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

[craigstanton]

Hi All,
	I hiked in 2007 and used the Aarn front packs the whole way, apart from the few weeks I carried my Dad's vintage external frame pack that apparently he carried me in some times, but I digress. Before setting off Aarn lent me a full pack system but I opted against it because of the moving straps going across and through tubes just left too many points of failure. Really super comfortable but there was no way I could fix it if it snapped while walking, and I digress again. 

The point of this is that the front packs, pictured below, were really brilliant. For having easy access to food, water, maps, cameras etc they were worth the weight They put the weight on the hips by hanging from short loops on main pack's belt strap and having a metal rod sewn in to hold them vertical. The tops are then loosely clipped to your shoulder straps. This only stops them from falling forward, it doesn't hold any weight down onto the shoulders. Another handy thing is that have their own straps and be slung over the shoulder individually or cliped together to become a day pack, so when I climbed Mt Whitney I could leave most of my stuff down below and still take plenty of food with me. The only draw back was the way I attached them to my non-Aarn pack meant they were a bit fiddly and I had to make sure they were flopped over the front of the belt each time I put it on.

http://web.mac.com/denisstanton/pct2007/Campo_to_Warner.html#1
http://webmac.com/denisstanton/pct2007/Campo_to_Warner.html#62
http://web.mac.com/denisstanton/pct2007/Bend_to_Little_Crater_Lake.html#0

I still have them and use them occasionally. By the end of my second through hike in 2008 I had cut enough off my base weight and wasn't needing everything within easy reach so I sent them home.

Side note: My friends back home had nick-named the bags "utility boobs", and I'm still grateful no-one mentioned this to the trail name assignment committee 

On Sun Feb 6 Ate Tune said...

I wouldn't because I'm already struggling with overheating.  The front bags
would just trap even more heat.  I'm considering swapping my ULA for an
external frame to help me stay dry.  Secondly, it's just another thing to
break.  Finally, I think those bags would be a hassle when putting the pack
on, which would be amplified by my hourly pack-off breaks.

I'd seriously consider for shorter trips, especially if I was hauling a
heavy load.  I just don't think it's suitable for long trips, not for me.


On Sun, Feb 6, 2011 at 12:08 AM, John Abela <pacificcresttrail2011 at gmail.com
> wrote:

> 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