[pct-l] Why don't we wee more Thoracic bags (front packs / balance pockets / bodypack) in the Industry?

[John Abela]

Hey All,

Been yapping with a couple of guys off-list about this, we thought it would
be nice to post it to get a broader level of feedback.

Now first the obvious... the whole concept has been patented by a few people
over the last few years.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/D499882.html
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5950896.html
and so forth.

And there are a folks that are already making them:

http://www.thesyncpack.com/biomechanics.html

http://www.aarnpacks.com/sports_science/index.html (I think these are the
guys who started it all, right?)


Aarn Tate (from the website above) said this in a post over at BPL:

"A bodypack will weigh more than a backpack made of the same materials
because there are 3 separate load carrying compartments rather than one. How
do we decide which needs the least energy? Let's take two examples. Some
large volume ultralight US packs are up to 1 kg lighter than our Ultralite
models because they do not have frames, effective hipbelts, Balance Pockets
or waterproof liners. Sports scientist Ray Lloyd concluded from his research
that the energy saving posture of our Bodypacks more than makes up for 1 kg
extra pack weight with loads over 7 kg. Another example: if two backpacks
are the same weight and you add Balance Pockets to one, then the one with
Balance Pockets will use less energy if the load is over 3 kg. With heavier
loads, this energy reduction is magnified."


Now in the cottage world we have a few folks playing around with this, but
not a whole lot.

http://www.suluk46.com/RandD%20-%20RD24%20Cuben%20Fiber%20Chest%20Pack.html


If we were to have something like this one from suluk46, except instead of
having zippers, have a seam down the middle, which could than hold two pepsi
bottles (one on each side) that would give us the ability to offset 4.4
pounds from our back and potentially provide a good counter-balance (well,
at least until you run out of water.) It would also give us the ability to
have a smaller pack (or one without side pouches to snag on bushes and
trees) and still maintain our cubic inches for our gear.

Anyway, just wondering what everybody thinks about why these things have not
caught on - and if such a thing did exist (such as the water pouch idea, or
the one that suluk46 made) would you actually use it? Personally, I am not
sure, but it would be something I would 100% give a try and see if it did
actually help.

John