1. Airmesh padding provides added comfort for shoulders, hips and back, allowing body contact points to "breathe".
2. Ladder adjustment allows the user to tailor fit the pack.
3. Harness adjuster allows for a finer harness adjustment and is used in conjunction with Ladder Adjustment.
4. Padded hip belt the generous hip-belt transfers weight onto the users hips instead of shoulders and spine.
5. Concealed rain cover is easily stored in its own tiny pouch in the base of the pack.
6. Reflective strip enables the SAS Academic and its user to be visible at night or in any weather conditions.
7. Adjustment buckles equipped with an alternative (male & female) attachment buckle for the shoulder strap. Correct positioning will maximize effectiveness of the hip-belt.
8. Sternum strap stops the pack moving in a lateral motion thus stabilizing the load.
Other features - rubber feet, hydration compatibility, drink holder, heavy-duty zippers & laptop compartment.

It has been proven world-wide that a strong correlation exists between school backpacks and children's spinal health and related injuries. The SAS Academic school pack was developed in response to the important issue of poorly designed and unsupportive daypack harnesses that contribute to and may lead to serious back and spinal injuries for children and adults.

The SAS Harness has been designed and created to offer an ergonomically sound, fully supported, comfortable and adjustable school pack.

The 'silent issue' Around 70% of Australian school children are damaging their spines by carrying heavy, poor fitted school bags. muscle strains,scoliosis, distortion of the natural spine curve, rounding of the shoulders,muscle spasms and cronic back, neck and shoulder problems that may linger long into adulthood.

Some risk factors contributing to spinal damage include an unsupportive school pack, carrying the bag over one shoulder and using an incorrectly fitted or packed backpack. Additionally school packs should address the issue of 'pack sagging' and unsupportive 'shoulder straps'. A pack should never hang more than 10 centimetres below the waist line as it increases the weight on the shoulders, causing your child to lean forward when walking. Shoulder straps should also support and distribute a packs weight equally across the wearers shoulders.

SAS ACADEMIC HARNESS - After years of product design and with the support of spinal care specialists has delivered a harness that helps distribute the backpack. load across the back and onto the hips of the wearer, placing less strain on the shoulders and spine. Using a combination of unique features, straps, clips, belts and padding, the SAS harness can be adjusted to give a superior fit for almost any individual short or tall.

The SAS harness has addressed the issue of 'pack sagging' and 'unsupportive shoulder straps'. Correctly fitted, the SAS Academic school pack, provides sufficient support assisting in the prevention of spinal injuries related to carrying a heavy unsupported school pack.

Significant features include:

• Harness Adjuster, allows for height adjustment of the harness.
• Padded Hip Belt consists of ample padding to distribute weight onto the users hips, reducing strain on the shoulders and back.
• Adjusting Buckles allowing the user to change the position of the shoulder straps to the male or female position.

Ergonomic design. Imagine a pack that was tailored to the specific requirements of every child (student).

The Chiropractic & Osteopathic College of Australiasia endorsement marks the beginning of a new era in the manufacturing of backpacks. The endorsement goes further than merely endorsing a backpack, but to the mechanics of the system in the harness that underlies and makes the backpack 'work' effectively end efficiently - when properly fitted. Ergonomically, the backpack is technically advanced and superior to any comparable product on the marketplace.

What does it guarantee the consumer? The Chiropractic & Osteopathic College of Australiasia (COCA) endorsement of the backpack in guaranteed, insofar as COCA members shall be available for the advice and assistance to purchasers with the fitting of their individual backpack.
Proper fitting of backpacks by qualified health professionals (COCA members) underwrites and marks a significant step forward in spinal care and health management in this area.

Product name

SAS - Spinal Articulated Back System (including School Pack Harness)

Product Description and Principal Function(s)

After many years developing functional products for the outdoor market, Explore Planet Earth (EPE) have finally addressed a significant issue in poorly designed, unsupportive daypack harnesses that can often lead to serious back and spinal problems for wearers.

* This harness is the only harness to have been fully endorsed by the Chiropractic and Osteopathic College of Australia (COCA). *

The EPE SAS harness is a carefully designed harness system that helps to distribute the load of a small (yet often quite heavy) backpack across the back and onto the waist of the wearer, thus placing less strain on the shoulders and spine. Using a combination of straps, clips, belts and padding, the SAS harness can be adjusted to an exact fit for almost any individual tall or short.

While similar principles have been applied to the larger hiking backpacks, until now appropriate innovation and technology has not been possible with smaller "daypacks". It is these smaller daypacks that are used more frequently, and until now, inappropriately by many outdoor enthusiasts and mainstream users.

The harness has also been designed to 'bolt on' to any small backpack (daypack), ensuring the solution to the problem of unsupportive harnesses can be applied to almost any size and style of daypack.


Why does the product represent design excellence and why do you believe it deserves an Australian Design Award®?

The design brief for the EPE SAS harness was to create an ergonomically sound, comfortable and adjustable harness for smaller backpacks (daypacks). EPE wanted to create a product component that would revolutionize the daypack market and gain recognition as a truly innovative and safe solution for daypacks that could be approved by doctors and professionals in the Chiropractic and Osteopathic community.

Having been exclusively endorsed by the Chiropractic and Osteopathic College of Australia (COCA) the SAS Harness is proof that after years of research and development, product trials and countless revisions and refinements, a solution can be found for the problem of poorly fitting daypacks. This enforces the product as a suitable option for youths (whose spines and backs are developing), those with bad backs/spines and others who wish to safely carry heavy loads on their backs.

Traditionally, most daypack harnesses are designed with thin webbing for a waist belt (if at all). This means that very little weight can be distributed from the shoulders to the hips, resulting in a great deal of pressure placed on the spine, lower back and shoulders. The innovation of the SAS harness is centered around the waist belt. By specifying a generously long belt in the design of the SAS harness, the result is a waist belt that wraps firmly around most of the average wearers hips (clipping together at the front), providing comfort through generous padding. In addition to the long, padded waist belt the mechanism to tighten the belt has been enhanced with a "pull forward" design, rather than a "pull across" one. This makes it significantly easier for the wearer to tighten the waist belt once done up on the hips.

The most innovative feature of this harness is the ability to adjust the positioning / anchor of the shoulder strap on the waist belt. Shoulder straps on all the current daypacks on the market will only attach at the hips behind the shoulders. Ergonomically, this means that the shoulder strap will pull weight down, onto the shoulders to the hips. The SAS harness comes with an alternative attachment for the shoulder strap on the front of the waist belt, nearer to the middle. When the straps are adjusted to this position (and the pack is worn with the waist belt done up) most of the weight is being held on the hips. In addition to this, wearers have found that having the strap anchored in this position eliminates any rubbing that sometimes occurs when the shoulder strap comes down the front of the shoulder, underneath the arm.

By designing the SAS harness as a separate (modular) component of a backpack, this has meant that it can be used on a wide range of sizes and styles of backpacks, without compromising the integrity of the design or function / ergonomics. As such, this harness can be found on over 15 different packs in the EPE range, each with a different style and function (eg. , School bag, Laptop bag, Sports bag Overnight bag, etc.)

As all daypacks carrying the SAS harness come with lifetime warranties, the specifications of this product component had to maintain a high quality standard. As such, careful attention was paid to all areas of design including double stitching at stress points, a high denier count in the nylon (high resistance to wear and tear) and use of the best quality buckles and clips on the market, to name a few.

Other finishing touches were added to the harness to ensure that overall value and quality was maintained. These include a hydration port (to thread a water bladder hose through), earphone jack and personal identification tags. These three features ensure the end customer feels that they are getting true value for money.

© Copyright Standards Australia This site is part of the Standards Australia group
Release 2.9.16:2.6.12