1. use both a hip strap and a sternum strap, and tighten both (especially the sternum strap) way tighter than you normally would for walking. In my experience this eliminates most of the jostling of the backpack relative to not using straps 2. instead of carrying water bottle on the outside, put it inside for better balance and no chance of it falling out 3. use a high-quality backpack with good padding, and probably with a rigid back, e.g. (https://smile.amazon.com/North-Face-Router-Meld-Black/dp/B092RJ8G86?sa-no-redirect=1&th=1&psc=1). Also helps a ton with jostling and with not getting poked/smacked by things in the backpack
Have tested all of these a bunch and they help me a ton
Less robustly useful:
1. hold onto the shoulder straps as you run (reduces jostling a bit) 2. smooth your running gait to reduce jostling
I think this one is actually quite big: I have followed basically none of your suggestions above, except that my backpack effectively has a rigid back because that’s where my laptop is, and my backpack doesn’t bounce around when I run. But on the way home yesterday I played with my gait some, and if I ran in a way more similar to what I see some other people doing it bounced a lot. So I think probably I’ve learned to run more smoothly?
I also suspect running more smoothly is better for your body since there’s less impact to absorb, but that’s speculative.
You can also just speed-walk: quickly take full size strides, but always keep at least one foot on the ground—this keeps your torso at the same elevation for the whole journey, and eliminates the bouncing (and, added bonus, it doesn’t look like you’re running)
Other things that help you run with a backpack:
1. use both a hip strap and a sternum strap, and tighten both (especially the sternum strap) way tighter than you normally would for walking. In my experience this eliminates most of the jostling of the backpack relative to not using straps
2. instead of carrying water bottle on the outside, put it inside for better balance and no chance of it falling out
3. use a high-quality backpack with good padding, and probably with a rigid back, e.g. (https://smile.amazon.com/North-Face-Router-Meld-Black/dp/B092RJ8G86?sa-no-redirect=1&th=1&psc=1). Also helps a ton with jostling and with not getting poked/smacked by things in the backpack
Have tested all of these a bunch and they help me a ton
Less robustly useful:
1. hold onto the shoulder straps as you run (reduces jostling a bit)
2. smooth your running gait to reduce jostling
I think this one is actually quite big: I have followed basically none of your suggestions above, except that my backpack effectively has a rigid back because that’s where my laptop is, and my backpack doesn’t bounce around when I run. But on the way home yesterday I played with my gait some, and if I ran in a way more similar to what I see some other people doing it bounced a lot. So I think probably I’ve learned to run more smoothly?
I also suspect running more smoothly is better for your body since there’s less impact to absorb, but that’s speculative.
You can also just speed-walk: quickly take full size strides, but always keep at least one foot on the ground—this keeps your torso at the same elevation for the whole journey, and eliminates the bouncing (and, added bonus, it doesn’t look like you’re running)
My backpack lamely doesn’t have any of those straps.
The best one I’ve found is removing the left shoulder strap and gripping the backpack in e.g. my right arm.