Hip belts on daypacks

Thanks for the further ideas. I did look at Osprey in Bivouac. Their Talon range seems to be closest to what I want, and actually looked really good except it jumps from 22L to 33L, which seems quite a big leap over the approx volume I'm looking for (roughly 28-30). Then the 33L one has the clip instead of the zip.

@geeves: "In saying that though some expert was quoted on this forum a year or so back stating that hip and chest belts are only put there to compensate for poor shoulder harness design." Now that would be interesting if it's more than just someone's anecdote, or a commercial claim to justify a lack of hip belt. It'd be good to know under which circumstances it might apply. I've run a quick search of the forums and couldn't find it. I might not have the right search terms.

Like glennj I added a chest strap to my larger day pack. I often find I do it up to stop the straps slipping off my shoulders, which tends to happen on unstable ground or when running/jogging.

in my experience (and re-iterating comments above)- hip belts are helpful when the a) the load is heavy and needs sharing and/or b) the pack is moving a lot relative to me, usually because I'm moving (jogging, mountain biking, skiing). So - a daypack with a light jacket when I'm photographing in hagley park is likely to have any hip belt clipped up out of the way, but the same pack may have a light simple waist strap done up when I'm trying to ski. When I'm trying to carry 10 days of food in a 70 liter pack up near vertical bush I'm likely to be using a broad padded hip belt tightened firmly. Not rocket science. But a few hints - the hipbelt can never take all the weight, the key is how well it shares the load and the distance between the hipbelt attachment and the peak of the shoulder strap needs to match your torso. And - freedom of movement while in the harness is the same thing as the pack being able to wobble. At best you find a compromise that suits you. And - use the stabiliser straps for stabilisng, not as defacto attachment points.

I'm probably repeating what Hugh and others have noted above, but most daypacks are actually too short in back length and lack a rigid enough frame/backpanel to allow proper weight transfer to the hips like a larger tramping pack. I found the narrow web waistbelt's are largely useful only for stopping the pack from moving around/securing it, rather than being useful for meaningful load transfer. As further suggestions, the urban backpack is perhaps one area Kathmandu actually do reasonably well... the Transfer or Cubic packs appear to be of a suitable size with a zip opening. Or, perhaps consider a custom pack from the likes of Twinneedle or Cactus.

In all likelihood members of this forum own several day packs for specific uses… myself included. Until I joined the CHCH Tramping Club, I used an older style Kathmandu daypack with a soft foam back and hip belt. It was pretty good but I got sick of having a sweaty back in summer and it required careful packing otherwise things would dig into my back. Then I started using my MTB pack (Osprey Mira26) with airspeed suspension which was much better, even with its narrow hip belt... however the gear required by the CTC for day trips always seemed to be a bit of a squash so the search was on for something as light with more capacity. Eventually I went for the Osprey Aura 35 with airspeed suspension (sourced from Oz) and it's absolutely ideal for day hikes and my back stays dry. It has a supportive yet relatively thin foam hip belt and ticks all the boxes for me (including pole stow-on-the-go system). The frame length means it's no good for MTB trips however. In addition, a wider hip belt includes pockets which is standard on most Osprey packs. Macpac have started integrating these into their newer designs which is great to see. Hip belts on packs this size secure the load and prevents it shifting about as Hugh has mentioned. The back air mesh system is not essential, but I'm used to it and prefer to stay dry, I wouldn't say it's a gimmick as it does have a purpose for those who sweat rather more than others…(not so necessary on multi-day packs). There will be disadvantages to my choice of daypack I'm sure, but it hasn't come to my attention thus far.

"As far as I can tell there's nobody stocking Deuter stuff in Wellington right now. " Im pretty sure packand pedal in porirua and gordens in cuba street have them

Thanks I hadn't thought of Pack n' Pedal. I looked in Gordons yesterday (which always just feels like a weird and very Americanised shop to me and I can't place why). They had similar Vaude packs, but not Deuter that I could see. I didn't ask, though. Anyway, I gave up this morning and just ordered from Torpedo7. The discount was good enough.

Heh - does this tick some of your boxes? http://www.aarnpacks.com/#!flowmo-friend/clu0

Wow. That's interesting that they're experimenting with the school bag market now, from the description. I couldn't rule it out but my Deuter Futura 28L showed up in the mail this afternoon. I'll see how it goes. The one I had a long time ago seemed to work. I have an Aarn Liquid Agility (I think, can't quite remember) which is alright for more proper day-outings, but I've found it quite tedious to get on and off quickly around town in and out of shops and similar, with all the straps and cris-cross connections everywhere. (I don't like knocking stuff off shelves every time I turn around, but it's awkward to carry in front with so many bits dangling off it.) If I remove the balance pockets then it worked better except that it was sort-of sacrificing much of the original advantage of Aarn's design, plus the remaining harness still wasn't well adapted for quickly swinging around for easy access while carrying and moving. It'd be interesting to see how it'd go at school, with a balance pocket. Kids tend to like to murder stuff with all sorts of unintended and creative uses. I remember reading a Consumer report on school bags many years ago. It recommended that a particular Macpac design was easily the most practical and ergonomically designed to make sure your child's spine isn't ruined and everything, but few of the children actually wanted it because it was a boring colour, or something like that. :)