Where is the "front" of a backpack?

[IamJen]

VeggieViews...tackling the important questions in life.

This is a recurring discussion in our house. Is the front of a backpack the part with the straps that hold it on your shoulders, or is it the other side, where the logo usually is? This is for a backpack which is not being worn.

 

[ledboots]

I think the front is the logo side.

 

[Calliegirl]

I voted for the logo side.

 

[Poppy]

I agree. I front faces back.

 

[Second Summer]

How can the front be facing backwards? You are all WRONG. You have to consider the way it travels, obviously. The part which faces the direction of travel is obviously the front, and the opposite side is the rear. It doesn't matter which side the logo is on. Typical American to get hung up on logos and branding, though!

 

[beanstew]

When I'm going to festivals I wear a small backpack on my front and a big rucksack on my back so the two fronts face in opposite directions.

 

[kibbleforlola]

How can the front be facing backwards? You are all WRONG. You have to consider the way it travels, obviously. The part which faces the direction of travel is obviously the front, and the opposite side is the rear. It doesn't matter which side the logo is on. Typical American to get hung up on logos and branding, though!

No, the side you approach it from is the front. When it faces outward, the side with the pockets and logo are in the front. You reach into the front pocket. It is designed so the front faces outward. Simple.

 

[IamJen]

How can the front be facing backwards? You are all WRONG. You have to consider the way it travels, obviously. The part which faces the direction of travel is obviously the front, and the opposite side is the rear. It doesn't matter which side the logo is on. Typical American to get hung up on logos and branding, though!

So, if you are walking backward, then does that mean that the logo side is the front?

 

[Second Summer]

When I'm going to festivals I wear a small backpack on my front and a big rucksack on my back so the two fronts face in opposite directions.

The one on your front is then no longer a backpack, but a frontpack. Completely different thing!

So, if you are walking backward, then does that mean that the logo side is the front?

If you're backing up a car, does the rear become the front?! I don't think so.

 

[Amy SF]

Logo side is the front. That is all.

 

[Poppy]

I'm dying to know how this question got started!

 

[Andy_T]

That question could be easily resolved if everybody simply agreed to use some clear, easy, nautical terms.

The Foreside and the Aftside of the backpack (Aftpack, actually) would be discernible to everybody without doubt.

 

[AeryFairy]

The back is the bit with the straps. Nobody would go looking in the main part of a backpack if they were told something was in the front pocket.

 

[Moll Flanders]

ETA, the front is the part with the logo, not that I usually wear a backpack but I did at school.

When I'm going to festivals I wear a small backpack on my front and a big rucksack on my back so the two fronts face in opposite directions.

I don't think I have ever seen you without some type of backpack.

 

[Second Summer]

Well, I'm alone against the rabble, it seems!

A backpack is analogous to a trailer on a car. Note where the rear lights are:

 

[Poppy]

The backpack is designed to be worn back to back (it's back against your back). If it were worn front to back (it's front to your back) then your backpack would be spooning you the whole time you wore it, and that would just be way too awkward.

 

[kibbleforlola]

A trailer would be analogous to a wagon. A backpack would be analogous to a tire carrier on the back of a truck or jeep. Even though it butts us against the back of the truck, the front of the tire faces out. Observe:

 

[IamJen]

The back is the bit with the straps. Nobody would go looking in the main part of a backpack if they were told something was in the front pocket.

And this, Poppy, is how the conversation began. Can you find my (something that I've long forgotten), it's in my backpack? Sure, in the front or the back? (Now, K tends to say "the little pocket" or "the big pocket".