What do you carry in your back pack and are they better for your back?

[pussinboots61]

I love my backpacks, I have a small one and slightly larger one. I carry my small laptop, brolley, notebook, charger etc and my work lunch in the larger one also.

I've heard they are better for your back than carrying heavy tote bags, which I used to always carry and felt hampered with it, especially if I'd got other shopping too.

A friend of mine has said they damage your back. She's also said they are only for hikers and lesbians! Now I feel I shouldn't be using one.

I'm neither a hiker or a lesbian. They are great. They keep your hands free.

Hikers and lesbians are the height of fashion

Your friend is a twit

Your friend thinks backpacks are worse for your back then. Shoulder bag or tote bag? And you listen to her?

Tote bags are really bad for your spine because of the way you twist to hold them.

Other than a couple of fabric tote bags for the odd bit of shopping, I always prefer back packs. I have a couple of leather ones, a laptop one, a couple of sports ones, and some of those PE bags.

Backpacks are definitely better for my back, even crossbody bags cause me back pain after a while.
I have a collection of backpacks in different sizes - my work and gym bags are purely functional, whereas my bags for going out are neater and prettier. In the smallest ones I just carry purse, phone, lipstick, pen, and a small water bottle.
In the bigger ones I carry whatever I need, so could be umbrella, book, jumper, spare bra, talc, scarf, lunch, coffee and have space over for a bit of shopping.

Thank you for your replies. My friend is a very dressed up woman and so am I, I am certainly not butch, which she also thinks resembles women who wear backpacks.

She says that women are not meant to carry things on their backs and it causes backache in the long run. I found this when I first started using a backpack after years of carrying a heavy tote but now I am used to it and find it better.

I do carry a cross body bag too, a very small one, just for my essentials as I find it easier to be able to just grab things without always taking the backpack off my back to get my bus pass, cards etc.

I don't really listen to my friend as such but when she talks like that I feel as if I am not looking up to par and could end up with back problems. But then again I am a worrier and an overthinker 😀

I'm a hiker, but not a lesbian, and I like my backpacks too because they're practical and there's some nice options.

It sounds like your friend has a very limited idea of what a stylish woman woman is as it seems she's using hikers/lesbians in quite a pejorative way.

I carry a flask of tea and a picnic blanket. Much better for the back, especially when it weighs as much as my boobs do,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9837261/ - just one example of studies out there that might help the lady of your acquaintance focus.

And as for her spurious argument about us not being "meant" to carry things on our backs, I'm fairly sure we weren't meant to slap copious amounts of dubious ultra processed sticky substances on our visages either but I'm hazarding a guess she does that all the time.

Of course the other option is to get one's sedan bearers or donkeys to carry the load but I've not met many people who have that luxury....!!

Back packs with tote handles... Game changer.
Even just a cheapy Decathlon one.

My shoulders can't take much weight in one bag on them these days. Phone and purse and that's about it, but I can carry a lot in a back pack when necessary.

Small crossbody for day to day phone, purse, keys.
Back pack for days out.
😁

Thank you for the article, very enlightening. You are right about my friend's make up. I wear make up every day and feel better using it but mine is not over the top. I must admit my friend trowels it on and does have the tidemark round her jaw where the shade of foundation is too dark for her skin.

This is an odd notion of "lesbian", she who wears a backpack.

I use one for work. It's a proper one and holds laptop and various stuff. My backpack plays no part in who I sleep wih.

Im very jealous of backpack wearers, I just cant.
I would end up with a backpack shaped sweat mark on my top every time!!🙄

Your friend sounds like an idiot and a homophobe. I wouldn't be taking clothing or other advice from her, particularly if she thinks lesbians' backs are different constituted to those of heterosexual women.

To put it succinctly, your friend is a dick. Pay no mind to her.

I use a backpack as it's convenient for shopping and I hate my hands or arms being incumbered with stuff. Anything else goes into pockets.