The first time I carried a properly fitted pack, I thought the shop assistant had glued it to my hips. I walked out of the store feeling ten years younger. Then I got to the first climb and realised I'd left the hip belt loose out of politeness.
That was the mistake. The hip belt isn't a suggestion. It's the whole system.
Most people buy a pack that's the right size and then wear it like a school satchel. Straps cinched, weight high, shoulders doing all the work. By lunchtime you're rolling your neck like a barn owl and eyeing the nearest hut with a kind of desperate longing. It doesn't have to be that way.
The hip belt is your best friend
Your hips are built for carrying weight. Your shoulders are not. That's the first thing to understand.
The hip belt should sit on your hip bones, not around your waist, not up near your ribs. When it's right, you should feel the pressure low and solid. The pack becomes part of your body rather than something strapped to it. Aim for the belt to carry 70–80% of the load. The shoulder straps are there for balance and control, not for hauling.
You'll know you've got it wrong when you take the pack off at a break and your shoulders ache but your hips feel fine. That's a sign the belt was doing nothing. Loosen the shoulder straps, settle the belt onto your hip bones, then retighten.
Shoulder straps and load lifters
The shoulder straps should wrap over your shoulders without gaps. If you can slip a fist between strap and shoulder, something's off. They should follow the contour of your body, not dig in or slide toward your armpits.
The load lifters are the little straps that run from the top of the shoulder straps up to the pack body. They do exactly what the name says. When you tighten them, they pull the top of the pack toward your back, stopping it from leaning away from you. This matters more than you'd think on any slope. A pack that hangs backwards is a pack that's fighting you.
Tighten them gently. They're not there to hoist the whole load; they just keep the pack vertical. If you crank them too hard, they pull the shoulder straps up off your collarbones. Fine-tune until the pack sits snug but not strangling.
Packing your gear like you mean it
The holy rule of packing: heavy items go close to your spine, at mid-back height. That's roughly the level of your shoulder blades. This keeps your centre of gravity low and central, which is exactly where you want it on uneven ground.
I once packed a tent at the bottom of my bag "so it wouldn't weigh me down". It did the opposite. Every step felt like I was leaning backwards, and my lower back was screaming by mid-afternoon. The tent now lives upright, close to my spine, and the difference is immediate.
Medium-weight gear goes on the sides and top of the main compartment. Light items and spare layers go in the top pocket and the outer pockets. This keeps the heavy stuff buried deep and stable, with the fluffy stuff where it's easy to reach.
Water goes in side bottles or a reservoir sleeve, tucked against your back. That keeps the weight balanced left and right. If you put a full bottle in just one side pocket, you'll be listing like a sailboat in a crosswind.
Snacks, the map, and a rain shell belong in the hip belt pockets or the lid pocket. You want things you'll grab every hour within arm's reach. Digging for a chocolate bar at the bottom of your pack is a recipe for stopping more often than you need to.
The order of tightening and the lunchtime re-tighten
There's a sequence to strapping in, and it matters.
Hip belt first. Then shoulder straps. Then the sternum strap.
The hip belt sets the foundation. If you tighten your shoulders first, you'll end up with the belt too low and the whole pack hanging off your traps. Start at the hips, get them solid, then bring the shoulders in snug, then clip the sternum strap across your chest to keep the shoulder straps from sliding outward.
The sternum strap should sit at chest level, not right under your chin and not down at your belly. It's there to stabilise, not to breathe for you. Loosen it a touch if you feel it pressing on your ribs when you inhale.
Here's the part nobody tells you: re-tighten after lunch.
Packs settle. Straps stretch and shift. The weight redistributes itself as you walk. After a few hours, things have moved. So when you stop for food, take thirty seconds to loosen everything, let the pack resettle on your hips, and redo the sequence. It feels like putting on a fresh pack, and it saves your back for the afternoon miles.
How heavy is too heavy
For multi-day trips, aim for a maximum of 15–20% of your body weight. That's the figure that keeps most people walking comfortably through the week.
If you weigh seventy kilos, that means a pack somewhere in the ten-to-fourteen kilo range. That sounds light until you add food, fuel, and water. Then it sneaks up on you.
If you're over that, the pack isn't the problem. The gear is. Take a hard look at what's in there. Do you really need the extra pair of boots, the three-litre pot, the paperback that's half-finished? On most Norwegian routes, the answer is no. Leave it at home and your back will thank you on day three.
One last tip from the trail
Practice at home. Pack it fully, fit it properly, and walk around the block. Adjust the load lifters, check the sternum strap height, feel where the weight sits. It takes ten minutes and it means you won't be fiddling with straps on a windy ridge while your hands go numb.
The right pack, fitted properly, should feel like a natural extension of your body. You should forget you're wearing it until you stop. That's the goal. That's what makes the difference between a day that ends with a cold beer and a stretch, and one that ends with you lying on a bunk staring at the ceiling wondering why you do this.
Get the hips right, pack the heavy stuff close, and re-tighten at lunch. Your shoulders will send you a thank-you note.
About Erik Lindqvist
Erik Lindqvist is a Scandinavian trail guide and outdoor writer based in Norway. He has spent fifteen years hiking fjord paths, mountain ridges, and forest tracks across Norway, Sweden, and Iceland.