Did you flatten them out at all to see if that helped?
Lumbar Pad
- Thread starter Jordan
- Start date
Did you flatten them out at all to see if that helped?
I haven't had the opportunity to use the Wraptech lumbar pad but I can tell you that the Duplex pad rocks with heavy loads. It is interesting you say that as I have not heard this before.
hammer0419:
If you have no a$$, you need to get the aluminum stays and custom bend them. When I first got my MMR years ago, I discovered that the Kifaru stays are bent for someone with a bulbous a$$. It took me a few hikes to figure it out. This summer, I got a KU pack, and the stays needed an even different bend than the MMR did. I would bet that your problem is not that the lumbar pad is too thick, but that the stays don't work for you. Once you get the stays bent correctly, the Kifaru pack will work as good as a custom-made pack, but you have to take the time to bend the stays.
Regards,
Scott
If you have no a$$, you need to get the aluminum stays and custom bend them. When I first got my MMR years ago, I discovered that the Kifaru stays are bent for someone with a bulbous a$$. It took me a few hikes to figure it out. This summer, I got a KU pack, and the stays needed an even different bend than the MMR did. I would bet that your problem is not that the lumbar pad is too thick, but that the stays don't work for you. Once you get the stays bent correctly, the Kifaru pack will work as good as a custom-made pack, but you have to take the time to bend the stays.
Regards,
Scott
slim9300
WKR
Can you post a picture of the bend on your aluminum stays? I'm kind of curious what they look like and how they compare to mine.
HellsCanyon
WKR
Are the straps going from the hip belt to the bottom of the pack loose before you tighten up the belt??
I'll try to this evening, but you really need to just bend them to work for you. It's tedious, time-consuming work to get the right fit, but when you do, you'll be very glad you spent the time doing so. With my KU, I hiked all summer on training hikes with it, but when I got to MT a few weeks ago, I discovered that the bend wasn't quite right - after a few days of hiking out of base camp with a light load, my shoulder blades started hurting. I discovered that the stay bend was concentrating the load on the very top of the mid-back pads. While chippewawarrior was glassing a horseshoe in the river below, I took the stays out and bent them for a better fit. Problem solved. For us skinny guys, stay bend is absolutely critical!
Scott
hammer0419
WKR
Everything is loose. This is my 7th Kifaru so I am not new at this. However this is my first Duplex Framed pack and suspension. Like I stated earlier, my T3 with composite stays fit and felt AMAZING. I am gonna try and do some more hiking and see if it feel better. I do however want to get a wraptech pad to try in it.
hunting1
WKR
I tried several things to try and like it. I had a G1 Long Hunter and liked it beter. Just me, not knocking it and Muleman got a good deal off of here. I have no ass either, but does not seem to matter with my other packs.
Here's a picture of tracings of the standard 24" normal Kifaru bend (black) and my custom 26" bend (purple):
They look similar, but if you look closely, you can see that I flattened and lengthened the part from my shoulder blades to my butt. The changes look minimal, but they mean the difference between blisters and bliss. Yes, I actually had blisters at the top of my buttocks with the normal bend!
Scott
They look similar, but if you look closely, you can see that I flattened and lengthened the part from my shoulder blades to my butt. The changes look minimal, but they mean the difference between blisters and bliss. Yes, I actually had blisters at the top of my buttocks with the normal bend!
Scott
hammer0419
WKR
Still not workin.
Last edited:
slim9300
WKR
I agree. I have custom bent my aluminum stays on my T1. They look nothing like my carbon stays though. The ONLY issue I have with my T1 is when I'm carrying 110+ lbs. My lumbar pad presses into my lower bag creating a hot spot. Even with 120 lbs. my pack doesn't "slip" downward at all. It truly feels like it's glued to my lower back.
My next step is finding a happy medium with the lumbar pad. I am thinking about buying an extra one from Kifaru and trimming it down until I find the perfect size. The other option is bending the lower portion of the stays away from my back. IDK. Maybe I just need to realize 120 lbs. is never going to be comfortable.
sk1
WKR
wow yeah that's quite the bending job there.....so i guess i am not expecting my composite stays to work when they get here after seeing all this custom bending being done, but maybe ill get lucky! i like to be negative sometimes so im happily surprised when things work
Interesting conversation!
I can say that my T2 pack is better than anything I have ever had, but I do think there is room for improvement in the 100 lb load range.
If I was to get different stays (Aluminium) and bend them, would I be able to adjust the 100lb weight to a bigger portion of the pad? I am having a hard time seeing the possibility, when the belt cinches down it pulls the bottom of the pad tight to the lower back and that is where the weight is distributed it seems I would end up exactly the same since the stays are placing the weight at the bottom of the pad. I hate to spend 50 bucks and it not change anything.
You can see the way the pad is wearing that the weight is at the bottom of the pad and when you place a 100 lbs in the pack it tends to dig in without padding.
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I can say that my T2 pack is better than anything I have ever had, but I do think there is room for improvement in the 100 lb load range.
If I was to get different stays (Aluminium) and bend them, would I be able to adjust the 100lb weight to a bigger portion of the pad? I am having a hard time seeing the possibility, when the belt cinches down it pulls the bottom of the pad tight to the lower back and that is where the weight is distributed it seems I would end up exactly the same since the stays are placing the weight at the bottom of the pad. I hate to spend 50 bucks and it not change anything.
You can see the way the pad is wearing that the weight is at the bottom of the pad and when you place a 100 lbs in the pack it tends to dig in without padding.
JPD350:
It's tough to say whether or not custom bent stays would help you. I can assure you that it helped me tremendously. I was ready to throw my MMR in the trash until I tweaked my stays to work for me. The normal bend, with my back, results in most of the pack weight concentrating on the top of the lumbar pad. The bottom of the lumbar pad doesn't even touch my a$$, even with the belt cinched up beyond tight! Think about it, those stays are very rigid, and if the lumbar pad doesn't touch you, it would be hard to tighten the belt enough to bend the stays. If they did bend when you tightened the belt, they wouldn't be much good for supporting weight, would they?
Here's my advice - take your stays out, stand sideways in front of a mirror with either no shirt on or a tight-fitting shirt, and have someone hold the stay up to your back. You should be able to see how closely it matches your spine curves. You can then adjust the bends accordingly, but keep in mind that there are lumbar pads (about 1-1/4" thick) and back pads (about 3/4" thick) between the stay and your spine. I'm actually going to get some foam spacers to put against the stays for this fitting process and fine tune mine even more. For me, it really makes a difference.
Regards,
Scott
slim9300
WKR
Yes. That is exactly right.
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