adjusting new backpack

“Recently purchased a kelty continental divide 5300.Done a lot of hiking over the last few years, but haven't backpacked in 30 years. I've worn it on some practice hikes averaging 10-12 miles carrying 35 -45 lbs. It continues to pull at my right shoulder near my neck & is very uncomfortable, can't seem to get it adjusted right. Has anyone else had this problem & what did you do to correct it?”

“silly question but did you try to adjust the contor(sp) straps?

did you see if the straps are the same lengh?

might be worth the look see.”

“I am not familiar with that particuar Kelty Pack, but the Kelty Red Cloud has height adjustment straps BELOW the back support. The pad height is adjustable from the bottom of the pack.

Make sure the back pad straps are adjusted for your height and that they are both the same length.”

“seams like I am still adjusting backpack. I don't think I will ever get the hang of it.”

“Can you ask for some in-store advice? I have gotten some great pointers from the people who sell packs here in town.”

“You guys use backpacks?”

“WK, they are more comfortable than a bean-bag chair, and look good in my living room.”

“i had to bend the stays on my kelty telluride...bent the stays to contour my back..and slid the framesheet up and moved one of the straps down...seems i'm not even”

“but I couldn't find a thread with the title "adjusing your old pack". Anyway, I have the Osprey Ariel 60. Love the back, but lately I noticed that after a while it re-adjusts by itself. The straps become so loose that the left side slides down my shoulder. I did notice that it's always the left side.

Happend on the last 4 trips. It's a pain in the A$$.

My pack isn't heavier then before, but I can tell you it's not light. Never was!

Any ideas?”

“My Gregory G does this a bit. I have no idea what to do to make it stop.

It may be too much weight in the pack. How big is the pack?”

“I'm not familiar with the pack, but is the strap frayed?”

“Actually, I have a question about adjusting a pack as well...

This past weekend, I noticed that I had quite a gap between the pack and my lumbar area of my back... Thinkbubelz thought that maybe I had somehow put my metal frame in backwards after I took them out to look at them, so I tried to put them in again... but I'm still not sure that I've got it adjusted properly...
any ideas as to what I can do?”

“it's not frayed/worn. this is my pac:
http://ospreypacks.com/ariel60.html

It's pretty heavy after I pack it, around 30 or 40 lbs. The pack itself has room for 3500 cu in.

this sliding down the shoulders can be a real pain, especially if you have a long way to hike.”

“If the ladderlock buckles on the shoulder straps are slipping try filing them a little. Take a small file and sharpen the edge where it bites into the nylon webbing. Just put enough on an edge on it to bite in and no more. You don't want to remove too much plastic, but just put a sharp edge on. That should cure your problem if the webbing is slipping through the buckles.”

“the what?? I don't think they are called laderlock buckles. the actual shoulder strap is what's slipping down my shoulder.

Oh you mean the other problem I have??! hmm, I'll try that. I guess doing this it would grab the webbing a little more.”

“I'm talking about the buckles the shoulder straps pass through. If they loosen then the strap would slide down your shoulder. If that's not the problem then possibly your hipbelt must be unable to support the weight on your hips and is creeping down due to a variety of reasons.”

“Find the nearest pine tree and rub a little sap on the strap. Just a little dab. The sap will increase friction and lock the strap in place. The the tar will probably get on your hands, face, hair, etc till nothing slips at all.”

“You could add a triglide to the strap as well.



This would help to lock the end of the strap in place.”

“richB, I realized that's what you are talking about. It's still too early for me. lol

While I was typing this I also realized that because the adjust so much, that's the reason why my pack slides off my shoulder. Duhh!! Yeah, it's still really early.

I'll get me those tridlide thingys today. I am a little worried about filing them down, but I'll try it just a tinny bit.


sap huh?? you werent' kidding? Don't mess with me in the morning. ;-)”

“You don't actually file down the plastic, you just score it a little so the plastic is not so smooth. Some coarse sandpaper might also work.”

“Yes, sandpaper will work too. What happens is the edge gets slightly rounded just enough so it doesn't grip the webbing very well.”