Your backpack is supposed to make your pursuit easier, not more uncomfortable. Here are several key tips for adjusting your backpack to make sure it's right for you.

SIZE DOES MATTER

Outdoor backpacks are categorized by size, from day packs up to expedition backpacks. They are also categorized by whether they utilize an internal or external frame. How you adjust your backpack is determined by what categories your pack is in.

DAYPACKS

Day packs don't utilize a frame, so there is far less to be worried about when making adjustments. There are only two or three ways to adjust your daypack.

1) Shoulder straps can be tightened or shortened by pulling down on the short webbing ends that extend out of the tension lock buckles. These buckles are designed to allow you to pull on the strap to adjust, but won't allow the webbing to slip under other conditions. In order to lengthen the shoulder strap you need to lift up on the lip of the tension lock and allow the weight of the backpack to pull the webbing through the buckle. In older backpacks that use a slip lock rather than a tension lock, you will need to feed the webbing through to adjust the length of the shoulder strap, both to lengthen and shorten the shoulder straps.

2) More and more daybacks are being designed with a waistbelt or hipbelt. Waistbelts use side release buckles to connect together. The side release buckle has a webbing maze at each end, similar to the tension or slip lock on your shoulder straps. Simply take the loose end of the belt on each side and pull until comfortably tight. To loosen, lift the outside lip of the buckle or feed the webbing through the maze until you've reached the correct length.

3. Sternum straps are connected to the shoulder straps about sternum high and are used to stabilize and pull the weight closer to your back for more comfortable carrying. A sternum strap should be comfortable but not tight. Sternum straps are like miniature waistbelts and should be adjusted accordingly.

PACKS WITH FRAMES

Larger packs will utilize either an internal or external frame to stabilize the weight and direct the weight to the appropriate parts of your body. However, we are all built differently so the generalizations made when building a pack frame require adjustment before we use the pack on the trail.

There are two major adjustments that can be made with an internal frame pack: torso length and waistbelt height. Torso length is typically adjusted

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