Pack Fitting

Aarn Balance Packs are highly adjustable, enabling you to dial in your perfect fit to a degree not possible with other brands. Your first couple of days with your new Aarn Pack are the perfect time to experiment with the different adjustments and understand what each element does, in order to achieve the best fit.

General pack fitting instructions for the larger packs are below, and video instructions for specific models are shown on the model page.

Initial Pack Fitting: Putting your Balance Pack on for the first time

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).

1. Tighten the top stabilizer straps (1) just enough to bring the top of the pack close to your back.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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).

Frame Shape

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).

Video Instructions:

Pack Type	Balance Pockets, Bags and Accessories
EFFORTLESS RHYTHM Hipbelts, Shoulder Straps & Backlength Backlength Adjustment with Balance Pockets On Load Transfer Tubes Ice Axe & Crampon Attachments How to Attach Balance Pockets	PIVOTING BALANCE POCKETS How to Attach Balance Pockets (models up to 2015) How to Attach 2015 Sport Balance Pockets to 2015 Peak Aspiration (and subsequent productions of other models) How to Retro-fit 2015-2016+ Balance Pockets to earlier model pack
FEATHERLITE FREEDOM Hipbelts, Shoulder Straps & Backlength Backlength Adjustment with Balance Pockets On How to Attach Balance Pockets	BALANCE BAGS Features Attaching Balance Bags to an Aarn Pack
FLOW-MO FRIEND Attaching Marathon Balance Pockets Attaching Balance Bags	BALANCE GEAR RACKS Attaching Balance Gear Racks
GUIDING LIGHT Hipbelts, Shoulder Straps & Backlength Backlength Adjustment with Balance Pockets On Ice Axe & Crampon Attachments How to Attach Balance Pockets	BEAR CANISTER HOLDER Attaching Bear Canister Holder
LIQUID AGILITY Attaching X Flow Straps Backlength Adjustment w/ Balance Pockets On	LASSO LOC STRAPS Attaching Lasso Loc Straps
LOAD LIMO Hipbelts, Shoulder Straps & Backlength Backlength Adjustment with Balance Pockets On Load Transfer Tubes Ice Axe & Crampon Attachments How to Attach Balance Pockets	SKI STRAPS Attaching Ski Straps
MARATHON MAGIC 22,33 Adjusting the Backlength	X FLOW STRAPS Attaching X Flow Straps
MOUNTAIN MAGIC Adjusting the Backlength Attaching Lasso Loc Straps	ATTACHING TREKKING POLES Attaching Trekking Poles to an Aarn Pack
NATURAL BALANCE Hipbelts, Shoulder Straps & Backlength Backlength Adjustment w/ Balance Pockets On How to Attach Balance Pockets	UNIVERSAL BALANCE BAG Attaching to any Pack
NATURAL EXHILARATION Attaching X Flow Straps Backlength Adjustment with Balance Pockets On	Converting the Balance Pockets into a Day Pack https://youtu.be/NyFng5vsWwQ
PEAK ASPIRATION Hipbelts, Shoulder Straps & Backlength Backlength Adjustment with Balance Pockets On How to Attach Balance Pockets