Dig or Diss | Straps & Load Adjustment

This is an interesting DISS, done right it would be DIG.

Trekking packs are big and semi-rigid. This means they need straps that can pull the top of the pack closer to your shoulders for stability. In a trekking pack, they make great sense. But the funny thing is when some brands try and put them on small day packs, without understanding how they work…

A proper stability strap attaches higher up the back panel than the strap end attaches. This loops the strap higher, and gives room to adjust. With short daypacks, straps typically attach to the top of the back panel, leaving nowhere higher up to attach a stability strap. But in the crazy swirl of every brand having a go at making some bags, you’ll often see stability straps applied to daypacks, anchored to the strap end. So when you go to tighten this stability strap, it can’t tighten, because it is fully against the strap. I think the saying is ‘tits on a bull’.

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Dig or Diss | Sternum Straps

How good are sternum straps?! We love them, hence why this is a big old DIG.

Done right these really do help stabilise your pack and reduce that heavy feeling load slinking it’s way down your back, which eventually gives you the crazy back cramps and shoulder pain. When looking at a backpack that has sternum straps, you probably want to look for something that isn’t too narrow, or too wide, it should be a good solid width. The buckle is another thing to look at – make sure its sturdy enough to hold the weight, but not so big it looks like you’re carrying a baby on the front…

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Dig or Diss | Duraflex Buckles

Duraflex buckles are pretty epic – strength, variety and reliability. This is a dig. A Big Dig.

We really like the buckles that Duraflex make, they offer a good variety of designs and are stronger then most other buckles on the market. Add to that the feeling you get when clipping them in an out – ahhh, the audio the clipping provides is like angels crying in my ears…

One last point that is great – from a manufacturers point of view –  is they are quite affordable and offer a great quality if YKK is not the option. They are easy to deal with as a supplier.

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This installment of Dig or Diss see us throw down our love for any packs that have embraced the wide strap. Sweet, sweet wide strap, so comfortable on our shoulders, helping us spread the weight of our load…

Having a wide straps just makes sense. It’s more comfortable, allows for better balancing of your load and the best one – the straps don’t end up cutting into your back/shoulders. It makes even better if the wide straps have great padding (please not air mesh haha).

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The feedback we have been getting from you all for Dig or Diss have been great! There have been some awesome recommendations on potential topics for future Dig or Diss’ – of which we are looking into. So thanks again for the feedback guys, and keep it coming!

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Dig or Diss | Air Mesh

This is a diss, we’re def not fans of air mesh. It rubs on your skin real bad, doesn’t actually help back ventilation, and has terrible durability…

While we don’t advise you to ride/walk around topless with your backpack on, when you do and you have air mesh on your pack, you will more then likely end up with some rather sore chaffed spots around your shoulders and back. Even if you are wearing a shirt, air mesh can still create spots of rash or soreness. It’s gnarly how rough the material can feel against your skin.

Then there’s the breathability issue… there is none. Ride too hard or walk too fast and you’re getting the sweats. Mad sweat marks where the bag was, it’s funny to look at on others, but annoying when it’s happening to you.

We haven’t even touched on it clogging with snow in winter, cheapening the look of your pack, or fur-balling and breaking apart with any serious use. And yet the stuff is everywhere. Like those silly ‘headphone ports’, everyone adds them to bags without ever questioning why.

So let’s ditch the air mesh, and find some better alternatives.

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Dig or Diss | Airport Laptop Issues

So this is a Diss, we never like talking ill about anything carry. But it does suck when your laptop doesn’t fit into the trays provided at most of the airports…

Even if you try to follow all of Ryan Bingham’s rules of travel, you can still get caught with an oversized laptop for the tray that is provided. And the worst thing about that is the fear that your laptop will fall out of the tray, get caught on any edges/corners or just make it more cumbersome/time sapping to get through security gates at the airports.

Is it really that hard to provide trays that can comfortably fit a 17-inch laptop? Given how common they are becoming…

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Dig or Diss | 2 Way Straps

So this is a Dig. We are digging anyone who is making messenger with 2-way straps…

Kinda funny to think that some brands create messengers (or bags that work better with them) without 2-way straps. It’s a no brainer really, bags that have 2-way straps are just that much easier to work with. Being able to adjust your load, the length of the strap and the ability to make it fit to your shape are all factors that we take into consideration when carrying.

What are some the best bags you have used that have 2-way straps?

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Dig or Diss | Bags that fall over.

This is a definite diss: It bites when you’re in line at the airport, train or even lining up for your tasty Chai Latte (w/honey) and you have some sort of roller bag kicking along with you on your travels and the thing falls over while you’re waiting.

And not just a simple fall over, nooooo. As Murphy’s Law would have it, your roller bag falls directly in to a young child who has just learnt how to balance on their own two feet, and is subsequently scared off walking for life. Or worse, it falls onto the feet of an elderly lady whose bones are so calcified that they shatter upon impact from the telescope handle…

We gotta avoid those bags that fall over.

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Dig or Diss is a new category we are introducing to the world of Carryology.

Designed to be short and easily digestible chunks of content, these Dig or Diss posts will allow us to post about the things we like (dig), or dislike (diss) in the carry world and explain why they earn that classification. It’s all in the hope that we can minimise the diss’ and increase the dig’s.

First up is, obviously, a Dig. Top Access Pockets.

We are definitely digging bags that have pockets with top access.

When traveling with sunglasses, iStuff, or other delicates in your bag, you want them up the top so they can avoid any nasty crushing or intimate union with yesterday’s sandwiches down the bottom.

And having a pocket up the top of your bag makes accessing items so much easier. Like when your bag is beside you at your desk, on the bus, or near the door ready to flee, it’s the top of the bag that is within the easiest reach.

Top pockets are good. What about you guys? You dig them?

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