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I have found that the waist belts on all of the canoe packs I have carried DO NOT TRANSFER WEIGHT there just a pain in the A$$ and not worth the time to fasten them.

  Your not alone in that thought. The old school guys never used a waistbelt, they used a TUMPLINE. In countries where the mountain guides carry huge loads for the climbers they sometimes just have a TUMPLINE.

The average person's neck muscles couldn't handle just a tumpline, so they need shoulder straps. Same with a waistbelt. I think a lot has to do with a person's anatomy, where your weak/strong and of course how the pack is designed and loaded.

Most men have "no" hips to speak of compared to a female or in many cases no butt either. If you don't have much of either and your waistbelt keeps slipping down so you keep snugging it, you're going to be causing yourself some pain down the road.

I can snug my waistbelt so it's still comfortable, loosen my shoulder straps and feel all the weight going to hips/ top of the butt. My chest strap will keep the pack in place, but too much weight off my shoulders the pack wants to bounce around. I try for what I think is a 50-50 or maybe 60-40 depending on terrain and distance. Over the years that's what works best for me

I also think a pack is a lot like a canoe in that until you carry/paddle one loaded like you trip, you don't really know if it's the right one for YOU?

.I don't think there is anyone pack that fits all people and so like you did, you find what works best and maybe tweak it a little and call it good.