Straps and Compression
From CiloGear
Previously: Installing the Hipbelt
Strap On, Strap Off. Philosophy. No Straps. Multiple Straps at One Point. Oral Strap.
You have a pack that fits now. But what about the straps? You’ve done the basics of using the straps in a configuration for a specific purpose. After some time, you will probably come up with three or four basic configurations that you use again and again. After all, this is probably the first time that you get to experiment with how straps actually affect the way a load is carried in your pack. This will be a process of experimentation, but it will deliver incredible results with a modicum of patience.
No Straps
The first consideration is if you are going to use straps at all? If you have 3⁄4 of the pack full, it might work best to compress the pack without straps. You can compress one side, or compress part of the pack, a tactic we prefer. To compress part of the pack, simply close down either the top or the bottom Dee-Clip – Sliplock pair. We prefer to compress the top pair whenever possible. It really makes the pack extremely stiff and tight.
Above, note the same pack closed down 1/3 and 1/2. Note the use of the simple strap to pull the load in and further compress the pack. A second simple strap going up to D3 might serve to set up the load even better.
Straps
The second consideration is how to best compress your load and transfer the weight to the appropriate part of the suspension. Unfortunately, everyone packs different things differently, so you must experiment for yourself, but you can take our ideas for a good starting point. You will come to see which methods works best for you over time, and our advice is to be patient and keep tinkering.
Take the pack as and throw in a realistic load. You won’t be able to tell much just playing with it in front of the computer or a print out, but it will be a start.
Multiple Straps
You can rig multiple straps from or to a single point. You can easily fit two straps into a Dee-Clip and a whole bunch onto a Sliplock. Multiple straps from a Dee-Clip are good to control a load, while multiple straps from a Sliplock are good to distribute a load. Here’s an example. Take your full pack, and set up two simple straps so the upper strap goes from S3 down to D2, the same Dee-Clip as the other strap. We find that it works best to have the strap that is longer tension second, with its sliplock behind that of the shorter strap. Do this on both sides and see how it feels. With only 10-15 pounds in your pack, it will be fine to concentrate the load like this, with a springy, stiff pack resulting. You can use this tactic in conjunction with the hipbelt to directly pull heavy loads directly down to your hips.
Note that the simple strap with the longer run is further back in the Dee-Clip.
You can also have multiple straps attaching on the S side. Take the straps off, and set up both of the straps on S2. Run one all the way up to the top Dee-Clip (D5), and run the other to D1 or D2. Tighten the top strap and you will see it pull the framesheet and all taut. The strap going across to D1/ D2 doesn’t have to be very tight, because all it’s really doing is tensioning the load across. We feel that this technique is better for distributing a load than it is for controlling the load. You’ll feel some change in the distribution of the load by moving the straps up and down the Dee-Clips. The Oral Straps are a bit weird. First they generally compress the bag, then they tension whatever you put in the slots. Get ski poles or baseball bats and practice with it and it should be come pretty obvious how they work. First compress, then slot the cargo in and tighten the strap.
Next: Advanced Topics
