Re: No backpack fits me

--- In [email protected], "AlinaN" <alinan41@...> wrote:
> problem. For some reason the shoulder strap does not contour to my 
> shoulder. There is space towards the back under the shoulder strap. 

Uhm, that's sort of how it's supposed to work with traditional backpacks (whether external or internal frame). The suspensor straps work with the hip belt and frame to hold the shoulder strap off the contour of your shoulder, so that the majority of the weight is instead carried by your hips with the shoulder straps instead merely keeping the backpack from falling backwards (that is, oddly enough, most of the pressure is on the *front* of your shoulders). Many ultralight packs have sufficient frame that they can do some weight transfer of that sort too, though most lack the suspensor straps of the "real-frame" packs and thus carry a bit more weight on the shoulders. 

So anyhow, look for a pack that has an adjustable hipbelt or shoulder strap mounting point so you can adjust the pack to the proper distance  between hips and shoulders, and then you can fiddle with the straps until you get a good balance between front and top for what's carrying weight on your shoulders. And as someone else noted, an external frame pack (which is explicitly designed to carry all the weight on the hips) might be more comfortable for you because their upper straps are explicitly designed merely to hold the pack against your back, not to carry weight, while most internal frame packs have sort of compromise straps to both carry (some) weight and hold the pack against the back.