I’ve just got hold of a new MTP Bergen and the shoulder straps are like brick! Anyone got any good tips on how the soften them up I can see my shoulders getting raw after carrying it for a while?
Buy a tin of MTFU and rub it into your shoulders twice a day…
Welcome to the forum, btw - despite my facetious and banterous response!
With new kit, what I used to do was detach it and soak it for a few hours in warm soapy water. Work it until the fabric becomes softer, dry and repeat several times as required. You can also cut pieces of roll-mat to shape and affix to the underside of the straps with green bodge tape to give a softer ride.
In extreme cases, I’ve exposed the kit to the elements for several days by just leaving it outside in the autumn and winter months.
Hit repeatedly with hammer.
Just man handle the straps untill the stiffness breaks down, bending them back and forth.
Or as Gunner says leave outside for a few days.
Just been smashing them with a hammer and they are getting softer. Thanks!
Am I the only one that likes the straps stiff?!
I had this exact problem with my new short back but I took an different route, I sent it way and got them taken off and replaced by wider softer padded straps by jay jay’s. Cost a wee bit but well worth it, got the back replaced with a foam spacer too.
Nope, stiff straps spread the load better.
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Stiff and wide.
Don’t go for the roll pin on a bergan waist strap though. Webbing? Go for it. But never on the bergan. A mate of mine got caught out with it, and it required 2 of us to undo it and sort him out every time he wanted his bergan off.
And what’s a foam spacer?! Surely that will make your back sweat like ten men? And hold the water? The backs on the bergans are alright as they are?