Gregory Goes There

At Gregory, since we’re a backpack company, we get a lot of questions about backpacks. Good ones.

One of the more common is, ‘what’s the best way to pack a backpack,’ or various variations thereof. That’s a great question, because there are a lot of opinions and theories on the matter. More often than not, Gregory customer service/jack of all trades guru George McCloskey (that’s him getting the faceshot) is the guy to take the phone call, e-mail or Facebook message.

So, in the vein of being of service, we thought we’d put George on the spot find out what he tells folks. Turns out, George just answered the question again recently, so here’s what he said (clearly he’s done a little thinking on the matter):

When it comes to packing your backpack, everyone seems to have their own way, and therefore we only ‘publish’ general guidelines.  That said, here are my own personal guidelines (and please feel free to ‘build’ your own):

I typically start with my sleeping bag in the bottom (sometimes with, sometimes without a stuff sack, but I don’t necessarily recommend if for the first timer, because not using one allows you to stuff out the corners really well, which can be tougher when in a stuff sack). And a key point here is that packing your backpack well, ie: using all the space effectively without having dead spots with nothing in them, is essential to achieving positive load transfer, which means transferring the weight effectively to your body, and that’s what you want if you want your pack to carry well.

I (again personal preference) always undo any ‘collapsible floor’ between the sleeping bag and main compartments - as this tends to hourglass the pack - and leave the kind of gaps and holes you don’t want (remember: when packing a pack you want your load to be as tight as possible - I think of it like a game of Tetris - filling shoes, canisters, containers with smaller goods).  I then typically, but not always, fold my tent into a square(ish) and place it on top of sleeping bag - again remembering to stuff out corners and gaps with smaller clothing items and the like.

My tent poles, when applicable, will go along one side of the inside of the pack, but more often than not end up underneath the compression strap (in the side mesh pocket) on the outside of the pack

Next is the tricky part - organizing everything else.  Basically you want your heavy items, such as water, food, fuel (though you want to keep fuel separate from food/perishables; I always triple bag in case of a spill) to be about centered in the pack, and along your spine (as opposed to one side or the other).

You will want lighter items high in your pack, and medium weighted items a bit lower and to either side (remembering to balance each side, as you don’t want to be lopsided).

This is tricky as you may need pack/repack for a few reasons.

First, you want to be sure you have certain items accessible:

• Rain gear. I typically try to keep this very close to the sleeping bag compartment as I don’t want to have to dig around for it in the midst of an unexpected thunderstorm (always expect the worst; then you are never disappointed and always prepared).

• First aid kit. I typically keep it either in the top lid, or it is the last thing to go in my pack (if you don’t have one, get one, and keep it accessible - see above.).

• Sunglasses, sun block, lip balm, bandana, headlamp, trail food, water, clean socks (for the unexpected puddle), blister kit, etc.

Finally, my sleeping pad generally comes to rest on the outside of my pack using the sleeping-bag compression straps, though I’ve been known to carry the sleeping pad in tubular form inside of the pack (try it if you have the room, though it tends to get awkward).

As for strapping gear on the outside, I try NOT to as much as possible, for a few reasons.  Anything hanging on the outside is no longer part of your ‘bomber’ pack that you just spent a bunch of time packing (the amount of time will decrease with experience).  Anything on the outside will swing, bounce, bob and potentially throw off your body’s natural movement and balance, putting unnecessary strain on your joints. This all said, there are exceptions and necessities (like poles, sleeping pads, and the like - these things are OK), but I would definitely try to limit the items bouncing on the outside of your pack as much as possible.