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"It doesn't even feel like I am wearing a pack!"
Aarn Balance Packs are highly adjustable enabling you to dial in the perfect fit to a degree not possible with other brands. This will most likely mean that for the first day or two you will need to experiment with the different adjustments and understand what each adjustment does in order to achieve the best fit. General fitting instructions for the larger packs are below. Video instructions for specific models are shown on the model page.
1. Choose the appropriate size pack for your back-length.
2. Loosen shoulder strap webs (1 & 2) and hipbelt webs (3). Lengthen backlength by pulling up on navy web (4).
3. Add about 10 kgs of weight to the pack, and put it on.
4. Place an arm underneath each Balance Pocket, then locate the centre hipbelt buckle (5) and clip it together. Keeping your arms underneath the Balance Pockets, lift the hipbelt and Balance Pockets to the right height on your hips, then tighten the hipbelt by pulling the ends of the loops (6) towards your belly button. The hipbelt is at the correct height when the top of the hipbelt is positioned around your waist, the middle seam of the hipbelt follows on top of your hips, and the bottom of the hipbelt wraps around the top of your hips. Positioning the hipbelt at the right height is the foundation for a correct fit. You can fine-tune the shaping of the hipbelt by adjusting the tension of the top & bottom straps in buckles (3).
5. Clip the right buckle-on sternum strap (7) into the buckle on the left Balance Pocket (8), and the left buckle-on sternum strap buckle (9) into the buckle (10) on the right Balance Pocket. The straps should cross in an X configuration.
6. Tighten the front shoulder straps webs (2).
7. Tighten the top stabilizer straps (1) just enough to bring the top of the pack close to your back.
8. Tighten the navy back-length strap (11) to snug the shoulder straps into the back of your shoulders. Over-tightening will increase the weight on the shoulders and decrease the weight on the hips.
9. Tightening the hipbelt U Flow cord (12) brings more weight onto the front of the hipbelt. Adjust the tension so that there is an even load on the front and back of the hipbelt.
10. When the Balance Pockets are attached, the O rings (14) should be in the middle of web, between the sternum adjuster (15) and the lower shoulder strap buckles (13). This allows all the weight in the Balance Pockets to be transferred to the hips and allows freedom of shoulder movement.
If the O rings (14) are next to the buckle (13), rotate the shoulder straps backward over your shoulders, by loosening shoulder straps webs (2), tightening navy web (11) at the bottom of the backpanel, and readjusting the top stabiliser webs (1).
If the O rings (14) are up against the sternum adjuster (15) in their highest position, rotate the shoulder straps forward over your shoulders by loosening top stabiliser webs (1) at buckles (16), and pulling the navy web and toggle (4) at the top of the backpanel upward. Tighten the lower straps web (2) and re-adjust top stabiliser straps (1).
11. To increase the gap between your back and the back of the pack, tighten the backpanel by tightening the top tension straps (17).
Most models have Auto-mould frames, so custom bending of frames is rarely needed. There are some less common back shapes where it may be advantageous to increase or decrease the bend in the side perimeter frame at the height of the lower horizontal frame, as follows.
1. If there is too much pressure across the small of your back, first increase the tension on the backpanel by tightening the top tension straps. If this does not solve the problem, you could slightly decrease the convex bend in the frame at the height of the top of the hipbelt (20).
2. If there is pressure at the base of the backpanel on your sacrum area, you could slightly increase the convex bend at (20).
Attaching Balance Pockets to your Pack Shoulder strap attachment:
1. Slide the sternum adjustors (15) to the top of the 20 mm webs.
2. Slip the toggle (21)at the top of the Balance Pocket onto the O Ring (14) below the sternum adjuster.
3. Check that the gap at the top of the Balance Pockets allows good visibility of the feet. Toggle (21) has alternative web loops to adjust for different size chests.
Hipbelt attachment.
1. Slip the frame extension (22) at the bottom of each Balance Pocket into the corresponding hipbelt holster (23). Close the metal snaps (24).