That's what I've done all of '07 (injury occurred in '06) and when the pack is lightly loaded (on day trips, or longer trips when my roller bag comes with) that does the trick, except I tend to find that I'm standing asymmetrically (which can hurt more in the long run!) probably overprotecting the bad shoulder. Occassionally I use this pack for two or three day trips or I need to put more in for long trips when the roller is full.

I've decided to get a "real" solution, as I'm not sure how long the shoulder will be "sensitive" and I really don't want to risk re-injury at all, as in the last year a few times I forgot what I was doing and picked up the pack with my left hand and threw it over my left shoulder (which is how the injury initially occurred).

By the way, I bought the REI 2.0 Sling bag on clearance last night for $40 at their store as it's "good enough" while I research the higher quality bags that you guys recommended (many of which are harder to locate in stores in the area, in particular I'd have to wait till my next SEA trip for Tom Bihn visit!)

P.S. due to the fact that I think in '06 this was actually a minor reinjury of a *major* injury from back in '92 I really want to be conservative on this.