This article covers how to adjust the fit of your York 70 pack and suggests tweaks to manage comfort as you hike.
In order to accurately determine this key spec, you’ll need a friend and a flexible tape measure.
While it’s rare for a pack’s waist/hips sizing to be off if your pack size is correct for your torso length, it’s still important to check your hip measurement. You’ll be carrying most of your pack weight on your hips, so good hipbelt fit is critical.
To measure your hip size, wrap your tape measure around the top of your hips, hugging the iliac crest you found when measuring your torso length. This line is slightly higher than your beltline, so hipbelt size differs slightly from pant-waist size.
The HMWOutdoors York 70 has a padded velcro adjustable back panel. The York has the most adjustability of any youth backpack in industry. that can be adjusted to fit a range of torso lengths to more precisely fit individual users. The York 70 uses a velcro adjustable torso use different systems, but most of them are fairly intuitive. If you buy a pack with this feature, torso length is your first—and most important—fit adjustment.
The HMWOutdoors York 70 has an adjustable suspension, that enables it to fit the widest range of torso lengths of any pack will more precisely fitting individual users. The York 70's torso adjusts by breaking the back velcro and sliding the straps up or down based on torso measurements.
If your other fit adjustments don’t seem to work correctly, re-check and reset the torso length.
Your new backpack has several straps to adjust your load for greater comfort. Your legs have some of the strongest muscles in your body, so the goal is to adjust your straps so that the majority of the load rests on your hips.
You have four primary adjustment straps:
Start with about 15 pounds of weight in the pack to simulate a load. You’ll also need your friend or a mirror to help you check the fit after each adjustment step. Loosen all of the adjustment straps slightly before you start.
Adjustments happen in two primary phases:
The Main Event: shoulder straps/hipbelt
The Finale: load-lifters/sternum strap
In addition, because fit adjustment is a dynamic process, experienced hikers continuously work to relieve pressure points by fiddling with the tension in their straps (the encore).
After mile 10, your near-perfect fit can seem like a distant memory. Good fit, though, requires continuous attention on the trail.
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Richard White II
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