SG frames

[goodolehunt]

5’11” 190lbs. Any recommendations on which one would be better?

 

[WeiserBucks]

They're all the same height, pick based on your body type and belt size.

 

[Grassymike]

Krux fits 80% of guys, X-curve is meant to fit the 20% with a more curved back profile. Best to try on with weight to figure it out. You can also stand with your heels against a wall and press your butt and shoulder blade area to the wall ,now attempt to slide your flat palm behind your lower back. If your hand only gets to your wrist area or less you have a flatter pofile back (less Curve). (Krux frame). If your arm goes into forearm /elbow region you have a more pronounced curve to your back (X-curve) will fit you better.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Everything I read said the krux would fit me the best. So I bought that.

I really like my Xcurve...

 

[goodolehunt]

Krux fits 80% of guys, X-curve is meant to fit the 20% with a more curved back profile. Best to try on with weight to figure it out. You can also stand with your heels against a wall and press your butt and shoulder blade area to the wall ,now attempt to slide your flat palm behind your lower back. If your hand only gets to your wrist area or less you have a flatter pofile back (less Curve). (Krux frame). If your arm goes into forearm /elbow region you have a more pronounced curve to your back (X-curve) will fit you better.

This helped a lot. Thanks grassy!

 

[Grassymike]

I was lucky enough to be able to go right to SG in Bozeman and work through which frame for me. Learned all this from one of the employees who helped me. Also had two pack frames with 45-50 pound sand bags in the store to try out. Happy to be able to pass it on to others.

 

[Poser]

I'm an X-Curve guy as I have quite a bit of curve in my lower lumbar. Despite being sufficiently within the medium belt size, I had to eventually buy a large belt, which I'm undersized on by 3 inches. I'm a 34, the medium is 31-36 and the large is 37+.

The medium barely, and I mean just barely, covered my front hip bones enough to hang on them. It was fine with moderate backpacking loads, but put enough wait on the pack and I would have problems with sag -not enough surface contact to stay put. The large sufficiently covers my hip bones and stays put under load. Not saying everyone will have that issue, but I know at least a few others on here have mentioned the same issue.
I do have dense back and hip muscles and quite bit of spinal curve so my conclusion is the pack sits a little further back on on my body than the belt size range we designed for.

 

[AndrewMT34]

I'm an x-curve fan as well.

my wife tried both and loves the krux (hates the x-curve). I'd do your best to try both on with weight and you should know pretty quickly.

 

[goodolehunt]

I'm an X-Curve guy as I have quite a bit of curve in my lower lumbar. Despite being sufficiently within the medium belt size, I had to eventually buy a large belt, which I'm undersized on by 3 inches. I'm a 34, the medium is 31-36 and the large is 37+.

The medium barely, and I mean just barely, covered my front hip bones enough to hang on them. It was fine with moderate backpacking loads, but put enough wait on the pack and I would have problems with sag -not enough surface contact to stay put. The large sufficiently covers my hip bones and stays put under load. Not saying everyone will have that issue, but I know at least a few others on here have mentioned the same issue.
I do have dense back and hip muscles and quite bit of spinal curve so my conclusion is the pack sits a little further back on on my body than the belt size range we designed for.

The belt thing was something else I was curious about. According to SG’s chart I’m a medium (34 like you) but now if I see one with a large I’m gonna snag it. Thanks for this

 

[dump7244]

New to all of this. When you are trying it out are you just loading it down with everything you will pack and walking around? I would assume thats the case. Are you looking for hot spots etc? I guess what would make you immediately say no to the fit?

 

[SonoranPrecision]

New to all of this. When you are trying it out are you just loading it down with everything you will pack and walking around? I would assume thats the case. Are you looking for hot spots etc? I guess what would make you immediately say no to the fit?

If you’re really new (like have never carried a 50lbs+ pack for any significant amount of time) then pretty much everything will probably feel “uncomfortable”.

The most important factors for me personally, is the broadness of the hip belt, the way the frame hugs my back ( I have a pretty curved back, so the SG XCurve is my go to), and the stiffness of the frame.

I started out with a Mystery Ranch pack on the guide lite frame, and it absolutely sucked. The hip belt was super narrow which made hot spots after an hour or two, and the frame was super flat, which pushed the load away from my back, making it always feel back heavy, forcing me to lean forward.

All that say, trying on packs in a store can work if you have no other option, but ideally, I’d recommend finding some friends with different packs that you can try out on longer hikes.

 

[dump7244]

Super helpful. Thank you.

 

[eamyrick]

I’m 6’3 205 with a 34 inch waist. I have a fairly curvy lower back. I use an x curve with a medium belt and long shoulder straps. Just spent 24 hours packing out two elks and zero complaints.