How to Pack a Backpack

Considering that I leave on December 19th, I hope to have all my items packed by Dec 18th. Although packing may seem simple and straightforward, it’s not always the case. The way you distribute the weight in your backpack will impact your comfort level and posture.

Weight Distribution

• Always put your heaviest items close to your back, centered between your shoulder blades.
• For on-trail travel, place heavy items a bit higher inside your pack. This helps focus more of the weight over your hips, the area of your body best equipped to carry a heavy load.
• For off-trail travel, place heavy items a bit lower in the main compartment. This lowers your center of gravity and increases your stability on uneven terrain.
• You are the ultimate judge of comfort. Experiment with different load arrangements to determine what feels best to you.

 In my case, my Jungle Tour does not require me to bring my own camping gear so my backpack will be relatively light. I am actually planning on bringing 2 backpacks. The first one will be about 26″ tall. This is my first backpack ever and although it’s half broken, I don’t have the heart to throw it away. Number one rule when backpacking is to have a good backback because it will make or break your trip! But since I seem to be hard headed, this backpack will follow me until it dies on me! So I plan to use this backpack to travel from one city to another. My second backpack will be approximately 18″ tall. I will try to work it out with the tour operator so that I leave my bigger backpack in the office in Manaus and only carry my smaller backpack with me in the jungle. This way, I’ll carry less weight since I won’t need to carry unnecessary items with me for 6 days. I think my plan will work out, what do you think?

Source:  http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/loading+backpack.html