Fieil Extra Thick Should Strap Pads

For some ultralight backpacks without should strap pads, these are an excellent and inexpensive way to make them more comfortable.

I am a big fan of ultralight minimalist backpacks for quick day hikes, where you don’t have to carry a lot of stuff. My Arc'teryx Cierzo 18 backpack is a great example of this. It’s the right volume for a few hours on a summer day, with few bells and whistles. 

But this pack, like some travel and “summit” packs, has only nylon shoulder straps with no padding of any kind. Sometimes, I find those straps digging into my shoulders/chest, and wished that it had at least some rudimentary padding.

A quick search on Amazon last year, yielded these simple shoulder pads which looked like they would fit the bill, so I ordered them up. 

The shoulder pads easily attach to the shoulder pads with the help of hook & loop on the front side. Once attached, they are very secure. In general I have found them to stay in place fairly well, but they do occasionally slide up and down on the straps, which is mildly annoying.

The mesh memory foam padding on the back is very comfortable and fairly breathable. Even when I added a bit of weight into the pack (Microspikes or an extra liter of water), the padding remained comfortable for hours at a time.

The Oxford nylon seems very sturdy, and after a few months of use, show no wear. They are available in half a dozen different colors, so you should be able to easily match it to your pack. 

After several months of use, I am pleased at how much more comfortable it is to use my minimalist pack. In short, they are the solution to a problem I didn’t realize that I had! 

Background

Several fast and light day hikes in the foothills and a recent trip to Hetch Hetchy in Yosemite. Conditions from light snow on the ground, to warm spring days.