No butt / Pack fit

[Rambo]

Forgive me if this has been discussed, but I’ve searched the forums and don’t find anything specific to my question. I have struggled with pack slippage when hauling weight for years. I am a slender and fairly athletic build yet, I have almost no butt. Like if I unbutton my pants and let go, my pants are around my ankles! I tried a year of women butt building exercises and only gained 1/2”. My build has made getting my pack to stay up with any amount of weight in it almost impossible. I have tried quality packs. I started with a Kifaru, then the EXO K2, then the EXO K3. I bought the K3 after listening to a podcast prior to their release a few years ago. Steve mentioned trying to target the challenge of the Hunter with no butt with that pack so I was excited to give it a try. Since purchasing the K3, the team at EXO has been fantastic in helping me try to get this thing to stay up. They have sent me wedges, larger belt, firmer pad, everything. I’ve sent them pictures and they’ve given me recommendations on adjustments. But I still have the same issue. Even as low as 25 pounds I have major slippage after a few minutes with the front hanging off my pelvis bones and the back sagging over my tailbone, which then puts a lot of weight on the shoulder strap. Between this, and years of law enforcement and wearing a duty belt, my tailbone area has become very sensitive to pressure which causes numbness and even back spasms when it gets severe. Even over tightening my waist belt still results in slipping and causes the numbness and spasms to begin.

I’m desperate to find a solution yet hesitant to keep spending $700 just to try out a pack. I have convinced my wife this is the last pack I’ll ever need three times now. And being in Iowa, I’m nowhere close to any of the popular companies to pay them a visit.

25 pounds slips, 50+ is absolutely miserable! Hauling an elk is almost unbearable. I generally hunt deep and at 50 I am hoping to keep doing so for 10+ more years. But I need a solution.

Anyone have the same issue as me and found a pack that solved the issue? If so, please let me know!

 

[TxLite]

Maybe a Stone Glacier Xcurve? They have a 30 day return policy. Could give them a call or go check them out at Scheels

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

For me, the Stone Glacier X Curve frame has been the best. I am tall and athletic/slender as well with a Hank Hill ass.

Only Osprey, an old aluminum frame pack from the 60's, and the stone glacier X curve have been super comfortable for me on very heavy pack outs. I did use a Kifaru for 3 seasons with some very heavy loads but I always had major pinch points and messed with it to no end getting it super conformable. It was excellent 50 lbs and under, over 50 lbs it became unbearable.

I can send you my X Curve Frame and Bag if you want to try it out next week and then send it back to me. It's a medium belt. I'll even wash the bag for you since its pretty dirty and a bit blood stained, been meaning to scrub it.

 

[Poser]

SG definitely has a lot of adjustability options, particularly the two tensioners over the hip bones which may help address your problem. That being said, if I were in your shoes and had spent $2000+ on packs so far only for them not to work and consistently having problems that are making your miserable and your gear not work correctly, I would consider the cost of booking a custom fitting session with the folks at SG and flying out there and back in a single day. Maybe you need a customized lumbar pad, too. You need people who make packs and know how they should fit to put eyes on a pack sitting on your frame under load.

 

[5MilesBack]

I have an early SG with a 1-piece belt......no lumbar pad. I cinch that thing down around my waist and above my hip bones and it doesn't slip. Then carrying heavy loads on the load shelf, and the weight is even higher. My lumbar/tail bone is sensitive as well, so lumbar pads kill me. This route works well for me. I'm tall and lean.

 

[Poser]

Another thing I've heard of some folks doing is to size up on the waist belt (if it will still fit you). This will create more surface contact around the hips.

 

[Scrappy]

My kifaru duplex light solved the problem for me. If you haven't tried one, see if you can borrow one from someone. Or order one and return it if it doesn't work for you. It was definitely a game changer for my no butt self.

 

[mrbillbrown]

In that pic, your belt looks too low to me. Like it needs to come up several inches to wrap around the top of your pelvis.

I’m also a very very flat back and have a nice 25yr fireman’s beer gut. Not too big and not too small.

The Kifaru frame with flat stays works for me as long as the belt is big enough to wrap around my hips and I do my part to tighten it down on top of my pelvic arches. Cinching the belt too low always causes slipping. Medium works when I’m down a few pounds and when I’m up a few pounds I switch to a Marge (between the medium and large sizing) belt. I’ve tried using carbon arrow shafts for stays and they work well too. I feel the stays have less to do with slipping than the size and position of the belt. All the other major pack makers slip on me.


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[TaperPin]

I was born into the same boat as you and two things - four things actually - have been ubundantly clear over the years with numerous high end packs. Belts that are wide and soft do not work. A stiffly structured belt that has a curve that matches the top of the pelvis is as good as it gets as far as a belt goes. On the rump, a pad that is moderately firm and matches the slope of your tail is as good as that gets - if it’s too wide and soft it’s not doing you any favors.

Many of the best belts today are wider than the generation before and some feel it spreads weight over a wider area and hauls more weight, but only if you have hips that fit it - for us it spreads the load over places that can’t support anything. I’m ordering an Exo K4 to possibly replace an older Dana Design pack of mine, but with it’s width I’m not hopeful it will be an improvement. The current Mystery Ranch belts are not an improvement over the Arc Flex Dana, at least for my hips.

Weight on our shoulders is just going to be a fact of life. I actually have horrible muscle structure in the tops of the shoulders where weight goes and I litterally can’t just pick up a pack and go backpacking without months of strengthening or I’ll get a muscle strain/tear that takes months to heal. It’s a fact of life we may have to haul weight 30/70 (or more) shoulders/hips rather than 20/80. That also makes the fit, curve and structure of shoulder straps more important. Big hipped guys can be sloppy with shoulder strap adjustments (and many are), while we have to ideal down pressure as well as the correct pressure on the top horizontal strap to just bring the load to us.

My third complaint about our top tier packs is the shape is take it or leave it. Big carbon fiber stays and back frames that might have two sizes and no ability to be shaped to fit a back doesn’t help. Old fashioned aluminum stays could be bent to actually fit. Where this seems to help or hurt the most is the angle between your lower back/top of pelvis and the weight supporting pad. When I see packs that have a different angle than the person’s body, I just bite my tongue - how do you politely tell someone their $500 or $800 pack doesn’t fit their body shape?

My fourth complaint revolves around the obsession of weight over function - they have to build packs that have specs that compete against other pack’s specs, because online shoppers often underestimate the importance of support and overall quality of fit over advertised weight, marketing hype and cool pictures.

As for a overall pressure point toughening, I simply wear it around the house, or while mowing the lawn - your legs don’t have to be moving, but time in the pack with weight can’t be duplicated.

Rant over.

 

[Jethro]

I also thought in the pic with your bow, the belt looks too low. Pic where you’re hiking looks like pretty substantial gap between shoulder and strap.

 

[oldskool67]

Bring the belt up to the top of your hips

 

[Rambo]

Wow, thanks so much for all of the replies, I really do appreciate it. And some fantastic information there as well! I’m going to spend some time reading through these again and weighing out my options.

MXGSFMDPX, thank you so much for your generous offer. If it weren’t so close to the season, I would take you up on it. I’ll be out of town on training next week so I won’t be able to make it work. Thanks again for that offer though!

The knowledge on here is always so impressive, thanks again for the recommendations!