DCHP-1 Online
packstrap 
n. a kind of harness for carrying heavy loads, drawing on a tracking line, etc., consisting of a leather strap that is broad at the middle and tapers at both ends, the broad band being placed around the forehead (or chest) and the two ends attached to the pack or other load.
See also: tumpline (and picture)
- 1897 When our duties permitted and occasion required we both took a turn at the pack-straps, as we did on this portage.
- 1956 Where our canoemen tied their packstraps around a hundred-pound piece, piled another hundred-pound piece atop it, squatted down cross-legged while they adjusted the headband, heaved themselves up and jogged off, I shambled down the portage with scarcely seventy pounds.
- 1897 When our duties permitted and occasion required we both took a turn at the pack-straps, as we did on this portage.