My first 15 years of backpacking we didn;t have hipbelts. When we finally discovered them it was great. My point is, the hipbelt isn't necessary, especially if his packweight is low. Maybe not using one will get him out hiking and the belly will shrink down to the point where he will desire to use the hipbelt to increase his comfort.

(I still cannot believe we didn;t used hipbelts for that long, it make sense now why we used to do more paddling than on trail though.)
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