Tips from the Pro

Remove pant waistband buttons and stitch down the tab (top) to prevent discomfort under hipbelts

Keep your back drier in hot weather by tying a piece of cotton towel against the pack

A garbage bag liner helps to keep contents dry in wet weather or creek crossings

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Button tabs on your pant waistband can convert even the best of pack hipbelts into a torture instrument. The buttons are often at the place of greatest hip belt pressure and are ground into your flesh by the belt. Luckily you can eliminate most of the problem quite simply:

Stitch the tabs down in the correct position and cut off the buttons! See photo.

Consider purchasing one of the backpacking-specific trail pants now on the market, like Mountain Hardwear's Pack Pants, which feature smooth, seam-free and button-free waistbands.

End Wet-Back Syndrome

Sweaty backs are a slimy, smelly downside of backpacking, especially in the warm summer weather. Your back gets drenched with sweat, and when you take the pack off at the end of the day there's an unpleasant chill and clamminess as all of that moisture in your clothes evaporates. Venting mesh back panels on the pack help, but when the pack suspension is lined only with plain fabric over smooth foam panels you just have to suffer — or you can use this simple solution:

Wear a next-to-skin layer made of a synthetic fabric that doesn't hold much moisture, and place a piece of cotton towel between it and your pack. The absorbent cotton pulls the sweat through the synthetic, which then stays relatively dry. You won't be any cooler, but at least the sweaty feel will be diminished, and your skin will be healthier on a long trip.

Tie the towel to the pack as shown in the photo. Avoid having a lumpy hem across your back by choosing a piece of towel with a fuzzy edge - or just cut the hem off and put up with a bit of fraying.

The top edge should be high on the shoulder blades where there is less pressure anyway.

Replace the piece of towel when it becomes drenched, using the identical one you have hung elsewhere on your pack to dry. In the sun, dark colors dry fastest.

Brighten That Liner

Lining a top-loading pack with a large plastic bag is an effective way to keep gear dry in wet weather. The bag repels rainwater seeping in via seams and zippers in the packbag, and the one-big-bag method occupies less precious pack space than stuffing gear into lots of small bags, each of which will probably be somewhat inflated with air. Good as this method is, it can be made better with a few refinements:

Use an orange bag rather than a dark green or black one - it'll be easier to see what's in the pack. Also, the high visibility of an orange bag can make it a very useful item in an emergency.

Seal by just twisting the top into a"rope," and tucking the end down between bag and pack to stop it unwinding. This will suffice in rain.

For serious creek crossings, tie the top of the bag with a piece of cord or your spare bootlace to create a better seal. If the unthinkable happens, your pack will then float almost indefinitely, and your gear will stay dry.