Hyperlite Mountain Gear Backpacks

The Unbound 40 is HMG's fast-and-light pack for dialed kits, with a stretch front pocket and bottom pocket aimed at hikers who move all day and camp minimally. At 40 liters it suits sub-10-lb base weights and shorter resupply intervals.

The Southwest 55 is Hyperlite Mountain Gear's flagship all-rounder, built from waterproof Dyneema Woven Composite with solid woven pockets for brush country. It's the pack that made white Dyneema the visual signature of modern thru-hiking.

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.

The Windrider is the Southwest with a large mesh front pocket in place of solid Dyneema, so wet gear can drain and dry. The 2025 overhaul moved the line to Dyneema Woven Composite and widened the shoulder straps.

The Junction sits between the Southwest and Windrider: a hybrid front pocket that is part solid Dyneema and part mesh, aiming to combine the Southwest's durability with the Windrider's drainage. Same 2025 fabric overhaul as the rest of the line.

HMG calls the NorthRim its most durable model. It is a roll-top Dyneema pack in 55 and 70 L whose bottom and pockets are woven Dyneema rather than laminate, with 9.8 L of outside pocket volume and both side and over-the-top compression. The 70 L version is rated to 60 lbs.

For hauling loads, HMG makes the Porter: the same roll-top Dyneema body as the Southwest and Windrider, but with a solid-fabric exterior and no mesh or front pocket, built to be strapped to and dragged through brush. It comes in four volumes from 40 to 85 L, and the two larger sizes are rated to 60 lbs.

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.

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.

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.

On a running-vest harness, the Aero 28 is a roll-top fastpack: 28 L inside plus 8.5 L of external pockets at 17.8 oz in Medium. It uses HMG's lightest laminate, DCH 3.8, with 100D Dyneema ripstop at the wear points.

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.

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.