Measured: Strap drop is measured from the highest point of the doubled strap down to the top edge of the bag, and equals roughly half the total strap length.
The basics
What to know about strap & carry
Carry method changes how heavy a bag feels far more than the bag's own weight does. Three kilograms hanging from a hand, resting on one shoulder, or split across both shoulders places three different loads on the body. Only the last keeps your spine straight. The same bag with the same contents feels manageable or punishing depending on nothing but the strap.
Strap drop is the number that tells you where a bag will sit. Drop is the vertical distance from the highest point of the strap, doubled over, down to the top edge of the bag. It works out to roughly half the total strap length. A 22 inch drop puts a bag at hip height on someone around 5 foot 6. The same drop on someone six feet tall leaves it riding at the waist. Total length on its own tells you nothing, because a strap can be long and still hang short once it loops through hardware.
Read the options by where the weight lands: hand, one shoulder, torso, or both shoulders. Comfort improves in that order and formality falls in the same order, and that is the whole trade.
