Being in my mid-40s, I’m starting to get the aches and pains that I never used to get. Lower back problems are high on the list, so I’m trying to figure out ways of avoiding the problem. I’ve always used tools bags with suspenders, but I’m wondering if the extra weight on the shoulders puts more strain on the spine and therefore on the lower back? Does anybody have any thoughts, or any specific knowledge of which kind of tool belt is better for the back?
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How much stuff do you carry in your bags? How much of it do you realistically need? Try lightening up the load and see if that helps.
yes, one with no tools in it
seriously though, being about the same age, i can identify with what you are saying, What helps for me is, I keep my belt hung over a kind of square bucket when not being worn, when I put it on I try to unload any tools that I wont be using into the bucket to lighten the load. If i am working in one spot, sometimes I hang the belt back on the bucket to give my back a rest and keep the bucket by my side.
hopefully someone else will be along with more scientific info
+1 on lightening the load, "Do I REALLY need to carry this around constantly for the few occasions I will need it?" Pare it down, purge. Need less than you think. Also. some tools have lighter weight brethren, ie. carry a titanium hammer, a light plastic chalk box. It all adds up. You can force the issue by using a smaller set of bags.
That said, I still prefer to have suspenders so that I can leave the belt a bit loose- really hate tight belts. I have also discovered -FINALLY- some comfortable suspenders, from Brown Bag Company. Gel foam around the shoulders and upper back. I love 'em.
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being somewhat older than 40, I will tell you what I did in the 40 years.
Started out with a tollbelt with suspenders. This was full of every tool and nail a framing carpenter could use in a day. If I was to put a belt on today, it would be one of those canvas jods that HD sells for .77. In it would be a few 12d hand drives, maybe 12 or so. A 25' tape. Back pocket of my jeans would have a speed square. Hammer in a hammer loop on my jeans. Pencil behind the ear. That is it.
Any other tool would be sitting in a convenient place on the deck. The less I carry the better I feal at the end of the day!>G<
I think you have the right idea. Pare it down. How often do you need the vicegrips? Keep them in a toolbox, handy, but no need to carry them up and down the ladder all day.
Lighter tools might help too. For instance a plastic speed square is way lighter than an aluminum one, which is way lighter than a steel one. I used to carry a 28 oz hammer for framing, now I use a 16. If you need a 25 ft tape, okay but often a 16 or 12 will work for 99% of the day.
Something like this would make your back feel better:
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Looks expensive!
Only if your wife finds out.
The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one. --Wilhelm Stekel
I'd throw my back so far out with that I wouldn't walk for a month :)- but i'd sure have fun while it lasted!! (not very long)!!
Along with lightening the load, see a good massage therapist and ask for some help.
First to loosen the tightened (cramped) muscles in your torso and secondly for stretching and flexing exercises that can lessen or even eleminate that "backache" during your daily routine ans when you get home.
I had "backache" so badly 6 years ago that I often had to crawl to where I needed to go and couldn't lift a cold beer without a collapsing in pain.
The exercises keep me from being incapacitated, although I now can read when the spasms are beginning and I take time on-site to "sttrreecchh" out for relief. In the evening I do several repetitions of stretching.
Working on roofing/flooring/overhead always generates more episodes followed by more exercises.
Most of the time I am pain free and am rarely incapacitated.
...........Iron Helix
PS ... I am way past 40!...still going! So can you!
The exercises keep me from being incapacitated
I do back exercises every other day. It is essential for a healthy back.You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
I'm beyond my mid-fifties, so I also have to be careful with my back.
I have a CLC framer's tool belt with built-in HD suspension system:
http://www.amazon.com
and a Skillers tool vest/belt combination for finish carpentry, which is more like a piece of outerwear that carries the load effortlessly and keeps it close to the body. I can't find a picture of the same unit, but Skillers makes modular tool assemblies and canvas vest-type units:
http://www.skillers.com
http://www.skillers.com/promotions/promotion_4603.htm
And Occidental and others are now offering combination vest-belts:
http://www.amazon.com
Solar & Super-Insulated Healthy Homes
Get to know a chiropractor and get an adjustment on a regular basis.
I found the stretching to work at first. Then I actually went to a doc (who are you? MY patient for 25 years????) He handed me a paper that advised just how long it takes for a torn muscle to heal--like 6 months! So I joined a health club (I figured I was getting plenty of exercise just working but......) You can build up those back muscles and get in the habit of stretching, massaging too. Just a mental attitude.
My belt has so much in it I rarely wear it. I modified it to add more compartment (rivets and leather). It has everything (widely varied tools) I need but no nails, a few screws, the rest drill bits, Vice Grips, files, plane, tape, and on and on.
I don't work on roofs--never liked 'em. So it takes more trips for tools and tool boxes. I've customized the DeWalt hard plastic tool boxes to hold MY stuff (local tool shop was selling them for .98 cents--because DeWalt was going to bags (bags? What?????) The behind the counter dude opined it was to make it easier to fold out of the way around the shop. Around the shop I use cords. Give me the hard plastic that doesn't soak up rain in the field any day.
I hang the bags like others have said. Have lots of 5 gal mud buckets stenciled with contents (long screws, exterior screws, nails, caulk, etc) Still work on the back though. Pretty common even among pencil pushers over 40. Forty--man that's an halucination for me. Lesse, next B-Day I'm going for the old double 6. Tyr
Your post reminded me of backpacking.
there is a real art to adjusting a pack. Your correct
in that having to much weight on the shoulders is no good.
A good pack allows you to balance the load between your
hips and shoulders. In fact over a few days of hiking one
often transfers the weight back and forth for a rest.
Try loosening the suspenders to share the load with the belt.
If you think you're getting stiff now, just wait! Heck, you can probably still see! Get rid of all the unnecessary junk. Just carry what you need for the job at hand.
Nice tool belt, might have to get me one of them.
Being in my mid-40s, I'm starting to get the aches and pains that I never used to get.
@@@
And you're not even close to making Junior Geezer. (55)
BTDT. It gets worse. From the mid 40s it's all downhill. The trend is not your friend. 18 is wasted on the 18 year olds.
The kids have lots of bags loaded with lots and lots of stuff. Generally stuff they are not using - but it looks cool and they get style points.
I use Oxy bags and Oxy suspenders, but I also have a bucket/organizer/seatlid x parts bin for all the nifty things for that trade I can't do without but don't want to wear. The bucket goes with me, so I can find a tool or part right quick.
Of late I have added an 18g tote/toy box - as my work cart will take two of them on the lower deck. Stuff not in the bags or bucket gets tossed in there and sorted out at rollup.
Had my drywall bags on today. Much lighter than the framer bags. Got to work on that. Couple of pounds of screws might help.
The ToolBear
"You can't save the Earth unless you are willing to make other people sacrifice." Dogbert
When you turn 40 your warranty expires.I use canvas rigger's bags, one for each specialty.
The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one. --Wilhelm Stekel
i use oxy framers that are pretty good a couple years ago i bought the leather harness to use when i wear my insulated overalls(and lose my hips to hold up my belt) but man they make my shoulders hurt i also have a carhart canvas apron when i am working around lots of finished products
When you turn 40 your warranty expires.I use canvas rigger's bags, one for each specialty.@@@Rigger's bags...I am thinking canvas buckets with wood bottom, tool slots and probably a roped top plus handles. Close? I have something similar for electrical, as I recall. Came with tools. Nice backup. Use the tools for the lighting bucket.The ToolBear
"You can't save the Earth unless you are willing to make other people sacrifice." Dogbert
Close, but not quite. Sort of like a Big Mouth or whatever the bag is called only no zipper, just an open top, and with pockets around the outside. They're cheap (something like $15 from HF) and reasonably durable, and you can dedicate one to each specialty.
The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one. --Wilhelm Stekel
I think I have something like that for the mechanicals and the plumbing tools. By Husky. Open box with pockets and loops.The ToolBear
"You can't save the Earth unless you are willing to make other people sacrifice." Dogbert
"When you turn 40 your waranty expires"
Dang. I wish I'd known that 15 years ago. I would have turned myself in for the newer model.
Be thankful your wife didn't.
The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one. --Wilhelm Stekel
Pilates. Every other night of the week no matter what. Strengthens core. Add a couple of sets of 25 push ups and you are really making some headway. The abdominal muscles are the key to the whole process of strength on the jobsite.
I am only 32 but I suffered a lower back injury at 15. I have had my ups and downs but managed to make it through 3yrs of high school sports, and 4 yrs of college football, and I have spent the last 7 in general remodeling.
Nothing tight on the waist, strengthen the upper body to support the suspenders. I almost always wear my bags unless I am doing shoe in a finished floor situation. I cant stand to look for a hand tool. FWIW.
Check this out. http://www.toolbelts.com
Check this out. http://www.toolbelts.com
I think it needs more pockets.
I've spent a small fortune on tool belts. One of my favorites was a really old green one that finally got worn out and I gave it away, I don't know who made it but it met my number one criteria for tool pouches--hand tool pockets! You can't buy a good belt for under $100 that has enough hand tool pockets. Ask the guys I play weekend warrior with, I can't carry enough hand tools. I remember once we were on a roof drying in a dormer that we had just built (well new rafters anyways) and my partner looked down at me and just started cracking up. I must have had every hand tool I own in my belt. I'll tell you what though, we didn't have to climb down that roof one time for a tool, and he still tells that story over a cold beer and laughs, but he always tells me that I had saved the day.
I was just about to drop that $100 on a leather big box tool pouch when I saw something at the home depot that caught my eye. They had a big box of Dead-On tool belts for $10 a piece and low and behold, both pouches have about six pockets or more each for hand tools. I bought it just to wear around the house, but I tried it out with the warriors one weekend, and now it goes with me every job. Its not the prettiest or coolest belt you've ever seen, but by God, I can finally carry all my chisels, cats paw's, squares, chalkboxes (I did add a pocket in the back for that, and a hammer loop as well), and still have room on the other side for screws or nails. If you see this belt at the Home Decor, grab it. You cant miss it, it almost looks like "junior's first tool belt" with a skull and crossbones logo, but customize it just a little, and you might think it was the best $10 ever spent, at least it will hold me off until I can't take it anymore and drop the funds for that Occidental I've always wanted.
Now that goes against everything I believe in. Tool belts are better with fewer pockets. If you want a tool you don't carry, tool boxs are great. If you do things my way, you don't have a back ache and you don't loose tools. Borrow or a tool box, that's the ticky!!!!!!
Too many pockets. I don't like to carry much>G<
I don't know if you can still find them, but, you might try carpenter's overalls. You might feel a little silly, however they are comfy.