Ways To Use Backpacks - Travel In Comfort

Backpacks are commonly associated with kids carrying books to and from school. However, there are many other ways to use backpacks. Campers, hikers and mountaineers have been using backpacks for decades. It allows them to have their hands free when climbing over a wall or fallen trees, using a walking stick when traversing rough terrain, or climbing a mountain and still being able to carry all of their gear, makes the backpack a vital piece of their equipment. It was from these groups that college students first got the idea to use backpacks as book bags. Now most students at all grade levels use backpacks to haul their school supplies back and forth. One concern of parents and pediatricians is the increased incidence of back, neck and shoulder pain, and numbing of the hands and arms, among kids who routinely carry heavy backpacks to and from school. When these symptoms could not be linked to any other causes, it was found that the one thing all the children had in common, was, that they all used backpacks. Obviously the backpack in and of itself, is not the whole problem. The load being carried, the way the pack is worn and the construction of the bags, marketed as book sacks for kids, all contribute to the problem. Orthopedists, pediatricians, physical therapists, and chiropractors all agree that kids