Hyperlite Mountain Gear Aero 28

Alpine routes and scrambles are what HMG built the Vertex 32 daypack for: 32 L, 22.4 oz in Medium, and a removable foam panel in place of a frame. Its body mixes Dyneema Woven Composite 5.0 with DCH 5.1 and Gridstop, the abrasion-led recipe HMG uses on its climbing packs.

Made in HMG's lightest DCH 3.8 laminate, the Elevate 22 is a frameless roll-top daypack, 17.7 oz in a medium and rated to 25 lb. Unlike the one-size Daybreak it comes in three torso lengths, with a removable hipbelt and a hydration port with a bladder hook.

For everyday use in Dyneema, HMG offers the Daybreak 22: 22 L inside plus 4.5 L of stretch-mesh outside pockets, 19.2 oz, one size and a 20 lb ceiling. The heavier 5.1 and 5.9 laminates put it at the durable end of HMG's day range rather than the lightest.

HMG's minimal roll-top is the Summit 30: 30 L, 12.7 oz, one size, and a removable 3/4 in webbing belt. It is the cheapest HMG pack at $210 and works as a summit bag or a stripped-down day pack.

The Contour 35 is Hyperlite's frameless fast-and-light pack, and at 15.7 oz it is one of the few sub-pound packs on this site. Dyneema Composite Fabric makes it effectively waterproof at a weight woven fabrics cannot reach.

HMG's lightest framed pack is the Waypoint 35: a single aluminium stay in a 35 L laminate body with 6.5 L of stretch-mesh outside pockets and a padded, pocketed hipbelt that comes off. It fills the slot between the frameless Contour 35 and the two-stay Unbound 40.