S25 comfort vs Aeronauts

[kgm]

I have an Aeronaut 30 which I love and recently bought an A45 which is also turning out to be a great travel bag for me. My most recent purchase is a Synapse 25 in Halcyon. I love the way the Halcyon S25 looks, but I don't find it nearly as comfortable as my Aeronauts. Has anyone else found this to be true? I don't know if it makes a difference that I'm on the small side (5'3"). I know the S25 was designed for taller people, but I thought it might be a nice option when I have a short, overnight trip. The same load in the A30 is much more comfortable to carry than when I pack it in the S25. I'd love to keep the Synapse if I can figure out how to pack it comfortably. Any hints are greatly appreciated!

[DeBru]

This is something I have also wondered about, I'm eager to see the responses!

[terayon]

I'm 5'2" and have an S25, S19 and A45 to compare (no A30 though). When I first got it, I found the S25 uncomfortable if I was wearing it for a long time, compared to my S19. I have found a few things that have helped, and now I find it almost as good. Compared to my A45, I find it much more comfortable (but that's probably largely because the A45 carries so much more).

Things that have made a difference for me:

- Keeping the weight down (this might be a no-brainer, but it's still hard because the whole point of a bigger backpack is to hold more stuff, but still, I try to take what I need and not more)

- Cinching up the shoulder straps to carry the bag higher on my back (so the bottom curve of the back panel follows the curve of my lower back)

- Packing flat things against the back wall of the pack

- Suspending things from the cache loops and o-rings so that they don't slide to the bottom and flatten out the back panel's curve (I rigged up a paracord sling to keep a S19 Freudian Slip in place, and man, did that help!)

- Using the sternum strap

Hope you find a way to make it work!

[kgm]

Thank you for those suggestions! I do cinch up the straps since I like backpacks to ride high on my back and I use the sternum strap occasionally--it does definitely help. I'll play around with how I load the S25. I usually pack flat things in the inner pocket so not against my back as you suggested. This might really help since one of the things I dislike about the S25 is it feels like I'm carrying a ball on my back. I'll try your loading suggestions and hope they help. While I probably don't need the S25, I'd like to keep it