Hyperlite Mountain Gear’s Versa is one of those sling bags you don’t expect to be any good, and you question because it seems much cheaper than you would expect for a bag made of Dyneema. At $70, it always seemed like a head scratcher: must not be good type of pricing.
I bought mine second hand for a heck of a deal and after using it for some time now, it has proven that it is a value even at the $70 full retail price tag. It is very light, and yet, incredibly versatile.
Size & Materials
This bag measures out to be 2.25″ (H) x 6″ (W) x 9″ (L), and although Hyperlite Mountain Gear doesn’t specify a volume capacity you can put it somewhere around 2L. It feels like it packs a little more than that, but it measures out to that 2L mark. It’s made from DCH50, which is the thin and crinkly dyneema. It’s a good material here because there’s not enough volume of material to make it annoyingly loud in use.
The hallmark feature for me though is the weight at 0.18lbs this sling weighs nothing. and it is not like it is missing major features. The zippers are aquaguard and the back panel of the bag is nicely padded and not slick dyneema.
I found this bag to pack out very nicely and remain feeling small. It holds what I needed it to, but not much else.
Carry & Use
Here’s my sling load out for testing this:
Just to give you a better sense of how much this little sling holds, here’s the actual list of what I was keeping in it:
- Kleenex packet
- Yellow Birch PockIt Pro holding,
- Swiss Army Evo11
- Brass Compass
- BigIDesign Ti Pen
- Anker Battery Pack
- 0.5m Apple Lightning Cable
- Tuff Possum Gear Pocket Possibilities Pouch, holding;
- First Aid Supplies
- OTC Medications
- Hankercheif
- RZ Mask, Mesh 2.0
- Altoids Small
- Burts Bees Lipbalm
- 4x 1.5” Chem Lights, for fun
- Field Notes
- CDC Vaccination Card
- Lens Cleaning Cloth
- Contacts Flat Case
- 2x Sanitizing Wipes from an Airplane flight
That’s about all I ever find myself needing and there’s enough room left over with that all in the bag that you can stash some sunglasses and odds and ends too (especially if you are wearing the mask, which I typically was, as you get back a nice amount of space without that in the sling).
As I mentioned above the back panel of the bag is a padded neoprene like surface that has an opening at the top and the sides. The top opening means you can stash a mask in there quickly if needed, and it holds it well enough. The strap itself is a rather underwhelming 1” webbing strap, not even a particularly nice feeling variant and a an ultralight variety of the buckle itself which works but is uninspiring.
Attached to sternum strap of 3 Day Assault CL.
The entire strap is removable by design. Doing so leaves you with two wings, which can then be tucked into the side openings on the back panel of the bag. But, the Versa is also designed to be carried with a strap running through that area. Because of this the Versa can be used as a hip pocket and a backpack hip belt, or a chest pocket, by passing a sternum strap through this part of the bag. To add to that, you could easily upgrade the strap if you wanted to as well.
3 Day Assault CL hip belt is almost too thick for the Versa to be used on it.
I’ve yet to try this in practice/use other than in my house, but it seems to work just fine.
I have found the Versa to be light enough that it’s never in the way and even the strap is comfortable enough for what it is.
Overall
I like this sling, and it was the only sling I used for a long time because I preferred the simplicity of the entire setup. I don’t think it will be my top choice going forward, but I do think it will find itself traveling with me once that starts back up.
It weighs nothing and packs down nicely (or can be used as a travel organizer) such that I see no downside to bringing it with me wherever I might go. To that end, I love it this sling and it’s moving up the list compared to the other slings I’ve tested. The value in this for me is a nice piece to add for extra storage when hiking, but also something that works well as an organizer when traveling while providing a dual purpose of a travel sling.
I’m a fan, find it here.