Review: BCA Stash 40 UL Pack

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In a nutshell:

Backcountry Access has long been known for simple, affordable avalanche airbags, but their traditional packs have long flown under the radar. With seemingly everyone now offering a streamlined, ultralight touring/ski mountaineering pack, BCA released their fresh Stash 40 UL pack, an excellently thought-out, lightweight and extremely functional pack.

• Available Size: S, M, L
• Stated Volume: 40 liters
• Weight: 1166 grams

The BCA Stash 40 UL will be available soon.

Intro:

In my opinion, ultralight packs have long suffered from not being able to balance comfort with weight. Removing material from a pack often meant removing padding and internal frames that would turn a 40L pack into a floppy, uncomfortable mess. If you need a 40L pack, chances are you’ll be carrying quite a bit of weight into the mountains in the form of avalanche gear, ropes, harnesses, and probably plenty of water–all that adds up, and if the pack isn’t comfortable, you’re going to have a bad time.

Luckily, the latest crop of these packs has figured out the comfort equation, and BCA’s Stash 40 UL really threads the needle between comfort, lightness and having just the right feature set. The highlight of that is their “SideStash” pocket, essentially a separate, small zippered compartment at the bottom of the main section. This clever solution gives you easy access to heavier things like a rope, water bottle, or other technical gear, without having to open and dig through your stuff in the main pocket.

I tested the pack for a few weeks before handing it off to another tester, Will Whitmore, to put it through the ringer during the Teton spring ski mountaineering season. The pack comes in both all-white and all-black.

Size and fit:

Like I already mentioned, this pack is really comfortable. There’s clever use of padding on the back panel, enough cushion on the hip straps, and very anatomical sizing, making the size M/L pack fit both my 6'0" frame and Will's 5'10" frame very well. The lightweight aluminum internal wire frame gives the pack a ton of support and comfort even when carrying heavier loads.

“I did find the shoulder straps to feel closer together than average at the neck, but once I got used to that it didn’t prove an issue,” Will says. I don’t have particularly broad shoulders so I didn’t notice that issue.

Features and pockets:

The Stash 40 UL includes three main compartments - the main roll-top accessed section which can also be accessed by a side zip, a dedicated avalanche tool pocket on the back side of the pack, and a smaller “side stash” pocket at the bottom of the pack. It also includes a small phone, headlamp, or snack pocket above the back panel and two small pockets on each side of the hip belt.

At 40 liters, the pack has plenty of volume for any day mission - I rarely needed to expand the roll top for excess capacity even when carrying ropes and mountaineering gear. Accessing gear was made easy by the side zip which was as long as the main compartment. “I found myself only undoing the roll top to load and then emptying the pack at home before and after embarking on a ski mission,” says Will.

The X-Pac material, which the majority of the pack is made of, has a very hardy and abrasion resistant feel to it while also being lightweight. Ice tool carry points on the back of the pack make for reliable, simple ax carry–small ice tools like a Petzl Gully can also fit inside the avalanche pocket.

It's possible to run a mic radio or hydration hose through the shoulder straps. The pack also includes a removable helmet carry system, but for most days, there’s enough space to pack a helmet inside the main compartment.

Carrying skis is comfortable and easy, and the pack gives the option of A-frame, diagonal, and vertical carry systems.

In use:

There’s typically an important distinction to be made between packs that excel at technical ski mountaineering pack and ones that are more useful for plain old ski touring that doesn’t involve anything more than simple transitions from skinning to skiing. For one, volume is a big topic–I don’t usually need more than 25-30 liters of space for mid-winter ski touring, and that empty volume in a pack really bothers me. However, the new BCA Stash 40 UL might just bridge the gap between these two categories.

I really like the separate avalanche tool pocket, when I’m out skiing powder mid-winter, I’m often digging around in the snow to investigate the snowpack and having quick access to my shovel and probe is really important. I’m way more likely to actually dig a hole and do my due diligence if I don’t need to dig deep through my pack to get my stuff out–not to mention in the worst case scenario of an avalanche burial, every second counts.

Secondly, the roll top and compression straps on the side of the pack work really well to shrink it far smaller than its 40L size. If I’m not carrying much, I’ll just cinch that all down and boom, I have a 30L pack that holds its shape and doesn’t flop around.

The standout feature of this pack is undoubtedly BCA’s innovative Side Stash pocket. This separate pocket on the bottom of the pack spans the entire width of the bag and is great easy access storage that, with some above average shoulder mobility, can be accessed without removing or adjusting the pack. It’s the perfect place for holding a large water bottle for easy access on the skin track, but in a technical setting, it’s super useful for easy rope deployment without having to remove the pack in a precarious spot.

Where does the BCA Stash 40 UL make some compromises?

The one feature of the pack that neither of us was a fan of was BCA’s use of a webbing and clasp type system for the side straps. While they kept the bag’s shape nice and svelte when pulled tight, they proved extremely difficult to undo. It’s possible to use them to A-frame or vertical carry your skis, but we both preferred rigging the diagonal carry system just so we didn’t have to mess with the straps.

What does a perfect day in the BCA Stash 40 UL look like?

BCA’s Stash 40 UL isn’t just a skimo pack for lycra dorks. Instead, it’s in the goldilocks zone of not too many and not too few features, balancing lightweight and comfort for big days in the mountains. I’d actually have a hard time pinpointing the perfect day, because it would work just as well for a single-day push climbing and skiing a big line in the Tetons, Wasatch, Cascades (or other big, pointy mountains) as it would just going powder touring out to your favorite local stash. In other words, it’s just a plain-ol’ good backcountry skiing pack.

The BCA Stash 40 UL will be available soon.