Rucksacks Part 1: Capacity, Size, and Fitting

I’ve had the same rucksack for about 6 years now and it’s getting a bit worse for wear. So I thought I’d have a gander online and specifically look for information about fitting a rucksack. What follows in this post is a summary of the information I’ve found along with a list of websites where I found the information. In the next post I’ll cover packing your equipment into the rucksack and looking at the terminology surrounding rucksacks.

Actual correctly fitting a rucksack isn’t something that I’d really thought about. I just assumed that if it didn’t hurt then all was good. Apparently this is not so! Before I get on to this, we need to think about the size of rucksack that we’ll be needing.

Rucksack Capacity

The rucksack that’s required will be determined by what you want to stuff in it. General guidelines seem to be:

· 0 – 40 litres for day walking. Dependant on the activity that you’re doing (smaller for short walks or in the summer, larger for long winter walks or for photographic equipment, etc).

· 25 -60 litres for activities such as climbing or any activity that requires a large amount of equipment.

· 40 – 80+ litres for multi-day activities, like hiking, camping out to ensure you have enough space for equipment, tools, food, etc.

Rucksack Size

Most rucksacks have the functionality to fit to varying back lengths. To find out the length required you need to measure your back with a tape measure from the C7 vertebrae to where your back joins the hip bone. The tape measure needs to be flexible as the measurement needs to include the curve of your spine.

· Top measurement: As you can see on the illustration below the C7 is the last vertebrae in the cervical part of the spine and can be felt when you touch your chest with your chin.

· Bottom measurement: Run your hands down your waist, with your fingers pointing forward and your thumbs on your back, until you reach the top of your hips. This is the iliac crest, indicated by the red markings on the illustration below. Your thumbs should be horizontal at this point and this indicates the bottom measurement.

Now you have your measurement you’ll have an idea about which rucksacks will fit your back. General sizes seem to be:

· < 16 = Extra Small

· 16 – 18 = Small

· 18 – 20 = Medium

· >20 = Large

But bear in mind that as with clothes, bag manufacturers may choose different measurements for their rucksack sizing.

Fitting the Rucksack

This is where I always go wrong. I chuck the rucksack on my back and pull the shoulder straps until they’re nice and tight, then I tighten the hip belt for good measure (plus a hip belt makes you look like you know what you’re doing...right?). Well regardless of look, I was doing it wrong. Luckily my rucksack was about the right size for my back length, but still, in future I will follow the advice from the websites I visited.

1) If you have an adjustable rucksack, ensure that it has been adjusted to the length of your back as discovered in the measurement above.

2) Put the rucksack on your back with all straps loosened

3) Adjust and tighten the hip belt so that:

· Men: Top of the hip belt is be in line with top of the hip bone.

· Women: Middle of the hip belt is be in line with top of the hip bone.

4) Now tighten the should straps so that the rucksack hugs the back, but not tight enough to lift the hip belt from its position.

5) To ensure that the rucksack is good to go, tension the load adjusters and the chest strap so that around 70% feels like it’s on the hips and the remaining 30% feels like it’s on the shoulders. If too much weight is on the shoulders you may find yourself either being pulled back by gravity or leaning forward to handle the weight.

6) Get going!

Websites that discuss the same topics as above include:

http://www.berghaus.com/community/?p=3624

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/expert-advice/rucksack-guide

http://physiobench.com/articles/13/Protect-your-spine-by-choosing-the-right-rucksack

http://www.wildernesslectures.com/blog/media/blogs/a/Rucksack%20fitting%20_2_.pdf

(This link opens a PDF)

http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/backpacks+torso+hip+size.html (this link has a nice little video clip showing a person having their back length measured)

As with everything, make sure you research from many sources until you feel confident and comfortable that you’re clued up enough, for me it took a few hours, for you it may take a few minutes. Either way you don’t want to know that you’ve made the wrong decision a few hours into a multi-day trip.

Happy bag shopping!