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There Will Be Mud's Review of Gregory Juno 24 Daypack
A moment of Form over Function: Love the color!
This fits well on me. I am 5’5” and have an 18.5” torso. The padding is good and I feel no discomfort on my bony shoulders or stegosaurus spine. There seems to be good air circulation on the back. (Full disclosure: I did not take this out on the trails as I am not sure as yet if I am keeping it.)
I’m going to start with the annoying things first because, well, queri ego ergo sum.
The first annoying thing is that Gregory uses the identical group of close up feature photos to show the Juno 24 and the 30 and the 36, so you really have no idea which pack they are showing and therefore no idea of scale. In the photo on Gregory’s website with all three models next to each other, the 24 and 30 appear to be identical except for size; the 36 has something different about the front but it is never explained.
Another annoying thing: There is no way to attach trekking poles unless you take off your pack or have a fellow hiker help. Work around: I have discovered that while wearing the pack you can stow the pole tips through the loop as Gregory intended BUT instead of using the elastic lash on the back of the pack (which you can’t do while wearing the pack), pull out the sunglass elastic from the shoulder strap and lash the pole handles (easy to do while wearing the pack). My glasses and sunglasses are $$$ prescription so I would probably never leave them exposed on this elastic anyway.
Water reservoir: The 3L hydration bladder is soft unlike my Osprey 2L and has a hard plastic slot that clicks on to a wide hard plastic hook of sorts. If you use a different bladder (my Osprey 2L and 1.5L did not attach to this hook) you may need to either just drop it in the pocket and say a prayer that it doesn't shift, or rig up a loop or twist tie so your non-Gregory bladder will attach to the hook. I did not try the bite valve nor even cut the cable tie that pinned it to the side as I am not sure I am keeping this pack. The magnet on the chest strap did not seem very strong when I used an Osprey bite valve to test its strength. And yet it took me 10 minutes to figure out that the chest strap closure is a double magnet that one twists to separate, and not a pinch closure. (I would have failed that IQ test.)
Pockets: 2 hip belt zipper pockets, large enough to fit iPhone 12 when the hip pockets of their much larger Octal 45 does not, but requiring two hands to zip closed. 2 side stretch pockets that can be used for water bottles (I don't use water bottles so did not test these.) 1 stretchy front pocket of modest size. 1 very small zip pocket above the stuff pocket that has a padded divider that can only manage a cell phone and a trail bar. The main zippered compartment is deep-ish and narrow and has a small zippered mesh pocket with a hook for keys, but if you fill that mesh pocket it will be difficult to get to anything deep inside the main compartment. The hydration sleeve is the last compartment.
Volume: they say 24L which in all honesty is meaningless to me. If they have 24L, 30L and 36L, this is the Baby Bear size. If you think you can stuff the main compartment full then stuff more in the outside pockets, uh, no. A stuffed full main compartment will compress the outside stretchy pockets. It doesn't make them useless, just less than satisfying…
…and so...
The 24 would be fine for summer day hikes where I’d pack a lunch, water reservoir, light rain jacket, sunblock, emergency kit, etc, but I do not think it has enough room to stow a more hefty jacket that i might need in the mornings/evenings in the fall/spring, or if I wanted to stow water shoes for stream crossings. Ergo, I may return this for the Mama Bear size Juno 30 H2O. For all my whining I do like the pack, but just not sure it will ultimately meet my needs because of the limited size.
This fits well on me. I am 5’5” and have an 18.5” torso. The padding is good and I feel no discomfort on my bony shoulders or stegosaurus spine. There seems to be good air circulation on the back. (Full disclosure: I did not take this out on the trails as I am not sure as yet if I am keeping it.)
I’m going to start with the annoying things first because, well, queri ego ergo sum.
The first annoying thing is that Gregory uses the identical group of close up feature photos to show the Juno 24 and the 30 and the 36, so you really have no idea which pack they are showing and therefore no idea of scale. In the photo on Gregory’s website with all three models next to each other, the 24 and 30 appear to be identical except for size; the 36 has something different about the front but it is never explained.
Another annoying thing: There is no way to attach trekking poles unless you take off your pack or have a fellow hiker help. Work around: I have discovered that while wearing the pack you can stow the pole tips through the loop as Gregory intended BUT instead of using the elastic lash on the back of the pack (which you can’t do while wearing the pack), pull out the sunglass elastic from the shoulder strap and lash the pole handles (easy to do while wearing the pack). My glasses and sunglasses are $$$ prescription so I would probably never leave them exposed on this elastic anyway.
Water reservoir: The 3L hydration bladder is soft unlike my Osprey 2L and has a hard plastic slot that clicks on to a wide hard plastic hook of sorts. If you use a different bladder (my Osprey 2L and 1.5L did not attach to this hook) you may need to either just drop it in the pocket and say a prayer that it doesn't shift, or rig up a loop or twist tie so your non-Gregory bladder will attach to the hook. I did not try the bite valve nor even cut the cable tie that pinned it to the side as I am not sure I am keeping this pack. The magnet on the chest strap did not seem very strong when I used an Osprey bite valve to test its strength. And yet it took me 10 minutes to figure out that the chest strap closure is a double magnet that one twists to separate, and not a pinch closure. (I would have failed that IQ test.)
Pockets: 2 hip belt zipper pockets, large enough to fit iPhone 12 when the hip pockets of their much larger Octal 45 does not, but requiring two hands to zip closed. 2 side stretch pockets that can be used for water bottles (I don't use water bottles so did not test these.) 1 stretchy front pocket of modest size. 1 very small zip pocket above the stuff pocket that has a padded divider that can only manage a cell phone and a trail bar. The main zippered compartment is deep-ish and narrow and has a small zippered mesh pocket with a hook for keys, but if you fill that mesh pocket it will be difficult to get to anything deep inside the main compartment. The hydration sleeve is the last compartment.
Volume: they say 24L which in all honesty is meaningless to me. If they have 24L, 30L and 36L, this is the Baby Bear size. If you think you can stuff the main compartment full then stuff more in the outside pockets, uh, no. A stuffed full main compartment will compress the outside stretchy pockets. It doesn't make them useless, just less than satisfying…
…and so...
The 24 would be fine for summer day hikes where I’d pack a lunch, water reservoir, light rain jacket, sunblock, emergency kit, etc, but I do not think it has enough room to stow a more hefty jacket that i might need in the mornings/evenings in the fall/spring, or if I wanted to stow water shoes for stream crossings. Ergo, I may return this for the Mama Bear size Juno 30 H2O. For all my whining I do like the pack, but just not sure it will ultimately meet my needs because of the limited size.
Would Recommend:
Yes
3 of 3
found the following review helpful.