Hyperlite Mountain Gear Junction Backpack Review

My original HMG 2400 was a special ordered “Junction” with a mesh front pocket and dyneema gridstop side pockets.  Even though I normally wear a large pack, based on my torso size of 22″ Mike convinced me to go up one size to a “tall”.  It was an amazingly comfortable pack.  Unfortunately in the early days the bottom had the 50 weight DCF and not the 150 weight and it did not take long for me to develop a small abrasion hole on one of the bottom corners…very disappointing!  And the first generations also had the very small hipbelt pockets.  In those days they were very willing to make such modifications at little to no extra charge.  I have often wondered why it took so long to come up with the “Junction” pack as a stock pack.  It really is the best configuration for most backpackers who use their packs.

Tell me it comes in something other than white.

I thought the same thing. I’d prefer a black one.  I sent an email. No response yet.

HMG says that the hip belt on the 3400 packs includes 1/8” closed cell rigid foam, 1/4″ closed cell foam and spacer mesh. They say the 2400 is just the 1/8″ closed cell rigid foam. Did you observe this?

They say on their site that it’s only in white for now.

I used the Southwest 2400 on a three day Lean-to Rescue. I carried my normal 20 pounds plus about 30 pounds of various tools. I experienced next to no pack collapse at 45-50 pounds. I was surprised at the testing. The pack held solidly onto my hips and fairly lightly on my shoulders, even with the weight I was carrying. Of course hammers, saws, nails, prybars are dense material, mostly. I packed them lower in the pack, just on my compression pack with cloths/sleeping bag. I am not sure I agree with the collapse test. A lot depends on where and how high you pack the main load. Packing heavier stuff high would lead to more collapse onto your shoulders, I think. The shoulder straps did bite into my shoulders somewhat, but this was more because they are narrow and heavily padded (2-3/4″ wide, 3/8″ foam.) A wider strap would have prevented this, I believe. A 3-1/4″ strap works better with heavy loads. But, I was 10 pounds over HMG’s maximum weight anyway.

I removed the extra buckles, side tie-downs, etc. It is under two pounds today, despite the heavier black fabric. Still too heavy for general backpacking, but a nice pack for the L2R projects.