Why don't any packs stand up on their own?

[DuneElliot]

After owning two Ospreys, an Arc Haul and a ULA Circuit I have noticed that not one of these packs stands up on their own.

Can anyone answer me why pack designers decided this was a good way to go? Why the slanted or rounded pack bottoms? I find it incredibly frustrating that none of these are capable of non-drunken standing ie need something to hold them upright.

[Heliotrope]

I use a Gossamer Gear Gorilla. It often stands up on its own. Sometimes it grunts and walk off on all fours. Seriously though, the bottom is flat and the curved stay in the hip belt acts like legs to keep it from falling.


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[Venchka]

Remember my big red Dana Design pack in Wyoming? The hip belt is semi rigid and supports the pack upright.
UL packs have very light and very soft belts that don’t hold the pack up.
Wayne

[nsherry61]

You're just packing your bag wrong. ;-)

Strap something on underneath to level it out and voila, it stands on its own.

On a more serious note, I suspect the pack designers put all their efforts into the best carrying pack and/or the easiest to pack and organize. A flat bottom pack would likely not pack or carry as nicely as a round bottom pack, and unless packed just right, it probably wouldn't stand up anyway. The other alternative would be some added structure and thus added weight. Most of us would take the simpler pack in preference to the heavier, self standing one.

And, lastly, if you carry trekking poles (or find sticks), you can pretty easily create a tripod sort of support with enough structure to allow you to lean against your pack and use it as a back rest.

Wow, I do this all the time and can't find any pictures. It's kinda like the idea of the chair shown in this picture, except you stick the poles up against your pack instead of into the chair pockets.

[DuneElliot]

Remember my big red Dana Design pack in Wyoming? The hip belt is semi rigid and supports the pack upright.
UL packs have very light and very soft belts that don’t hold the pack up.
Wayne

All the ones I mentioned tip backwards (onto the mesh) and thus the hipbelts have nothing to do with holding them up. I sorta get the Arc Haul because of the frame but it does have a flat bottom, but the Ospreys and the Circuit have slanted bottoms....just doesn't make sense to me

[DuneElliot]

You're just packing your bag wrong. ;-)

Strap something on underneath to level it out and voila, it stands on its own.

On a more serious note, I suspect the pack designers put all their efforts into the best carrying pack and/or the easiest to pack and organize. A flat bottom pack would likely not pack or carry as nicely as a round bottom pack, and unless packed just right, it probably wouldn't stand up anyway. The other alternative would be some added structure and thus added weight. Most of us would take the simpler pack in preference to the heavier, self standing one.

And, lastly, if you carry trekking poles (or find sticks), you can pretty easily create a tripod sort of support with enough structure to allow you to lean against your pack and use it as a back rest.

Wow, I do this all the time and can't find any pictures. It's kinda like the idea of the chair shown in this picture, except you stick the poles up against your pack instead of into the chair pockets.

Oh, I have my ways of making them stand using trekking poles or my dogs' sleep pad...I just got to thinking about why they were designed that way. How they are packed doesn't make a difference when they lean at a 30* angle when you set them down.

[DuneElliot]

I do agree that I can see some sense in the design being for a better carry and to keep the bulk of the weight higher.

[Venchka]

My Dana has a flat bottom but the sleeping bag makes the bottom slightly rounded. The body tends to lean forward over the hip belt. The center of gravity is slightly forward of the lumbar pad. It makes a stable triangle.
Do you hike with trekking poles? Use one to make a firm support. Plant the spike forward of the belt and slide the grip under the haul loop near the top of the pack. Arrange the hiking stick so the pack leans against the handle.
Then use the pack for a backrest while you eat lunch.
Wayne

[DuneElliot]

I already know HOW to make it stand up with help, I've had that figured out since day one...that is not the point of this thread....I wasn't asking for help or ideas. I want to know why people think many of the currently designed backpacks were designed to not stand up on their own and DO require something to hold them upright other than their own structure which would include hipbelts

[DuneElliot]

My Osprey leans like its drunk...it would fall over without the pad in the way

20180720_203110.jpg

[Venchka]

It’s a C. G. thing compounded by a very shallow (front to back) pack bag. The floppy belt isn’t helping at all.
Wayne

[DuneElliot]

CG?

And the belt isn't floppy at all...it is extremely rigid, in fact so rigid it can be a pain to put on. It doesn't even touch the floor.

This pack is the worst of the four but I believe it is mostly to do with the frame. All the ones I have had except the Circuit have a frame, and that just has a very slanted bottom.

[Venchka]

Center of gravity = CG
Impossible for me to know how to correct the problem by remote control.

[Slow Trek]

Thus the reason I carry an umbrella. When not raining,strapped to the side of my osprey,it usually makes it stand up. Kinda...

[fiddlehead]

Seems to me if the OP thinks this is something important, and many hikers would buy something that stood up by itself, then he should design and make one to sell.
Personally, I think my Go-Lite Breeze is the best design out there and even though it's 19 years old, I haven't seen a better design.
But I'm watching these threads and thinking there might be something out there better some day.
I guess what I'm saying is there are a lot of pack designs out there, if you don't like any of them: GET CREATIVE.

By the way: mine will stand up on it's own if I pack it a certain way

[Venchka]

My Osprey leans like its drunk...it would fall over without the pad in the way

20180720_203110.jpg

Is the Osprey Aura AG? 50 or 65?
If so, I spent an hour in a shop in Houston with the men’s Atmos and 45 pounds of weights. It handled the load fine. I hated the hip belt and hip belt pockets. Walked away.
Based on Osprey’s photos, the bottom is sloped up from the frame. Nothing to hold it up and it falls backwards. Right?
Wayne

[George]

simple answer - it is not a feature that sells packs

[Slo-go'en]

How you pack your pack and therefore where the center of gravity is a major factor in whether or not the pack can stand on it's own. If much of the weight is near the top of the pack, it will never stand up on it's own. Whether or not my pack stands up on it's own depends on where I put my food bag, how much food is in it and how much junk I have in the "brain".

[nsherry61]

You know, it the end, I also find it frustrating when I go to set my pack down and it just rolls over on its back like a drunk turtle. It's a total pain the the back side if I just want to set my pack down and grab something out of the top with minimal hassle.

[MuddyWaters]

Trees, rocks