Backpack—It can be said that it is a must-have equipment in outdoor activities. No matter what form of outdoor activity you take part in, you will always have a backpack that fits your activity needs. As one of the most popular backpack products in outdoor activities. Due to their different usage requirements, they have different “stature” and “appearance” from each other. So, as their users, do we really understand their true appearance?
Outdoor equipment, as the name suggests, is equipment designed and produced for outdoor activities. Different outdoor activities have different targeted designs. A clear understanding of the characteristics and needs of your outdoor projects is something that every friend who chooses outdoor equipment must understand beforehand. Outdoor equipment is made through special design and production process. It is produced to cope with the harsh outdoor environment. The special feature of outdoor equipment is its unique production process and design. Many seemingly ordinary things are actually derived from the valuable experience gained by many users in countless applications. The stories contained therein are not necessarily those of us who use them regularly.
As outdoor equipment, the backpacks we commonly use in outdoor activities are the outdoor products we have the most contact with. They are similar to the sports backpacks we use in our daily life in terms of specific use functions, manufacturing processes and materials. A big difference. With the continuous development of design concepts and craftsmanship, the heavy and bulky canvas military backpacks of the past have long been turned into special-purpose products with various colors and various fabrics. In the current outdoor market, backpacks are the most diverse, targeted and functional products. In terms of characteristics, they have emphasis on light weight, some emphasis on sturdiness and durability; in terms of volume, there are small capacity and large capacity; in terms of function, there are mountaineering, hiking, ice climbing, caving, and cycling. used and so on. Today’s outdoor backpacks are not simply a tool for us to carry equipment. In special cases, it can even be turned into a warm sleeping bag or a stretcher for saving lives and wounds. The essence of outdoor products is to meet the needs of people in outdoor activities. And this kind of work that needs to be transformed into design is exactly what manufacturers are tirelessly pursuing. With the continuous development of science and technology, materials and manufacturing processes are changing with each passing day, and the backpack has been endowed with more functions in the design of details. In the limited space, manufacturers try to deal with the details of the backpack from the user’s point of view. Make the backpack function more multi-purpose and make the user’s operation more convenient.
The outdoor backpack I’m talking about. Mainly for the large-capacity backpacks that everyone often uses. On the whole, this type of backpack can be divided into three parts: head bag, backpack, and bag body. Then I will talk about the order of these three parts according to the backpack products I have come into contact with.
1. Variety head bag
The head bag can be said to be the most common place for backpack detail application. Almost every manufacturer will do some articles on it. According to the backpack products I have contacted, the detailed design of the top bag is basically reflected in the overall utilization of the parts inside the bag and the top bag. For the former, the process is relatively simple, and most of the bags are equipped with straps and locks. It is convenient for users to store documents, keys or small items such as glasses boxes, which is convenient and safe. It is worth mentioning here that the design of Granite Gear (granite), it is equipped with a nylon pouch in the top bag of the product with 3D TEPEX carrying technology, which contains the buckle and carrying parts of the backpack, providing users with a vulnerable backpack backup of files. This is very useful in outdoor mountaineering away from logistical nature. For the overall utilization of the package, I personally think it is divided into the internal function of the head package and the overall function utilization. The function inside the bag means that the manufacturer assigns special functions to the interior of the head bag, such as the top bag of OSPREY’s AETHER75, which is designed as a compartment that can accommodate 3 liters of water bags, and is specially equipped with a water bag and water pipe outlet. It is very convenient for users to supply their needs. On the whole, many brands of backpacks design the top bag into a pocket style to expand the use function of the backpack. This type of design is mainly divided by the belt
design of the waist bag; one is to directly make the top bag into the style of the waist bag, all accessories including the waist belt are completed, and the user can directly remove the top bag from the main body of the backpack. Use as a fanny pack. This type of design mostly appears on old backpacks, such as the TORNADO70 backpack from BLACK YAK that I have used. It will cause some inconvenience, and the overall weight of the backpack will also increase to a certain extent (such designs are rare in the current trend of lightweight backpacks). Another design is a combined type, that is, the top bag is combined with other components of the backpack (mostly backpack belts) to form a waist bag. For example, the top bags of DANA DESIGNE BOMB and OSPREY AETHER75 are typical representatives of this design. Users only need to remove the top bag and waist belt of the backpack respectively, and then insert the waist belt into the fixing belt inside the top bag to assemble a heavyweight bag. Pack a fanny pack. The advantage of this design is that it can reduce the overall weight of the backpack, and can make full use of other components of the backpack (comfortable and firm when carrying), which is easy to achieve in today’s modular backpack design.
Second, the eighteen weapons on the bag body
The most important part of the backpack as a whole is the bag body, which is also the most important stage for the details and functions. Let??s briefly talk about three of our more common designs.
1. From the upper part of the package, the most popular one is the head socket design. This design generally appears on large-capacity backpacks. Its principle is to use the three-dimensional structure of the material to form a concave space at the position of the human head relative to the backpack, so that the head can move more easily and freely when in use. The head sockets in the backpacks I have used are generally divided into two types. A relies on the adjustment of the contraction belt in the bag to form the head socket structure (such as OSPREY). B uses special materials to make a recessed structure (such as CERROTOREE). The function of the head socket is reflected in: when mountaineering, due to the slope of the terrain, the backpack will often be in a forward state. Especially when climbing up at a large angle, the large-capacity backpack can easily cause obstacles to the user’s head movement due to the volume and length of the backpack. Therefore, the design of the head socket is very practical. It should be noted that a convenient head socket is largely related to the user’s handling of the corresponding position when packing. The key is to try to place soft things in this position to facilitate the formation of the head socket. Reasonably arrange the equipment on the top of the bag to free up space for your head.
2. I believe that the biggest headache for many friends when they first participated in outdoor activities was packing. Looking at the package of equipment, it’s not a good idea. The package is crooked. It’s either a big bag on the top or a big hole on the bottom. Most of the backpacks I came into contact with in the early days were to shrink vertically up and down. When loading irregular shapes or small items, it is very troublesome to handle when packing. At present, the shrinking method of the corset structure widely used in backpack products solves such problems very well. This design is mainly to fully relax the bag body before packing, tighten the drawstring in all directions after filling with items, and exert pressure on the items in the bag to achieve the effect of fixing and tightening the items. This design allows you to keep your bag neat and tidy regardless of whether the backpack is loaded with more or less items. Not only the appearance is beautiful and tidy, but also the items in the bag will not shake during activities.
3. Another troublesome thing when using a backpack is to place items. When you want to find an item in field activities, either you have good patience and open the backpack to rummage; or you have a good memory and know the location of the items in the bag like the back of your hand. Unfortunately, both of these methods will eventually take some time to open the backpack to find. However, maybe in just a few minutes, a sudden heavy rain has poured you into a chicken; maybe a sudden cold snap has made you sneeze. . . . . . With the humanized design of outdoor products, instant pick-and-place design has solved these problems. We will explain to you the granite backpack, a typical representative of the instant access system (INSTANT ACCESS SYSTEM). Most of the granite backpacks have a very typical appearance, that is, the front face with two-way double zipper, and its interior is composed of two side wings and several fixing straps. When users pick up and place items, they only need to open the front face and release the fixing straps in the bag. You can easily and quickly find what you need. Without having to toss out other items too. In this way, the handling of the articles by the user when packing is much simpler. You just need to sort and sort the items, and you don’t have to think about the order in which your equipment is used in advance, and worry about what to put on the top and what to put on the bottom. Allows you to easily handle all kinds of complicated equipment supplies.
4. The basic function of the backpack is to act as a mobile carrier for various equipment. Therefore, for some items with special appearance, it is necessary to have a targeted transportation method. The wide bag body of the backpack provides a convenient platform for carrying such special items. The various buckle pockets and pocket nets we usually see on the bag body are typical representatives of this type of carrying design. According to the different positions, these portable designs can be roughly divided into several positions: the top of the bag, the body of the bag, and the sleeping bag compartment. Among them, such as the bag body and the outside of the sleeping bag compartment, various large equipment (moisture-proof mats, tents, etc.) and technical equipment (ice axes, ropes, etc.) can be bundled. For those technical backpacks, some are specially designed with accessories for carrying ice grabs and helmets (such as DANA DESIGNE’s BOMB and CERROTOREE’s PORTER ICE35). The functions of the pockets on both sides of the bag are relatively more versatile. melted. Generally speaking, the duffle net can be used to carry things such as water bottles or some sundries. Here are two more interesting details: one is the double-opening pocket net, which has one opening on the top of the pocket net and one on the side close to the user (such as OSPREY AETHER), which not only increases the number of items stored, but also uses When exercising, the user can easily pick up and place the items in the pocket net without unloading the bag. The second is the use of elastic pocket cloth material, which avoids the embarrassment of reducing the storage space of pocket net when the backpack is fully loaded in the past. Even when the backpack capacity is full, it still allows you to easily carry large items such as thermos. For example, the shawls on both sides of the Granite Gear TALUS use elastic materials. It uses DURASTRECH/VAPEX LAMINATE materials, which are soft, elastic, non-pilling, wear-resistant and scratch-resistant.
Three, see the seam and insert the needle on the back
The carrying system is the smallest place in the backpack as a whole that can play other auxiliary functions in terms of area. Due to the important position of the carrying system in the overall backpack and the user’s application, the carrying function of large equipment is basically not arranged on it. Generally, only the buckle parts are arranged above the waist belt and shoulder straps in the carrying system to expand other uses.
For example, the most common extended uses on the belt:
1. A pocket on the belt of the backpack that can store small items such as mobile phones and cameras;
2. The straps on the belt of the backpack are used to carry technical equipment (generally covered with wear-resistant materials);
The most common extended uses on the shoulder straps:
1. Dual-purpose chest used for whistle
2. The bayonet on the shoulder strap is used to fix the water bag and water pipe; I personally feel that this is the best embodiment of examining the details of a backpack. Since the water pipe will keep moving with the shoulder strap in outdoor activities, if the buckle is fixed, it is easy to cause the water pipe to come out. Therefore, careful manufacturers will make this point into a live buckle (which is quite different from the fixed type in cost and workmanship), so as to keep its fixed position without affecting the use of the water pipe.
3. Bowl straps on the shoulder straps to relieve fatigue during long-distance hiking
4. Loop buckles on the two shoulder straps to hang various items
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The above are some of the functional designs of the backpack that I have simply sorted out. In fact, there are many functions on the backpack that are worth understanding and developing. The above are just the tip of the iceberg. For equipment, if we want to use them better, we need to understand our needs and their uses in more environments and activities. Based on observations over the past few years and the understanding of the friends around me. In ordinary forms of outdoor activities, there are no bad gear, only lazy users. If you want to make good use of the equipment in your hand, you must use it well and understand it. Only in this way can your equipment reflect the value they deserve.