How to measure hip size for a backpack belt

Hip size for a backpack hipbelt is measured as a circumference around the iliac crest, the bony ridge at the top of the hip bones, rather than around the natural waistline, which sits higher and gives an inaccurate number.

Finding the iliac crest

Place both hands on the waist with thumbs pointing backward and slide down until the thumbs catch the top ridge of the hip bones. That ridge, traced all the way around the body, is where the hipbelt is designed to sit.

Taking the measurement

Wrap a flexible tape measure horizontally around the body at that height, snug against the skin but not pulled tight, and read the circumference in inches or centimeters.

Why this measurement matters

A hiking backpack's hipbelt is built to carry most of a loaded pack's weight, transferring it off the shoulders and onto the legs — but only if the belt sits directly over the hip bones rather than riding above them on the waist. A hipbelt that's the wrong size for this measurement can't do that job, regardless of how well the shoulder straps fit.

Hipbelt size vs torso length

These two numbers are sized independently on packs with interchangeable hipbelts, since a hiker's torso length and hip circumference don't necessarily scale together.