High Sierra Topix

When my dad would go on backpacking trips with me, his hands would always puff up. We always thought this had to do with the constriction of circulation/fluid flow caused by his shoulder straps, as noted by Dave above. I suppose in my dad's case this was fairly extreme, given that for some odd reason he carried all of his weight on his shoulders (didn't use his hip belt--and his pack in his early days was in the 70lb range). I recall that I swell slightly toward the end of a long backpacking day, perhaps for similar reasons, although I carry support much more of the packweight with my hip belt.

This often happens to me, whether I'm carrying a day pack, a large backpack, or no pack at all. If I'm not carrying a pack, putting both hands up and behind my head for a minute or so makes it go away quickly. If I'm carrying a pack I sometimes hook my thumbs around my sternum strap for a while and this makes the swelling go away.

In general I think getting your arms and hands up higher for a minute or so helps.

Thanks' everybody It makes me feel much better knowing that I'm not the only one and that it's not a sign of something serious.
Gary C.

I get "sausage fingers" too if I'm on a long hike with a heavy pack.

What I usually do is hook my thumbs on my sternum strap for awhile and the swelling goes away.

Mine used to do that too. And they itched! For me, I lost a little weight (15 lbs)and stopped eating meat for other physical reasons (suggested by a cardiologist that I don't have to go to again-whee!) and my hands stopped doing that as a by product. Not sure why, but I'm not complaining! Dee