In addition to the information already provided, consider this. I bought (for about 12 bucks) a set of shoulder straps used by the armed forces on their " Alice" packs. I got rid of the cheapo nylon web supplied by nearly every manufacturer of climbing stands that I know of and use these. They are nicely padded, have an adjustment for length which can be changed as you walk. When attaching them, allow for your personal comfort with a little trial and error then use large (the wider the better) black tie wraps to mount them to the stand.