Sciatica - and rucksacks

I'm a light traveller and no expert on rucksacks. My rucksack is 30 L and weighs about 8 kg.
Anyway, what I've heard, the main weight of your pack (rucksack in that case) should rest on the lower part of your back, and not on your shoulders.
You carried your bag on one shoulder. That's probably where the pain came from.

Don't go for a cheapie. Get an ergonomic one and get it properly fitted so the weight is taken where it should be. Get it weighted in the shop and walk around and up and down stairs for at least 15 mintues to make sure the weight is distributing properly on your body. The majority of the weight should be taken on your hips and shoulders.

I've got this one and carried it with my arthritic knee without too much of a problem. I don't hike with a full pack just carry it from plane/train/bus to hotel/hostel etc.

One Planet

Have a chat to your doctor first.

Edited by: annD

When you get to your destination, look around in luggage shops for specialized drag-along-the-sand luggage which should be cheap in such poor countries.

If you can't find any, buy a rucksack and hire some coolie to carry it for you.

Homour him with the odd "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din".

If you can't find one that looks trustworthy, hire a camel on your Mastercard.

Make that 'homour'.

I meant "hUmour", of course.

Fieldgate - from what I've heard, the main weight of your pack (rucksack in that case) should rest on the lower part of your back, and not on your shoulders.
Actually, my sciatica is located in the lower vertebrae. The impact travels downwards.

AnneD - thanks for the advice on how to choose and buy.

Meddler - I don't hire 'coolies' - do all my own carrying. And since I have to get my baggage there in the first place, it doesn't make sense to buy second-class rubbish in a country where most people carry heavy weights on their head.
No ATMs in the country, and I don't know how to care for a camel on a day-to-day basis.
It seems, in terms of planning, I'm a better man than you are Meddler-Din. (Also a better speller!)

I'd still like to hear from someone who's suffered the same problem, though.

Take less than a dozen kilos, you don't need more, and wear the rucksac in the way it was intended, on two shoulders. You can usually findtransport/small boys to take the weight.

Dave

'An ounce of prevention...'

You are lucky your sciatica resolved. Do you really want to take
the chance and turn it into a cronic condition?? I have some low back
issues and have gone over to an oversized day pack with waist belt and
a small rolling bag to take most of the heavier stuff. The day pack can
at times can sit on top of the roller.

Good luck

It's always a crapshoot-rolling bags can sometime impart a twisting to the back-never good news.

I'd go with the other advice carry as little weight as possible and be prepared to do laundry often.