You’ve probably done the awkward one-arm board carry at some point, trying to keep your deck from smacking strangers while your bag slides off your shoulder. The good news is that carrying a skateboard on a backpack doesn’t have to be a juggling act. The better news is that how you mount the board matters more than which bag you own. In this post, we’re comparing three ways to turn your everyday pack into a backpack with skateboard duty: horizontal straps, vertical carry, and side-strap or deck-hook systems. We’ll judge each on balance, grip wear, and whether the bag still works as a bag. You’ll also get a look at how each method handles a short skate to the shop versus a full day out, what they do to your back panel, and how to choose a setup without buying a new bag. Fair warning: some popular claims about clip-on systems come from marketing, not testing, so we’ll separate the hype from what actually holds up.

Why the Mount Position Matters More Than the Bag

A deck is a lever. Where you pin it decides how much load sits against your spine and how much swings at hip height, and that choice changes your walk more than any padding upgrade. Grip tape is abrasive and faces whatever it touches. The mount decides whether it rubs your hoodie, your webbing, or nothing at all, so tape wear and fabric wear trade off against each other. Straps, haul loops and back panels are built primarily to sit flat against a body, so any carry method is a secondary job for that hardware.

We found no published side-by-side test comparing horizontal, vertical and side-strap carry, and no measured data on grip tape or back panel wear. Treat the effects below as mechanics-based expectations you can check yourself, not lab findings. The only attributable numbers in circulation come from hardware makers. Boardriding.com, in a 2017 post, describes a deck hook product weighing 115g with a 40kg load rating, Fidlock snap fasteners and rubber truck padding. Those are manufacturer figures, not independent results. Much of the coverage that still circulates is late-2017 video reviews and promo pages, which is why “backpack with skateboard” returns so much shopping noise and so little comparison. Before you commit to a method, check board carry and abrasion points on the pack you already own.

Horizontal, Vertical and Side-Strap Carry, Defined

Three mounts, one phrase. Here’s what each actually does.

Horizontal carry lays the deck across your back, roughly parallel to your shoulders, held by two straps or one long strap threaded through the pack’s upper loops. The board sits widest here, roughly at the height of your ribs.

Vertical carry stands the deck along your spine, tail down near the base of the pack, held by a single strap through or around the front truck. Narrow profile, one anchor point.

Side-strap and deck-hook systems use a clip, hook or rigid pinch point that grabs the deck near a truck baseplate and anchors to a shoulder strap or side panel. The board rides at your side rather than across your back.

Here’s the problem: all three are usually lumped together under “strapping a skateboard to a backpack,” so search results blur together and reviews rarely name the method being reviewed. One rider’s “solid hold” is horizontal; another’s is a hook.

The distinction matters because each method gives up something different. Horizontal trades width; vertical trades stability; clip-on hardware trades simplicity, adding scuff risk and a one-shoulder load. If you’re choosing a pack around this, strap drop and board carry systems matter more than the logo.

Next up: how each one behaves once you start walking.

Horizontal Carry: Rock Solid, Wide Footprint

Two anchors spread wide across the pack’s width should limit how much the deck can pivot. The load sits at spine height, doesn’t sway with your stride, and your shoulders barely register it. Weight placement on your back does affect how far you lean forward, so a high, tight board rides calmer than a low swinging one (load position affects forward lean).

The cost is width. Nose and tail stick past your hips, so you turn sideways through doorways, bus aisles and crowded shops. A few centimetres of deck becomes a few extra seconds every time you enter a room. Treat that timing as an estimate.

Grip wear depends on orientation. Trucks out means the grip surface presses into the back panel or your shirt. Grip toward the pack means the graphic and deck edges take the rub. The tape itself survives either way.

Bag function holds up best here. Straps run straight under load, shear on the stitching stays limited, and your pockets and zips remain reachable. The same survival logic sits behind choosing a skate backpack for city streets.

Set it up like this: grip tape toward the pack if protecting the back panel matters most, straps cinched above and below the trucks so the deck cannot slide, then a walk to check the wheels clear your elbows.

Vertical Carry: Tight Profile, Grip Tape Tax

Balance is the weak point. One anchor at the top lets the tail hang and swing with your gait, and the weight sits off-centre rather than across your spine. Single-sided loading is known to disturb gait, and this mount concentrates it at one point.

The silhouette is the reason to do it. Nothing sticks past your shoulders, so you move through crowds, turnstiles and packed shop floors without clipping anyone. If you are choosing a pack for that job, our crowded-platform carry guide covers the fit details.

Grip wear is likely to run higher. Tape against fabric is abrasive in both directions, so a full day of walking can leave marks on your hoodie or tee, and the deck’s own edges can scuff where the strap crosses them. You can choose which thing gets worn, not whether something does. Grip toward the bag protects your clothes and chews the back panel; grip outward protects the bag and sands your shirt.

Bag function is under strain at one point. A single strap under tension loads the upper seam and the haul loop, so check those stitches on the pack before you commit to a full day.

Side-Strap and Deck-Hook Systems: Hardware Buys Flexibility

If vertical carry’s single anchor feels like a compromise, side-strap and deck-hook systems change the question. Instead of cradling the deck, a clip or hook is designed to pinch it near the truck and anchor to a shoulder strap or side panel.

The pitch is real: it turns a two-strap pack you already own into a board carrier. Late-2017 promotion framed hardware like this as the end of pricey, fiddly skate strap bags, and prominent video reviews asked whether it could replace skate backpacks entirely.

Balance is likely to shift sideways. The swing radius is short because the board sits low, but the load hangs off one shoulder strap, so that shoulder works harder over a long walk. Grip wear should drop, since hardware contacts the truck baseplate and deck edge rather than the tape, so expect scuffing and pressure marks where rubber meets metal rather than worn grip.

Bag function is the open question. You are adding a hard object to webbing designed for soft loads. Check whether the clip bites the strap, whether side pockets stay usable, and whether the pack’s curve still sits flat on your back. Crowded trains? Skate bag options for train travel are worth a look.

Short Skate to the Shop vs a Full Day Out

How long you are out decides which way your skateboard and backpack get along. On a ten to twenty minute roll to the shop, horizontal carry is the easy call. Stability beats width: the deck has little time to shift, and grip wear is unlikely to show in that window. Vertical works fine at that length too, and if you are ducking into one store it is the fastest to sling on and off, as long as you accept a small amount of fabric rub.

A full day changes the maths. Vertical’s sway compounds with every block, the webbing develops a crease where the single strap bites, and a board worn across your back for hours starts to feel like a passenger. Horizontal’s footprint gets more annoying the longer you are out, because more doors, aisles and transit mean the board’s ends quietly collect scuffs from every wall you pass.

Side-strap hardware wins the on-and-off test in both scenarios, but it commits you to one-shoulder carry, which gets old on a long day even when the board feels light. Time out, not strap design, decides which compromise you notice first.

What Each Method Does to the Back Panel

The day’s length changes how the load feels, but the pack itself takes a different kind of damage depending on where you pin the deck. Horizontal carry should spread stress along two strap lines. With trucks facing out, the deck sits away from the panel, so the foam can do the job it was designed for. Vertical carry concentrates load near the top on one line. That likely flexes the panel and compresses the foam unevenly. Side straps and clips can pull the pack’s wall inward, which tends to distort the curve meant to mirror your spine and reduce how much padding actually touches your back.

Watch for flattened foam in the lumbar area, frayed thread at strap anchor points, and polished webbing where a strap has been cinched in the same spot every ride. Keep tension consistent rather than maxed out, because overtightening flattens padding for good. Rinse grit off the strap contact points so abrasive dust stops grinding into the weave. If the tape is rubbing your layers, hoodie construction signals help you judge what will survive the season.

How to Choose Without Buying a New Bag

Since the back panel is the part that pays for your choices, let the day decide the mount. For rides under twenty minutes on open streets, go horizontal on the straps you already have. No purchase, no hardware, and the best stability of the three. If your route means crowds, transit, tight doorways or a packed campus, go vertical, and decide before you leave which side takes the wear. You are choosing whether grip tape chews your shirt or the pack, not avoiding it.

If you swap bags often, ride daily, or want the board off your back fast, a clip-on system is worth considering. Test the fit on your own webbing first, and accept the one-shoulder load. Before buying anything, load the deck onto your current backpack, walk twenty minutes, then check strap tension, shoulder soreness, whether the board has crept along the straps, and whether fabric shows rub marks. Nothing here depends on whose pack the straps are sewn to, and no gear was tested against a brand claim.

Match the Mount to the Day, Not the Marketing

So once you have tested the straps you own, the real question is which day you are dressing for. The mount should follow the day, not the packaging.

Pairing it with belts and small carry picks does not change any of that, but it does finish the fit.

Conclusion

The mount matters more than the bag. Horizontal carry wins on short, open rides with a stable, wide footprint. Vertical carry keeps a tight profile for crowds and transit but risks grip tape rubbing your clothes or back panel. Clip-on hardware adds speed but shifts load to one shoulder and can scuff near the trucks. Choose by your day, not by marketing, and check each method’s mechanics against your own pack.

Your next step is simple: load your deck onto the backpack you already own. Walk twenty minutes. Then check strap tension, shoulder soreness, board creep, and fabric rub marks. That test tells you more than any packaging claim. Hardlife Apparel Co. carries bags among its hoodies, tees, tanks and ball caps at HRDLF.com, alongside an on-chain product at HRDLFcoin.com, but the method still matters most for how a deck rides. Match the mount to the ride ahead, then go skate.

FROM THE COLLECTION

HRDLF Skull – White Tee

$48

Limited run. No restocks.

— available at hrdlf.com