Why are backpacks sized in liters?
Backpacks that we use are typically categorized in litres (Or liters if you are an American English follower).
Whats is the point?
Why don't we have backpacks that are categorized as for example 70 kg instead of 70 L?
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Because the characteristic of a backpack in question is volume or how much content it can hold, not mass. An extreme example: If I fill lead into a 20l pack, I get ~225kg, if I fill styropor into a 50l pack, I get about 2.5kg. Mass is still specified sometimes to give the empty mass of a pack.
You might want to specify max loaded mass as either a limit for what the backpack can structurally take without taking damage or a limit for what the carrying system (shoulder, hip straps) are designed for. But these are different concerns and both are very imprecise. Maybe the max load without the pack taking damage could be estimated and the producer could recommend a max load to be carried with the pack, but as with any "soft manufacturer recommendations", that wouldn't be much help, as the human carrying the weight will be the limit.
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Luggage is usually chosen on its size, not on the weight it can transport. Liters are a measure of size, kilos are a measure of weight.
To me it is harder to convert a given weight in a certain substance into a real size than it is to convert a given number in liters to a real size.
If you want to know how many kilos of water a given pack can move, you can just replace liters with kilos.
Good pack makers will also tell you the weight limits of your pack if you are likely to reach them in normal use, but as very few people will be able to lift and carry backpacks filled to the limits with heavy items, a well made pack should be able to withstand more kilos than the average human can carry.
The point where packs fail is mostly after use, so a weight limit or indication will not be very helpful.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18753. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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