It takes backbone to stand. No spine equals no stand.
This is one of my peeves too. Both my Mystery Ranch pack and my McHale Demo pack have a strong tendency to fall over during reststops---I'd take it off and carefully sit it upright at just the right geometric angle and go do something like filter water and BLAM the thing tips over and hits the ground.Originally Posted by DuneElliot
Sometimes I use the old Colin Fletcher trick of using my hiking pole for support---see pic---
Then again, most of my reststops are done using my laid-over pack as a lazy-boy backrest so I can sit down and lean up against the tipped over pack and rest my back against the bottom sleeping bag section.
Yes, Aura 50 (65 would be way too big for my gear). I love the hip belt...can barely feel this pack when it's on...and the pockets are okay (bigger than some) and can hold what I need (mostly). It's the only pack, other than my Arc Haul and the older Exos, that feels comfortable so I deal with the other issues (like falling over and smaller hip belt pockets).
With this pack in particular it is definitely the frame and how the bottom slopes up from it...nothing to hold it up.
As far as designing something myself...I could come up with ideas but never make it...that's what Zimmerbuilt is for! I'd love to take an frame from an Aura or Exos or Arc Haul and sometime in the future build me a pack around the frame....something I've come to need with my build and back issues.
I'm picturing those annoying flip out legs on golf bags that never seem to actually work in practice. Way too much weight obviously.
I suspect the real reason bags wobble is because that even if they were sewn with a perfectly square bottom, by the time we finished stuffing in gear, they'd still end up rounded and bulged, so they don't even bother to sew them that way. I know it's not helpful to you, but hiking in the east, we always have trees around to lean the pack against, or to hang the pack from.
True. But two out of the three packs mentioned...the Ospreys and the Circuit...don't even attempt to make them pseudo-flat. At least the Arc Haul is somewhat flat (it's the Arc frame that makes it less willing to stand alone). I guess since most packs are either on our backs or empty at camp for the majority of the time the standing up part is needed maybe 5% of the time. I find it most frustrating when trying to pack up camp and I need it to stand up while I load it during a time when I can't use the foam pad to force it to stand.
It's a minor thing in the grand scheme of things, but I'm always curious as to the whys and the wherefores.
When I'm backpacking or doing anything whether its for work or enjoyment and a piece of equipment bothers me too the point of frustration, I modify the tool to fit my needs or buy what works.
I agree. It is frustrating but not enough to make me think about another pack...I am so hard to fit because I have a long torso and I'm really skinny...and I find packs that have belts attached to the main body instead of being able to completely wrap around my hips uncomfortable and painful so I am limited in my choices. The Ospreys I own and the Arc Haul are the only ones that don't cause pain in my lower back...I sold the Circuit because of the fit issue.
So, while it is an irritating issue for me I have found my work-arounds even if it doesn't solve the actual underlying issue the pack has.
My Osprey Exos 48 just flops over backwards based on the bottom angle. My tent ties to the bottom, so... if I take the tent down last, then I can lean the pack up against the pole holding my tent up, or against a guy line.
Why don't any packs stand up on their own?
A carbon fiber bike kickstand attached to the pack with a swivel might be an option. similar to the kickstands that baby carriers come with.
You can walk in another person's shoes, but only with your feet
never an overwhelming issue i was willing to become disgruntled about
Thinking out loud.
Can the folding foam pad be positioned such that it provides the missing flat surface to hold the pack up? Not necessarily folded as originally sold? Anything to shift the balance point forward of the lowest frame point.
Or just lean it up against a log, tree, rock, whatever.
The hip belt & pockets on the Osprey AG packs are a prime example of how one size (or type of thing) can't please everyone.
Wayne
Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
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I vote too move this discussion to the nearest bar and talk it over Amen.
Maybe stick some baseball cards in the spokes for a bad ass sound when you hike.
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Nope, no other way to attach it.
Make this discussion a sticky in the Backpack Buying Forum.
Wayne
You could always upgrade to a 70's Jansport external frame with the hip hugger belt. The metal frame around the hip belt would hold up a pack perfectly. Better than a kick stand on a bicycle.
Where am I gonna find one of those?
You can walk in another person's shoes, but only with your feet
LOL I just came in from loading our truck to head out tomorrow for 2 nights on the AT. Put my BP in the back seat floor board (seats folded up) and the dang thing fell over on me 3 times while I tried to get other stuff packed. This was not an issue that I ever gave a second thought about, now it really bugs me!!!!.....thanks a lot OP
Guthook knows. Or they did.
LOL.
WAYNE
Ha ha...you're welcome. Don't you love it when people do that...point out something you never noticed before but now you do it becomes annoying.LOL I just came in from loading our truck to head out tomorrow for 2 nights on the AT. Put my BP in the back seat floor board (seats folded up) and the dang thing fell over on me 3 times while I tried to get other stuff packed. This was not an issue that I ever gave a second thought about, now it really bugs me!!!!.....thanks a lot OP
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