ProView – Blue Ice Firecrest 38L Review

When the Firecrest 38L came to me at the beginning of May, the timing had lined up perfectly to truly test the pack’s touted 4-season adaptability. After a lackluster winter in Colorado, it seemed that spring had delivered the much-needed moisture in the mountains that we all have been praying to Ullr for.

With conditions looking as good as they had all year up high for skiing and warm temperatures down low, the classic multi-sport adventures that we all love in the spring were in full swing. I was able to joyfully toss the Firecrest through snow and rock all month, and I got a great look at some key design features and impressive updates from previous years.

There’s a lot that I loved about this pack. But I think the best way to summarize what I thought was best about it is to say that it was a real treat to get to switch from day to day activities and never have to think about changing my pack. All month I routinely went from mountaineering to sport climbing. From Ski mountaineering in RMNP, to multi-pitch rock in Eldorado Canyon. All with the same pack, everyday.

Fit/Comfort

Pack fit has never been something that I’ve felt incredibly dialed with. I commonly deal with too much weight on the shoulders, or hip-hickeys from cinching the waist belt too tight to compensate. That said, I can tell when a pack works for me, and when it just can’t. While this usually is specific to my anatomy (Long torso, thin waist) and not down to poor pack design, I always breathe a sigh of relief when I finally find a pack that *just works*.

The Firecrest 38L fits that bill for me. The M/L sizing is pretty optimal for my torso, and the waist belt isn’t maxed out when I cinch it down. I felt that the weight distributed well onto my hips, and the shoulder and neck pain was minimal. I put this to the test while guiding a client up the Dragontail Couloir in RMNP this month. My pack was loaded down with avy tools, extra layers, H2O, a ski cord, harness, crampons, ice axe and 180cm skis on the outside without my shoulders screaming at me.

Features

If fit and comfort are the heart of any good pack design, the features are the brain. I’d say this is where Blue Ice shines for me normally; they consistently make changes and implement feedback to make their products better every year. For this version of the Firecrest, there’s a lot I found “brainy” about it.

From a versatility perspective, the biggest thing is the Avy tool pouch. Fully(and easily) removable, it easily adds space and decreases overall weight. This year, it has integrated padding in the pouch, decreasing the chance that abrasion and tears will form through the outside layer of the pack, especially when cross-carrying skis. On that note, Blue Ice also changed their cross-carry strap system from a racing-inspired hook bungee to a carabiner strap system. I think this adds some peace of mind in steeper terrain. It also works well as a tether system, letting you easily attach the bag to an anchor or yourself without needing extra gear. You can even use it as a rope carry strap over the top of the pack since the strap is stored through the hydration sleeve port, located at the top and rear of the brain.

Another feature that doesn’t go unnoticed is the pouches placed on each shoulder strap for your phone, and a water bottle. The phone pouch is larger, and has more stretch to accommodate larger phones, while the bottle pouch fits a 500mL container perfectly. Admittedly, I’ve never been much of a “bells and whistles” guy when it comes to packs. Usually, less is more for me. However, I have to hold my hand up with this one and say I absolutely loved the extra pockets. It probably doubled my water intake throughout this month. For many recreational users this may not be as much of a revelation, but working in the mountains means there’s always something you can be doing throughout the day and always an opportunity to take care of others’ needs instead of your own. Especially when it comes to taking the time to eat and drink. I found myself able to hold tension on a rope attached to my client while booting up a couloir, and simultaneously lean over to take sips of water from the stored pouch.

While the small features were pretty intelligent on this pack, the broader systems worked seamlessly as well. The overall pack shape and design lended itself to being able to cinch down and change size, making a 38L into something more akin to a multi-pitch rock daypack. Side straps have multiple placement options, helping relieve the lumpy, puffed effect that can happen so often on a bulkier, bottom heavy pack when trying to cinch it down. The proverbial cherry on top with this is the second tab in the rear of the brain that you can hook the central strap to, which helps again keep things svelte when the pack is lighter.

I’d say the only thing I struggled a bit with was the attachment design for the side straps. They use a hook closure, which are quite small to save weight and keep the profile down. The drawback here is the tabs can be tough to hook to, especially with gloves on. 

Quality/Durability

While the Firecrest 38L is billed as a lightweight pack, the material that Blue Ice uses for the exterior is a high tenacity nylon, and they’ve added a carbonate coating that is supposed to increase abrasion resistance. I found that it held up quite well through all types of terrain, with the exception of a small tear in the side of the pack caused by ski bindings in a side-carry bootfest one day in RMNP. Having more care with ski position could help with this, but it was a good reminder that this isn’t a burly dyneema fabric pack. 

Beyond this small rip, the Firecrest stood up well to constant daily use in nearly every kind of terrain and mountain activity that Colorado can offer in May. The material kept itself in pristine condition, and inspired confidence that uneven packing, and shoving your sharps in the main compartment wouldn’t lead to premature patching or sewing projects. 

Weight/Packability

The trade-off in most of these material choices usually involves a combination of weight and cost, and the Firecrest comes in at 965g. When you’re not in need of avalanche safety, then take another 100g off when you remove the tools pouch.

One of the decisions that also saves weight for this year’s update includes the forfeiting of the dedicated waist belt sleeve. While this can be a useful feature to hide the waist straps while climbing with a harness on, I personally found the waist belt to be of a low enough profile that I could comfortably wear a full-size climbing harness and choose to either have the waist belt buckled, or just strap it behind the pack, and cinch it in place. It stayed on my shoulders and felt glued to my back even while climbing Eldorado Canyon 5.10.

The Final Word

The Blue Ice Firecrest 38L is a ready-made pack for virtually any mountain endeavor that recreationalists and professionals alike could want to engage in. Armed with hyper-versatile features, the 38L is a perfect size from anything to a small daypack for fast-and-light alpine missions, to ski mountaineering guided days with all the extra safety and rescue equipment, to an occasional overnight trip with careful packing technique.

The bottom line is that Blue Ice set out to create a pack that *could* be billed as a Jack of all trades, but continues to take the time and effort to come back every year and fine-tune the details to create a true King in the 4-season pack world.

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