Air-cushion backpack

A backpack comprising:

• a first front wall (20);
• a second front wall (22) spaced forwardly of the first front wall and defining a front pocket (24) with the first front wall;
• a generally rigid plate (26) having a front face and a back face, the plate being in the front pocket (24) with the back face of the plate being adjacent the first front wall (20);
• at least one shoulder strap (30) operatively connected to at least one of the front walls for holding the plate against a back of a user with the second front wall (22) being between the plate and the back of the user;
• load bearing means connected to at least one of the front walls for holding an object;
• a pressurizable and flexible bladder (28) covering generally all of the front face of the plate, the bladder being in the front pocket between the front face of the plate and the second front wall;
• a tubular extension (32) extending from the bladder (28) and into the at least one shoulder strap (30) for inflating and deflating the bladder;
• an openable and closable check valve (34) connected to the tubular extension at a location that is spaced from the bladder and positioned so as to be accessible to a user for inflating the bladder by blowing into the check valve while the shoulder strap is on a shoulder of the user;
• and
• a U-shaped semi-rigid liner (36) inside the material of the shoulder strap near the bladder to form a semi-rigid channel for receiving the tubular extension (32) in the liner, the length of the liner (36) being less than the length of the shoulder strap (30) and the liner being adjacent the iunction between the tubular extension (32) and the bladder (28) to facilitate inflating and deflating of the bladder through the tubular extension by preventing the tubular extension from being pinched closed.