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Rucksack waist belt widths!

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Hi,

I am trying to settle an arguemrbt with my boss.

If you were to buy a climbing/mountaineering rucksack sized between 20 and 30 litres which width of hipbelt would you prefer?

38mm plain webbing 

or 

Removable 25mm plain webbing 

And if the bag you were purchasing didn’t have the hipbelt you desired and in every other sense was perfect for your needs, would you still purchase it?

Thanks!

 

 FactorXXX 17 Jun 2018
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

If I was you, I'd get very drunk and contemplate how my life has been reduced to making decisions about rucksack waist belt widths...

 More-On 17 Jun 2018
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

At that capacity I'd assume the bag would be short enough to make it a waist belt rather than a true load bearing hip belt. As such I wouldn't use it no matter the width and would look for it to either fold back around the pack neatly (and stay there) or be removable. 

I'd therefore go for option B...

...and reject the pack if the belt couldn't be removed or stowed away neatly.

Hope that helps!

 More-On 17 Jun 2018
In reply to FactorXXX:

Gear isn't a matter of life or death, it's more important than that...

...or something like that  

In reply to More-On:

Hi,

The rucksack in question has a full length back panel, so it is a hip, rather than waist belt. 

Think Arc’teryx Alpha FL.

Does that change your answer?

 

 

 

 More-On 17 Jun 2018
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

In that case definitely 38mm for me.

If it didn't fold away I'd reject the pack.

If it helps I bought one of the original Blue Ice warthogs 38l packs as the belt was wide and wraps back through the axe holder. I've also got the 26l version, but that is shorter and I've removed the belt completely.

 angry pirate 17 Jun 2018
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

For me, it would depend on the style of bag and the intended use: if it was intended as a crag pack with heavyish fabric then I'd want the bigger belt for weight transfer to the hips ( probably would be stowed most of the time mind). If it was a lightweight climbing pack then a smaller belt that could be stowed or worn above a harness without getting in the way.

By way of an example, I use a cheapy simond climbing pack for general day to day stuff and as a bag for summer multipitch and it has a tiny belt that is stowed 99% of the time. My winter pack is a Lowe Alpine which has a novel padded belt which can be stripped back to a 25 mm belt. It's the future I'm telling you!

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

> which width of hipbelt would you prefer?

Not sure it's possible to settle an argument about personal preferences...

 gravy 17 Jun 2018

It all depends on purpose: the last small bag I bought was for taking provisions on multipitch climbs and I required a thin waist belt that would sit higher than my harness and not get in the way.  It's just there to stabilise the bag not take weight. I wouldn't have got it without the belt, I wouldn't have got a thick, heavy belt, a simple loop at the back to help put it out the way would be useful.

Bigger than 25l I'd be thinking of a waist belt and transferring load to my hips.

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Hi Tom,

38mm, no padding whatsoever. This width offers some support, whereas 25mm doesn't.

Yes, I wouldn't buy a climbing pack if it had padded hipbelt. I nearly purchased a Montane Featherlight Alpine 35, chose against due to hipbelt padding. Price, features, colour, size ticked all the boxes and you wouldn't use a pack of this size without!

Stuart

 

 


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