“Cut the weight elsewhere in their gear - but not the suspension!”
Going UL doesn’t require that much suspension.
I have found that light packs that use closed cell foam provide admirable suspension. Plus kid’s stuff isn’t that heavy anyway. My daughter hasn’t carried more than 10lbs for the last 2 years (she’s now 12). That includes everything (like food, fuel, water).
Now she has tried it w/o the hip belt, but that was a lot of complaining!
-Barry
Ford carries his food (he has his own Ursack) at about 2 lbs a day (I carry the rest). He eats constantly (he is 11, 5'4" and weighs in the low 90's). On a 3 day trip he carries a minimum of 6 lbs of food, his gear and his water. Even with his gear being light he will never have a UL pack due to his food. He carries around 16-18 lbs now. In the next year I am going to have him carry all of his food (I hump about a lb per day of his). Frankly, he will not be able to go under 3 lbs a day due to how hungry he is.
He recently had to move into an adult sleeping bag, adding more weight (but not much, I bought a light bag).
For him to carry 18 lbs in an unstructured bag would be painful - one reason why I got rid of his MS Seraph pack. He has no "padding" on his bones to make a pack comfortable. Currently he is using a Kelty Haiku pack, which is 3 1/2 lbs. But has enough padding for his bones.
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