Patent ID: 8387843

Claim:
A backpack comprising: a harness configured to securely attach to a user's torso; a movable storage compartment having a first portion and a second portion, a pivotable connection pivotally connecting the first portion of the movable compartment to a first location on the harness to allow reorientation of the movable compartment from a stowed position to a frontal position on the user; a releasable connection releasably connecting the second portion of the movable compartment to a second location on the harness; wherein motion of the movable compartment with respect to the harness is substantially locked in the stowed position when the releasable connection is engaged; wherein the releasable connection is configured to disengage so that the movable compartment may be reoriented from the stowed position to a frontal position on the user; wherein the harness comprises: a waist belt; left shoulder strap; right shoulder strap; and a support panel; the support panel having a back wall configured to be worn adjacent to the user's back and a front wall adjacent to the movable compartment when the compartment is in the stowed position; the support panel further having an upper section attached to a first end of each of the left and right shoulder straps and a lower section attached to a second end of the left and right shoulder straps; wherein the waist belt comprises first and second arms affixed to the lower section of the support panel; wherein the first portion of the movable compartment is located at an upper section of the movable compartment, and the second portion of the movable compartment is located at a lower section of the movable compartment; and wherein the first portion of the movable compartment is pivotably connected via a pivotable connection at or near one of the left or right shoulder straps, and the second portion of the movable compartment is releasably secured in the stowed position around at least a portion of the waist of the user at a location accessible to the user while wearing the backpack; wherein the pivotable connection comprises a singular connection at or near one of the left or right shoulder straps; and wherein second portion of the moveable compartment is releasably secured, while the moveable compartment is in the stowed position on the user, at a first releasable connection at a first frontal location on the first arm of the waist belt, the first arm being opposite from the singular pivotable connection, the frontal location comprising an anterior side of the torso while the user is wearing the backpack with the waist belt secured around the torso.