A pair of levers are pivotally attached to the rigid frame of a backpack apparatus and extend forwardly over the shoulders of a person wearing the backpack and downwardly so that its distal or lower free end is positioned a spaced distance in front of the person's waist at a location conveniently within reach of his arms. A rotatable shoulder pad is provided on each lever near the point of pivotal attachment to the backpack frame to distribute the weight of the backpack over a larger area of the person's shoulders and to reduce the sharpness of the levers bearing on the person's shoulders. Each pad has a curved upper surface and is attached to the lever by a resilient strap such that the pad can rotate or rock to a limited extent independently of the lever. When the backpack is placed with the levers and shoulder pads in proper position on the person's shoulders, he can transfer the weight of the backpack to bear substantially vertically downward on his shoulders by applying a relatively small downwardly directed force on the distal end of the lever with his arms. A flexible strap is also attached to and extends between the distal end of each lever and the lower end of the rigid backpack frame to limit the outward and upward rotation of the lever about its point of pivotal attachment to the backpack frame to relieve the person from having to constantly hold the levers down with his arms and also to maintain the levers in a position to function as a stand to maintain the backpack in substantially upright position when not being worn.
