Backpack

A backpack—also called knapsack, rucksack, rucksac, pack, sackpack, or backsack—is, in its simplest frameless form, a cloth sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders, but it can have an external frame, internal frame, and there are bodypacks. Backpacks are commonly used by hikers and students, and are often preferred to handbags for carrying heavy loads or carrying any sort of equipment, because of the limited capacity to carry heavy weights for long periods of time in the hands. Large backpacks, used to carry loads over 10 kilograms (22 lb), as well as smaller sports backpacks (e.g. running, cycling, hiking and hydration), usually offload the largest part (up to about 90%) of their weight onto padded hip belts, leaving the shoulder straps mainly for stabilising the load. This improves the potential to carry heavy loads, as the hips are stronger than the shoulders, and also increases agility and balance, since the load rides nearer the wearer's own center of mass. The word backpack was coined in the United States in the 1910s. Moneybag and packsack were used prior, and now occur mainly as regionalisms. The word rucksack is a German loanword mainly used in the UK, US and in other Western military forces. In German, Rücken means 'back' and Sack means 'bag'. The name rucksack is cognate with the Danish rygsæk, Norwegian ryggsekk, Dutch rugzak, Afrikaans rugsak, Swedish ryggsäck, and Russian рюкзак (rjukzak). The word knapsack was the usual name for a rucksack or backpack up until the middle of the 20th century. This is commonly used in Canada. Alternative names include haversack from the German Hafersack meaning 'oat sack' (which more properly describes a small cloth bag on a strap worn over one shoulder and originally referred to the bag of oats carried as horse fodder), Kraxe (a German rucksack with a rigid framework), and bergen (a large load-carrying rucksack, from a design issued by the British Army during the Second World War). In fact, Britons used to call Alpine-style backpacks 'Bergen rucksacks', maybe from the name of their creator, Norwegian Ole F. Bergan, combined with the name of the Norwegian city of Bergen. Backpacks can often simply be referred to as 'packs', especially in outdoors contexts; though sometimes ambiguous compared to other bags such as saddlebags and duffel bags, context is generally sufficient for identification. They are also used in recreational activities, and have long since been used to carry sports equipment and other materials.