They sort of are, as fanny packs, but it's probably because traditional backpacks can be heavy, and leaning forward to control balance is far easier than bending backwards, our spines just aren't really made for it, so backpack makes more ergonomic sense.
this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2024
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This raises a good question: why do we call them fanny packs? Why are we so afraid to acknowledge and use frontpacks?
why do we call them fanny packs?
Isn't that what they hang over?
Flip your backpack around, bam: You got a frontpack!
You also have the answer after you try: It functionally sucks.
There are some niche packs that are actually used but it's under special circumstances like backpacking with it as a supplemental pack, combat, or maybe search and rescue.
Yeah, they work for sure, but you gotta get them set up just right or they're a pain in the ass. Well, I don't know about that specific brand, but in general.
They're good for lots of things outside of the usual, though. There's a lot of use for them with various disabilities, and they're great when you have to wrangle kids or dogs out and about. Backpacks have to be taken off and dug through, chest or belly packs are more single hand friendly. So are good sling bags afatg.
Now visualise pregnant folks indicating what's going on with them with exaggerated hand gestures, poses and facial expressions.
And then other folks wearing a carrier containing a post-gestational infant doing much the same.
Conclusion: That space is generally reserved for underdeveloped human offspring.
Because it's more tiring and the straps fall off when you reach forward.
Tourists sometimes wear day packs on the front to avoid robbery on trains, and it looks very awkward and impractical.
It's just the mechanics of the back. You know how you're supposed to keep your back straight when you pick up a heavy object? A pack on the front would strain the back by pulling it the other way and it would be uncomfortable.
The big backpack lobby is artificially holding down the front pack industry
ergonomics. it is much less stress on the back.
It's not very ergonomic, comfortable, or fashionable to have a big bag down your front so they're more specialized and smaller. As a result theyre often called bags instead of packs. But a fanny pack is just a small front pack.
I take this to mean you aren't familiar with this fad, so allow me to blow your mind:
That's just a fanny pack slung different.
Well, that's kind of the point. Any design that is intended to be worn at the front is either very small or designed to be moved to the side when it gets in the way of what you're trying to do.
You can wear your backpack as a frontpack if you want to. You'll soon discover why most people don't use them that way. I have done, but only when I have two backpacks to lug some distance and can use the straps of the one worn on the back to help secure the straps of the one worn on the front.
Well, that’s kind of the point. Any design that is intended to be worn at the front is either very small or designed to be moved to the side when it gets in the way of what you’re trying to do.
Nah, @_haha_oh_wow_ had a great example of the kind of thing I was thinking should exist.