Fundamentals
The Stache UL is a super-light pack meant for alpinists and multi-pitch rock and ice climbers. It has two ice-axe attachments, two facet compression straps, a rope strap, an exterior mesh facet pocket, an interior zippered pocket, and a removable waist belt. It weighs merely 340 grams with all these gear and 240 with out. The Stache UL’s face material is a hybrid of UHMWPE (the chemical compound most interesting acknowledged by the mannequin title Dyneema) and a “extreme tenacity nylon,” the marriage of which provides a very lightweight, pretty sturdy, and surprisingly low value backpack.
Our Concepts
The hyper-minimalist Stache UL joins a rising legion of featherweight, UHMWPE-infused decisions, nonetheless, individually, it performs a lot better than most of what is at current on the market.
Dimension Reviewed
One dimension
Weight
340 grams (12 oz)
Worth
$110
Mannequin
Blue Ice
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The Overview
Climbing-pack fanatics took uncover earlier this 12 months when a positive (very well-known) alpinist began posting photos of themselves climbing in Blue Ice’s new Stache UL pack in its place of their main sponsor’s 30-liter offering.
New sponsorship? I puzzled. Solely a rattling good pack?
I ordered one up.
I examined the Stache UL on a variety of alpine-rock routes this summer season season and was persistently impressed with the thoughtfulness that Blue Ice put into each attribute’s design. On an prolonged, glacier-accessed 5.6 ridge in British Columbia’s Selkirk Mountains, the pack’s exterior elastic-mesh pocket allowed me fast entry to a small water bottle and fast power all by the day. The pocket is not aligned vertically, nonetheless slanted in the direction of the once more panel so that I would entry its contents whereas approaching and climbing with out eradicating the pack. I need this mannequin of exterior pocket over the model new sample of together with running-vest-style pockets to climbing packs; whereas these flimsy pockets will snag on rock and easily tear, the Blue Ice system is additional protected—though neither chance is acceptable for hauling.
The pack’s streamlined choices saved my transitions transient all through that day’s quite a lot of glacier crossings, notably because of the nicely designed ice-axe attachments. The axe take care of slides by means of the facet compression strap, whereas the head will get threaded by a standard metallic t-bar that has an elastic with cord-lock to cinch it tight. (Later that day, when lightning compelled me off the ridge and down a really broken pocket glacier, I would merely seize my axe for a speck of security whereas leaping all through a gaping bergschrund.) I’m actually shocked I haven’t seen this cord-lock design sooner than: the t-bar is a standard attachment system, nonetheless, counting on the width of your axe head, it could give a unfastened, wobbly match. Closing December I walked 9 hours into Patagonia’s Torre Valley with my confederate’s Nomics clang clang clang-ing in opposition to at least one one other every step of the best way during which. The Stache UL’s cord-lock, nonetheless, ensures that any ice axe can match on the pack… after which shut the hell up.
I moreover stuffed the Stache UL to its carrying prohibit whereas approaching the Northwest Ridge (5.8; ~900m) of Mt. MacDonald, forcing it to hold a tent, sleeping bag, pad, vary, and double rack, plus a 60-meter rope draped extreme. The unpadded, 2.5mm-wide waist belt really didn’t scream “comfort” by the multi-hour technique, nor did the equally unpadded shoulder straps, nonetheless I did finish the strategy with none bruising or chafing.
The plus facet to all this unpadded nonsense, in any case, is that the pack climbs terribly correctly. I found the thin, air-permeable shoulder straps virtually unnoticeable whereas climbing 5.10+, notably since they allow a full fluctuate of shoulder movement. Within the meantime, you probably can protected the facet compression straps at definitely one among two heights, allowing your pack to journey as low profile as potential whereas busting by means of skinny squeezes or burly roofs.
After quite a lot of months of testing I’ve expert no holes or premature placed on with this pack. I give it some thought is as a result of (1) I’ve not hauled it, (2) I’ve not climbed higher than 100 meters of chimneys sporting it, and (3) the burly physique material with UHMWPE is designed to hold fast in opposition to powerful use. I anticipate to convey the Stache UL into the mountains for some time to come back again.
Buy the Stache UL (at current 25% off!) on Backcountry.com
Execs
- Provides a safe, quiet carry for two ice axes
- Protected, removable facet compression straps
- Burly physique material
- Elasticized facet pocket is easy to entry whereas approaching
- Breathable, low-profile shoulder straps
- Inside zipped pocket
Cons
- One dimension once more measurement
- Cinch excessive closure is NOT waterproof. Bear in mind if climbing in areas with spindrift.