? If you were, you will want to wear a pair of pants with very thin belt loops and a very thin belt. I made that mistake once and my hips paid the price from the belt loops being smashed into me by my pack belt. Now I wear a pair of golite hiking pants and their overpriced web belt with no issues. Aron told me about this and I believe Patrick mentions this in one of his videos.

 

[jherald]

I pulled up the waist on my pants just above where the hip belt makes contact with my hips. That and wear a very thin belt, like a thin strap webbing belt similar to the thickness of a pack strap, very very thin to keep the hot spots from getting bad. The belt does need to somewhat wrap around your hips, too small and it wont wok right, too big and you'll bottom out on the belt when you compress it around your hips. I'm a 33'' and I have the issue of the small belt being too small, the medium belt almost too big but the medium belt works best for me.

 

[Rizzy]

I stopped wearing a belt with my attach pants. The pack is on me 90% of the time so that's what holds my pants up or pushes them down. I had a medium belt on my KU3700 and it was super comfy, but I would bottom it out after a few consecutive scouting or hunting trips.

 

[rpm4463]

I've owned several different packs and have the same problem. The hip belt rubs the front points of my hips. I tried different belts and pants, but the solution I found was to wear the pack higher on your hips. The buckle on my hip best is usually even with my belly button. You will need to adjust the shoulder harness and load lifters. I still have some rubbing if I have loads over 50 lbs, but it makes the problem easier to deal with.

 

[mAv]

Well, little update:

Knocked out another 3 miles or so this morning with the same ~40 lbs in. I wore the pack a little higher, and the belt rested much more comfortable on top of my hip bones. I had no issues with rubbing (admittedly, I was the goofball at the gym on the treadmill with the pack on, so I had gym shorts on). I had no rub issues at all this morning. The load felt quite a bit more comfortable as it felt more supported on my hips. Still have a little fiddling to do I think with the shoulder harness, I felt like I was constantly adjusting it trying to find a happy medium in terms of support but not taking the brunt of the load.

Hopefully one of these days can make it up to Kifaru and have someone take a look at the fit just to make sure, but so far I'm pretty happy with how it handles. Hopefully things stay comfortable with a heavier load- going to add quite a bit on Sunday and take it around the trails just to see.

 

[5MilesBack]

I think I must wear my hip belts higher than most guys. To me, they are a "waist" belt......not a hip belt. I never get any slipping of the belt down my hips because it's on top of them. Just the way I've always done it. Never had an issue with that and heavy or light loads.

 

[204guy]

I think part of it, is it takes your hips a little while to toughen up. Just like the only way to toughen your feet up is to hike in rough terrain with boots on, you need to wear your pack with weight in it in order to get those contact points used to it.