[Philmont] Carrying Back Packs on your arm/shoulders

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:55:01 EDT, WHDickens@aol.com jammed all night, and by sunrise was heard saying:

> Hip belts are designed to carry most of the load. Your spinal column needs
> all the help it can get to protect it from the stresses and strains of
> weight. One misstep with full load on your shoulders and you may meet PhilSAR's
> finest.

And while that's the correct use, it's easy enough to not learn this
from the get-go. In training for this year's Philmont expedition, I
started right off with my pack filled with my trek gear AND increasing
amount of filler weight.

But there were plenty of folks training without any real weight. Not
only does that not give you the full workout, but it doesn't help you
learn the right way to carry the backpack, the new dynamics of your
modified center of gravity, etc.

> I trained getting ready for Philmont in 2006 by fast pace hiking two miles
> in 30 minutes with a 60 pound pack every day. The shoulder straps only kept
> the load from shifting horizontally; it had no vertical load. All the weight
> was on my hips.

And when you have that much weight, that's the only way to carry it. I
began with my gear plus 8kg, and worked my way up to 75lbs. for training
hikes (up to four miles). On shakedowns, I tried to stay at about 60lbs.,
assuming it was overkill... but on the actual trek, my total weight
maxxed out at 66lbs... and I was ready for it.

-- 
Dave Haynie                     Philmont 2007 Crew 712K1 Trek 8
Troop Advancement Coordinator <advancement@daretowntroop60.com>
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