Do women need hip belts?
Hi ladies, earlier I posted this message in another thread, but I wanted to know what you thought of it.
Originally Posted by BERNINBUSH
The feamle dino here - I've carried a variety of packs and those with a well-thought out supension system including a hip belt worked better for me. The Ray-Way type bags make my shoulders ache all night even when the contents only weigh 15 to 20 lbs. (6.8 to 9 Kg). YMMV
I like using a hip belt (the more tightly fastened the better), especially when carrying 30 lbs. and up. I think it's true that women's shoulders and upper bodies tend to be weaker in proportion to their lower bodies and legs, so anything that would move the center of gravity and weight lower should be of benefit.
Jane in CT
The way you pack your pack can make a big difference too. I use to take people out on backpacking trips..all the gear was mine. To keep up with all that gear I used seperate stuff sacks to organize it all..one for the sleeping bag..one for the clothes..the kitchen gear..one for food..one for the shelter. It was very easy to unload and repack with this setup and we would try a variety of loads until the pack felt good to the carrier. In those days the tent was the heaviest item and most women felt the best with it packed in the middle of their backs...the men either put it at the top or at the bottom. Once we got out on the trail people would change it around until they found exactly what they liked. It varied alot. I would definitly experiment with they way you pack your pack until you find what feels best.
I do not think male or female has anything to do with it. A hip belt allows either to carry a heavier load. Military pack made strictly for men had waistbelts decades ago.
I do think body shape can affect the geometry of the belt. So depending on your body a pack designed for women may work out better than a generic one.
I think a hip belt is a must - don't know whether that has to do with body type or just because.. I usually cinch my hip belt pretty tight, so that I don't have all the weight on my shoulders. After a few days, my hips are somewhat bruised (after a week, it hurts to put underwear on) but I absolutely prefer it to being hunched under the weight on my shoulders. I find that walking is easier. I have a Kelty Cheyenne, which is a women's pack, and I find it very comfortable. You might want to try one.
I personally, loovvveee the weight distribution that you get with the hip belt. When I first got my pack I tried on a regular back-pack with no hip belt with 35lbs, and then my pack with a hip belt and the same weight, and it was like going from a billion pounds on my back to almost nothing. I would recommend going with a pack that has a comfortable hip belt.
And the winner for digging up the oldest thread this week goes to...
~If you cant do it with one bullet, dont do it at all.
~Well behaved women rarely make history.
Better than doing what everyone else does.....start an a new thread discussing the merits or dismerits of alchy stoves.
Love people and use things; never the reverse.
Mt. Katahdin would be a lot quicker to climb if its darn access trail didn't start all the way down in Georgia.
Originally Posted by BERNINBUSH
My personal theory is that hip belts may be more helpful to women than to men. It's simple biology: men carry a lot of strength in their torso, while women have strength primarily in their legs. I'm female, and find that I have an easier time carrying a heavier load with a hip belt than a lighter load with no belt, because it transfers the weight to a stronger part of my body.
Not sure if I am allowed to post here in the Female Hiking Forum as I am a guy, but even if a guy's torso is stronger and can support more of the packs weight, don't his legs have to carry his torso and thus the pack? If the torso (aka shoulders) carries weight doesn't it have to work and then the legs have to work as well? Transferring the weight to the hips bypasses the muscles of the torso and thus takes less energy.
At least I think that is how it works.
What? Me worry??
If you are not sure if you should be posting in the womens forum, read the sticky post and then follow the directions. But as we all know, men won't read or follow the directions...
~If you cant do it with one bullet, dont do it at all.
~Well behaved women rarely make history.
it's really not their fault. their pride won't let them..
I just clicked a link to a question and then saw the red border, now that I've been "Welcomed", I'll leave.
Have a nice day.
What? Me worry??
If you are getting bruising and pain in your hip because of the hipbelt you may wish to review the type of hip belt on your pack. It may be too wide for your hip or maybe the wrong angle shape for you. YOU SHOULD NOT BE GETTING PAIN IF IT FITS YOU CORRECTLY. I have been hiking for years with approx. 30 - 35 lbs weight using a Deuter 60 + 10 litre pack I love it and would not use any other pack. The hip belt on my pack is awesome (for me) I also pull it in very tight to lift the weight of my shoulders.
Happy Hiking
I'm going Nobo 19th March 2010 with my Deuter.
I agree. I've used a number of different packs. All of them had hip belts, but the suspensions systems, width of the belt, and curvature of the belt differed. Its really what is the most comfortable for you, regardless of your gender.
Ladies, I've read the criteria for posting in the female forum. I think what I have to add could be helpful so don't think I'm trying to invade your space. Just trying to help. If it's not my post will be deleted.
This is an old thread.
We are forgetting what waist belts are designed to do in the vast majority of backpacks, whether they are designed for men or women. They help redistribute some of the pack wt to the hips so a less proportinate amount of wt is put on the shoulders and back. Most of a loaded packs wt should be carried by the hips. Since women in general have less muscular upper body strength than men it MAY BE more important to have a woman's pack that fits correctly and distributes even more wt. to a female's hips.
The backpacks that are designed with a flimsy waist/hipbelt, perhaps something like hipbelt wings or even just a webbing strap that tightens around the waist or perhaps NO waistbelt at all, whether they be designed for men or women, are usually employed by those that carry VERY LITE(Read: ultralite and SUL) loads. When carrying these VERY LITE loads, it is thought that it is more acceptable to carry a substantially greater amount, and sometimes even all the wt, on the shoulders. Sometimes the webbing belt around the waist is doing nothing more but keeping the pack from sloshing around uncontrollably. Obviously, even with UL and SUL loads, when using no waistbelt/hipbelt, whether or not the person is male or female, the wt is being carried on the shoulders which may be even more of a burden for women.
IMO, the vast majority of female backpackers should use waist/hipbelts, especially those hauling conventionally weighted packs and gear.
Men are more than welcome to add information to the women's forum. The topics can get personal, so we just ask the men to refrain from making smarmy comments.
"It was on the first of May, in the year 1769, that I resigned my domestic happiness for a time, and left my family and peaceable habitation on the Yadkin River, in North Carolina, to wander through the wilderness of America." - Daniel Boone
Hip belt for sure. Takes weight off neck and shoulders. If you want to give your waist a rest, there's always the option of unclipping the belt for a few miles. It helps in carrying pack weight higher and so reduces lower back strain.
*Chuckle* This may be an old revived post, but it certainly has merit.
On my very first longish hike at 15 years old in the NH Whites and hauling an old fashioned non-belted and even non-external (no such animal as internal then) framed pack on my way up Mt Madison...trust me when I say, hip belts are da bomb!
(That was the first time I had ever seen an external frame pack on a couple of the other hikers.)
I 'returned' to backpacking about 6-7 years back after my children were all finally out on their own. I am absolutely thrilled with all the new innovations since I was 15 and met a small section of the AT for the very first time.
I think hikers that are overweight need to carry less, whether they are men or women. When I was 230, I found it much harder to carry 30 pounds than at 200 pounds. I played around with systems that balanced weight front and back that could be carried with looser straps, but came to the conclusion that more than 10 pounds weight on the shoulders is too hard on the back, and that if you do carry 30-40 pounds it should be pretty much all on the back such that you lean forward slightly. This forward lean works best when you are not overweight, because you get a better forward lean, so that more weight ends up on your hips.
Anyhow, 15-25 pounds should be sufficient for most hikers, unless perhaps you bring a youg family along. 15-25 pounds can be carried easily any number of ways when you are not too much overweight. The practical challenge is finding the best way to carry 15-25 pounds when we are overweight, and most of us are from time to time, which is another good reason for doing the hiking that we do. 15 pounds is very easy, because with 10 pounds on the shoulders, the belt does not have to be all that tight for the 5 pounds on the hips. 25 pounds is a bit harder, because the belt has to be about 3 times tighter for the 15 pounds on the hips. The slight forward lean never really happens when you are overweight, plus there is often a less well defined set of hips. But there is usually enough padding, internal and external, that you can tighten the strap enough and still be comfortable. More than 25 pounds, plus the extra body weight, just gets too hard when you are overweight, so you can usually hike it off faster with a lighter pack because you can hike farther and faster with a light pack.
There might be more pear vs apple differences than man vs woman differences.
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