Your daypack, or in fact your larger rucksack if carrying everything on a long-distance walk, is second only in importance to your footwear as a badly fitting pack will make you miserable.
Straps are the most important things, those over your shoulders and those that fasten around your middle, or your hips to be more precise.
If your shoulder straps are loose that will drag the weight of the bag down so all the weight is put on your shoulders. If they are too tight then they will be uncomfortable and restrictive.
Not all daypacks have a strap that fastens round the hip but for full days walking, I would suggest that you find a daypack that has them because they take about 80-90% of your pack’s weight off your shoulders. Feels better just thinking about it. For women, the middle of the hip strap will sit in line with the top of the hip.
Your pack may also have a chest strap and it’s role is to keep the shoulder straps in place and they reduce any swaying of the pack.
It’s important that you wear your pack how it’s meant to be worn and not over one shoulder as after a while, or at the end of the day, you will definitely feel uncomfortable as you are putting your body out of alignment. This can lead to a number of posture and mobility problems in the future.
Daypacks/rucksacks are measured in litres and for a full day hiking/walking/tramping/trekking you will need one of 20 – 30 litres in size. Any questions, please ask.
A day pack is really useful on all sorts of walks. To help you plan fun walks on your own or with friends and family as well as an adventure over more than one day get yourself a copy of our Walking Toolkit.