That's just what I was going to try! It may be that just having the regular pads in is enough, because I was trying the pack on with no pads in the hipbelt. For the "small" size the pads provided have to be cut down considerably to fit, and I didn't want to cut anything until the kids had tried the packs with a load and I was sure the packs were keepers. Anyway, I'm keeping the packs for Christmas presents, and the kids will have them for next year.