[pct-l] Carrying Water Advisory

[Hiker97 at aol.com]

I know some of you are  experimenting with carrying heavy water on your 
waists like I do most of the  time.  This way it frees half my body (back/spine) 
from this weight  burden.  I can be Ultra Light from the waist up.  May be even 
Extreme  Ultra Light.
 
But I want to warn you about  something.  Be sure to train with carrying 
water weight this way.  It  puts the weight right over your large leg muscles, 
which is good, but they need  to get use to that type of carry.  Train with your 
water bottles/bladders  full.
 
For example, I can easily carry 100  ounces in my bladders, plus I have two 
16 ounce shake/mixes bottles next to the  bladders.  In front is my pouch full 
of small items.  The whole system  is very comfortable and easy to use.  
Remember, I do not use a backpack  waist belt, so I do not have any interference 
between the waist pack and  the backpack waist belts.
 
Just train with this system before  you hit the trail.  Play around with it 
for the most comfortable carry  too.  I use super light car shoulder strap pads 
from mean old corporate  WalMart auto section on my waist belt for extra 
comfort.
 
I do not particularly like carrying  weight on a backpack waist belt.  This 
is because there is a certain way  you need to keep the backpack waist belt 
positioned for effective use and waist  belt weight makes this much more 
difficult.  I guess it is okay for very  light weight items in pouches, but that is 
even suspect.  I do not know for  sure, but I do not think pack makers talk 
about the art and science of correctly  using a pack waist belt.  But that is 
another story for another  time.
 
Cheers, Switchback the  Hydrator