Finally figured out why my pack always felt lopsided after 10 miles

I been backpacking for like 3 years now and always had this one shoulder digging in worse than the other. Last month on the Laurel Highlands Trail near Ohiopyle I got sick of it and actually stopped to look at my load. Turns out I was just stuffing everything in without balancing the weight side to side. I had my tent and cook kit both on the right and my sleeping bag and clothes all on the left. Moved the tent to the bottom center and it felt like a whole different pack after that. Anyone else make that dumb mistake for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

betty_scott181mo ago

That thing about having the tent on one side and cook kit on the other is exactly what I did for two summers on the Long Trail. I thought I was just being efficient by keeping all the heavy stuff together. Eventually I realized I was basically carrying a see-saw on my back. Now I make a point to put my water bottle on the opposite side of my stove just to force even weight.

taylor9291mo ago

Betty that see-saw line killed me because that's literally what I was doing too, it's crazy how long you can miss something so obvious when you're just trying to get miles in.