Hyperlite Mountain Gear Porter 55 Review

The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Porter 55 is one of our favorite packs for light and fast missions in trying environments. It has beefy side straps, with external attachment options that adapt to what you want to do rather than the other way around. Made of sturdy Dyneema material that still manages to be lightweight, this is one of our favorite options for hiking through trying environments where durability matters.

Performance Comparison

Comfort

The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Porter turned out to be an understated sleeper hit when it comes to comfort — everything from our daily bike commutes, trips to the store, and missions to the gym were accomplished in comfort, even before considering its backpacking chops.

Two aluminum stays along the back padding provide a ton of rigidity to carry your load on the hip belt. Both the hip belt and the shoulder straps are made with cushy closed-cell foam with the signature Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF) on the exterior and more breathable mesh on the interior. Neither dug into our bodies which our shoulders and hips both appreciated. The load limit set by the manufacturer is 40 pounds — one of the highest limits of any pack in this roundup.

As is the modus operandi of this entire pack, the design is no-frills, so there are no load lifters on the shoulder straps, and the hip belt is fairly minimalistic. The built-in and non-removable back padding did a spectacular job of keeping us insulated from any more acutely angled items in our pack.

Ease of Use

The minimal design of the HMG Porter 55 also makes it simple to start using. The innumerable lashing points mean an almost infinite possibility of what you can bring with you at your discretion. This pack certainly won't limit you on ways to use your creativity to get the job done.

You want to be aware of the three big-picture features of the pack. The first is the roll top, which can be compressed down or relaxed upward depending on your load. Secondly, the side cinch straps help keep loads tight within the pack without jostling about. And finally, all the lash points allow you to bring anything else you'd like, with the addition of string, rope, webbing — whatever you may have on hand.

Weight-to-Volume Ratio

We weighed the Porter 55 at 35.2 ounces or 998 grams. It lacks many options to strip accessories off to make it lighter. However, the two metal stays, at 3.8 ounces or 108 grams total, can be removed at the cost of the 40 pound load limit.

We are skeptical of the stated 55-liter capacity. Once we rolled up the main compartment three times to ensure a waterproof seal, we only measured the internal volume to be around 36 liters. We could only get our ping pong ball measurements to reflect the advertised volume when the pack was fully open and not rolled at all — not a realistic way to utilize the pack.

Without side or back pockets, the only additional storage is the two generous hip pockets. We measured them at 1.2 liters — or about six Clif Bars each.

The weight-to-volume ratio is roughly 0.57 ounces per liter — not bad for an ultralight pack, but certainly not a front runner. Much of the weight of the pack does come from using the burly black 5 ounces per square yard DCF fabric (the white version is 3.5 ounces per square yard and thus lighter overall). The daisy chain webbing is crucial for you to really take advantage of that 40-pound load limit. This pack is made to lash your gear to, then attach the pack to a local guide's horse for the trip up to base camp.

Adjustability

The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Porter is available in small, medium, large, and tall. It also has two fabric thickness choices: the white is lighter, at 3.5 ounces per square yard, while the black is 5 ounces per square yard. The white is lighter, and the black is more beefy.

The lack of side and center pockets of the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Porter and generous daisy chain webbing ribbons give you a blank canvas to attach anything you want to the pack's exterior. The pack's high 40-pound load limit is one of the highest in this category, so don't be shy if you feel like bringing along some firewood for everyone's pleasure at your first camp spot. The only removable feature of this pack is its internal aluminum stays. Leaving them home would lighten up the pack by a few ounces, but you'll reduce the amount you can comfortably carry.

Leave your accessories at home for day trips and give a few more rolls to the top to feel like you're carrying a smaller pack than its advertised volume would have you believe. Side cinch straps can also be employed to keep a smaller load from jostling around too much in the interior.

A bear canister can easily fit inside and can be lashed nearly anywhere on the exterior of the pack using an additional strap. Or you can use the top Y-strap to cinch it to the top of the pack itself.

Should You Buy the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Porter 55?

The Porter is made for lightweight adventures in technical terrain where every ounce counts, yet it doesn't compromise on durability. Multi-day ski tours, alpine climbing missions, or off-trail desert adventures are where this pack excels. Its simplistic, sleek design helps the Porter to feel low-profile, even when it's loaded down with gear.

What Other Ultralight Backpack Should You Consider?