The features and design philosophy are accurately described on the Blue Ice site and video. The development teams seem to have stepped back and done a serious rethink about how to incorporate the features many of us want in terms of functionality and versatility – and keep the design within a narrow scope defined by the needs of the alpinist as opposed to the demands of marketing departments. The team has done a very-good job.
The pack is comfortable, well-balanced and stable with loads of 20kg. To date I haven’t carried more.
Shoulder-strap width is a nice balance of not-too-narrow for load-bearing comfort and not-too-wide for terrain that demands that your arms are directly overhead (the balls of your shoulder lift in that position).
The hip-belt is comfortable and appropriately sized for use with a harness. The belt can also be very efficiently wrapped around the rear-side of the pack by threading it through Y-joints in the lower shoulder-straps and bottom compression straps. It’s a clean, stable, solution that doesn’t involve removing padding at the base of a route.
Overall, it’s one of those packs that you don’t think about when on a climb.
Tool attachment is very good.
The compression straps work and there’s no parts to lose. And they add only minimal weight.
The pack weighs about 825 g, which is up to a kg less than some of its competitors. That makes it a VERY easy way to shave a kg off your total kit.
No durability issues to date but I haven’t had it on really abusive terrain.
The negatives:
The lid feels like an afterthought. Its functionality is limited outside of a certain load-volume range. Personally, I tend not to use lids so it’s not a big deal. I do like the fact that the lid is so light it can still be justified for compartmentalization and simply tossed in the main body. Keep in mind that total pack is only 825 g. If the lid was heavier (for instance had straps), I wouldn’t take it at all.
There is a loop of webbing that runs around the back of the pack from the middle set of compression straps. It will snag once the serious bushwhacking starts. But otherwise, I find it super-versatile in terms of handling and clipping in.
I wish the hip-belt had a couple of gear-loops.
Summary:
It exceeds my expectations. Love it. Recommend it. Comfortable, super-lightweight and highly-versatile. It manages to be razor-focused while being practical enough for long-distance, light-weight backpacking.
I’m giving it four stars because of the lid but considered five because it excels so well at everything else.
