I'm a 6 foot tall male.
I just received my pack.
The hip belt is up by my ribs, so therefore not useful.
Otherwise I like the features of the pack.
I was curious if other tall people had similar issue?
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
Unfortunately, that feature is not one-size fits all. It's a known issue for Rick himself and other tall guys here, unless (perhaps) one were all legs and short torso. Being tall and strong is part of the reason Rick has favored his simplest Classic Back Door Bag over the years, whereas I, a short noodle-arm, favor the features of the Convertible Carry-On (including the possibility to expand it).
Posted by
San Jose
1194 posts
It's not really fix-able. The pack is 21 inches in length. If your torso is longer than that you won't get a match up. For comparison, I'm 5'4" and have a 18" torso. The Rick Steves pack has a fixed harness, and your back is larger than 21". Some travel packs have a separate adjustable harness, but this would increase the cost and weight of the pack.
You could lengthen the shoulder straps, lowering the pack. Then you probably have pinching in the neck. If you really care about this you need a pack with a different suspension system.
You could also consider carrying it with a shoulder strap like the OP Tech SOS strap. It's super comfy.
Good news: you probably won't need the pack straps often.
Posted by
Medford, OR, USA
5837 posts
As Cindy notes, having a load carrying hip belt on a 21-inch high pack doesn't work for anyone with a long torso. Rick Steves should specify applicable torso lengths for any bag with a hip belt intended to support weight. If the hip belt is above the top of hip, its only value would be to stabilize the bag but that would not be of value for a tourist bag.
Given that most users are likely carrying loads under 10 kg (with some airlines limiting carry-on weight to 8 kg), a hip belt is really not needed unless you plan on using the bag for long treks.
Posted by
Glostrup, Denmark
1394 posts
Send it back and get an other bag which suits you better.
If you are only going to carry from plane to train and train to hotel, then I recommend RS Classic bag from personal experience.
If you consider carrying for longer periods you need to go to an outdoor shop and try on different bags.
Posted by
4 posts
My problem with this bag is that the shoulder straps are really inadequate. I have small backpacks that have better straps. Very uncomfortable to wear for any length of time, and really bad to use with just one shoulder. Also it's too soft sided, and doesn't keep it's shape. I even used the cubes, but really didn't help. I don't recommend this.