Parts of a Backpack – Straps, Hip Belt and Harness Labeled

All 7 parts on the diagram

Show the list

The backpack 7

Shoulder strap A padded strap over each shoulder. It steadies the load.
Hip belt A padded belt round the hips. It carries most of the weight.
Sternum strap It joins the two shoulder straps across the chest. It stops them sliding outward.
Load lifter strap It joins a shoulder strap to the top of the pack.
Compression strap A strap with a buckle across the side of the bag.
Hip belt stabilizer strap It runs from the side of the pack to the hip belt. It pulls the load onto the belt.
Main compartment The pack bag. It is the large space that holds the load.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-01 and kept only where two of these use it. (1) Wikipedia, Backpack, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backpack : padded shoulder straps and hip belts, the belts taking most of the weight and the shoulder straps mainly steadying the load; side compression straps, the sternum strap and load stabilizers; the main compartment. (2) C. Townsend, The Backpacker's Handbook (2005), read as page text at https://archive.org/details/backpackershandb0000town_s2x0 : the hipbelt, the shoulder straps, load-lifter straps, and stabilizer straps that run from the side of the pack to the hipbelt and help pull the load onto it. (3) Trail Tested (2013), a hiking gear guide, read as page text at https://archive.org/details/trailtestedthruh0000lich : shoulder straps, sternum strap, hip belt, stabilizer straps, and load lifter straps, stitched into the top of the shoulder straps and the top of the pack. (4) The Complete Walker IV, read as page text at https://archive.org/details/completewalkeriv0000unse : the suspension parts: lift-straps, shoulder straps, hipbelt and hipbelt stabilizer strap. (5) A 1995 Canadian defence research report on load carriage, https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA636775 : the sternum strap connects the shoulder straps across the chest and keeps them from sliding outward; compression straps. (6) A hiking magazine of April 2015, read as page text at https://archive.org/details/Backpacker_April_2015_USA : compression straps, hipbelt pockets, the packbag, and hipbelt, shoulder and load lifter straps. Licence: own work

The drawing: Own drawing from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A hiking backpack is a bag hung on a harness. The drawing shows the side that rests on your back and names the shoulder straps, the hip belt and the smaller straps that adjust them.

Read the full guide

The parts of a backpack strap

Each shoulder strap is a padded band. A load lifter strap joins its top to the top of the pack, and the sternum strap links the two shoulder straps across the chest so they cannot slide outward.

The hip belt

On a pack with a padded hip belt, the belt takes most of the weight and the shoulder straps mainly steady the load. A stabilizer strap at each end runs to the side of the pack and helps pull the load onto the belt.

Names vary: a hip belt is also a hipbelt or waist belt, and a sternum strap is a chest strap. The quiz accepts each.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a backpack called?

The bag is the main compartment or pack bag. The harness has two shoulder straps, a hip belt, a sternum strap, load lifter straps and hip belt stabilizer straps. Compression straps cross the sides of the bag.

What is the strap across the chest of a backpack called?

The sternum strap, or chest strap. It connects the two shoulder straps across the chest and keeps them from sliding outward.

What are load lifter straps?

Short straps stitched to the top of the shoulder straps and to the top of the pack. Some packs do not have them.

What does the hip belt on a backpack do?

It carries the load on the hips. With a padded hip belt done up, most of the weight rests there, and the shoulder straps mainly keep the pack steady.