Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2016 13:59:25 GMT -8
Hi I am a high school student, and I am participating in a PLTW engineering course. My team and I are tasked with inventing or innovating upon an existing product. My team and I are all avid backpackers, and agree that hoisting a fully loaded backpack on by yourself can be difficult. We have created a survey that would help us justify this as a problem. This survey shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. I would greatly appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to help me and my team by sharing your thoughts. www.surveymonkey.com/r/3BCTNJN |
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desert dweller
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Post by desert dweller on Oct 23, 2016 14:11:00 GMT -8
Good questions. Though quantifying what constitutes a "heavy" pack might be helpful.
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Post by Lamebeaver on Oct 23, 2016 14:19:36 GMT -8
While I would agree that hoisting a heavy pack is a challenge, there are ways to minimize this such as:
1. Putting the pack on a large rock, which minimizes the height it needs to be lifted.
2. Technique - specifically, loosening the shoulder straps, crossing the arms and lifting and twisting the pack in one fluid motion. This takes a bit of practice, but enables a smaller backpacker to lift a heavy pack with relative ease.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Oct 23, 2016 14:38:46 GMT -8
Here's what I do when I don't have a rock handy: bend one knee just a little bit, grasp the pack by the haul loop, and slide it up the slightly bent leg. Once it gets above the knee, I bend it just a bit more, and rotate my torso while slipping my arm into the shoulder strap. I can lift a pack of 65 pounds or more this way without much difficulty (that's about 44% of my body weight).
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Post by CompassRds on Oct 23, 2016 14:45:29 GMT -8
^Similar technique with about 50lbs composed of baby, her day gear, and carrier every morning.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 23, 2016 15:14:28 GMT -8
Good questions. Though quantifying what constitutes a "heavy" pack might be helpful. I don't know. That's kind of individual. I have to be careful how I hoist anything over 40 lbs, but you might be comfortable up to 60. But over our max weight, we might use the same technique. |
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 23, 2016 15:17:19 GMT -8
Now that I've taken the survey, I'll toss in my ways of dealing with the problem.
1. I keep my pack weight well under 40 lbs.
2. What BigLoad says
3. I hoist my husband's pack for him, and he hoists mine for me (we did this a lot when the kids were young and the packs were ALWAYS too heavy).
I'm trying to imagine any device that wouldn't just contribute to the problem--by adding weight.
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Deborah
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Post by Deborah on Oct 23, 2016 15:39:39 GMT -8
I'm trying to imagine any device that wouldn't just contribute to the problem--by adding weight Exactly. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2016 16:55:04 GMT -8
Funny question. The only time I had a problem was my '84 JMT trip. We had extremely heavy packs and we used the buddy system. We would sit on the ground put our arms thru the straps and a buddy would pull us to our feet. Never had a pack weigh less than 20# below that weight ever since. So, my problem went away with getting better gear.
Oh to be young and stupid again. Lost one of my buddies from that trip a few months ago.
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tigger
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Post by tigger on Oct 23, 2016 17:56:31 GMT -8
I used to routinely backpack with nearly 100 lb (and a few times, more). If you can't lift it on your back, you shouldn't be carrying that much weight in the first place. The problem is not being able to get that much on your back. The problem is you are carrying too much weight.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 23, 2016 19:05:10 GMT -8
If you can't lift it on your back, you shouldn't be carrying that much weight in the first place That's probably true. But it's also a lot easier to injure yourself if you start swinging a load like that around, trying to get it onto your back. And if there are shoulder issues or such involved, having a helping hand is nice--even if the pack is 25 lbs. |
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davesenesac
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Post by davesenesac on Oct 23, 2016 19:56:47 GMT -8
Did not take the survey because it had little to do with an answer about how to lift up a heavy pack. I'm a little old guy. My packs have always been disgustingly heavy since I became serious about photography that was a long long time ago. But since dispensing with my 4x5 view camera in pic below for digital gear and using latest weight efficient gear, my carrying weights are down about 10 pounds versus a decade ago.
But it is still over 40% of my body weight. Note my camera daypack is much smaller so doesn't stick out so far haha. The problem of lifting a pack is not a problem when I can pick it up and put it up on something at least knee high. That itself is a disgusting sight to behold. The problem is when there are no objects and no one to help. That is what you seem to be talking about. However there are no devices I can imagine that might help without adding more weight than I would want to add. So not a money issue but rather added weight.
So when I am forced to lift the d!@# thing from a flat position like I had to do on my last backpack this summer, a solo trip over Bishop Pass, I do the SIDE-ROLL to SLAVE WORSHIP position and JACK.
Pack is upright on the ground so I slip my arms into the straps as I am in a somewhat angled against the pack sitting position with my legs bent at the knee. Then roll to my left side while managing with some unpleasantness to get my left knee under me as my lower legs are flat against the ground while keeping the pack against my back. Keep squirming the turn in one motion so the d!@# pack is over my back while my chest and abdomen are squished against my fore leg and head is nearly kissing the ground. Then all in one motion with a mighty hiho s!@#$% start to rise up and kick my right foot onto the ground while powering up with my big right leg muscles while trying to stabilize an upright position.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 23, 2016 19:59:53 GMT -8
davesenesac you gave me a good laugh with that description! I'm glad I can just stick to lighter packs. Though I do take a trade-off in photo quality with my little camera. I compensate by spending more time writing.
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Post by johntpenca on Oct 24, 2016 20:17:50 GMT -8
I used to routinely backpack with nearly 100 lb I think the heaviest load I ever carried was around 95 lbs. That was a beast. I stupidly let my friend talk me into going gourmet. Probably carrying 40 lbs of food for a 5 day trip. The first day was about 4000 ft. uphill out of Mineral King. I was totally wasted when we got to our destination. His son found it hilarious how much I cussed and screamed. Meanwhile my friend trudged along with about half my weight. This was a long time ago. |
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Oct 24, 2016 20:29:38 GMT -8
Man, the torque on davesensac's spine in that photo looks brutal. It must be something like 90 foot-pounds.
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