Review: Deuter Freescape Women's Touring Packs
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In A Nutshell
Deuter’s Freescape Lite 24 SL and Freescape Pro 38+ are comfortable and efficient pack options designed specifically for women.
Weight: 1150 g
Stated Volume: 24 L
Features
Weight: 1490 g
Stated volume: 38 L + 10 L
Features
Intro
There are a lot of backcountry packs out there to choose from, but usually when I go to a gear store to try packs on, I struggle to find one that fits. Packs are usually too long for my torso or the hip straps don’t tighten down enough to adequately distribute weight, and the shoulder straps often bulge up into my ears. Over the years, I’ve compromised on my packs, accepting a lower standard and just making it work because I want certain technical features. But Deuter is now offering women’s touring packs that mean I don’t have to choose between comfort and performance.
Women’s Fit
As someone who’s 5’4” and has a short torso, I normally struggle to find packs that actually fit my torso and don’t feel overly bulky or long. I usually wear a size small in touring packs. These packs are one size and designed with a women’s fit (indicated by “SL” which stands for “Slim Line.” For Deuter, a women’s fit means a shorter back (the back length on both packs is 38-48 cm), narrower shoulder straps, and conically shaped hip fins designed for narrower waists. The combination of narrow shoulder straps and slimmer waists was a game changer for me in distributing weight properly with the pack on my back. And it’s great to find a pack that has a shorter torso and doesn’t tower above me when at full capacity.
Photo: Julian Kallanian
I was able to adjust both packs to a size that felt well-proportioned for my body and was ultimately way more comfortable than unisex packs I’ve used in the past.
Features
The Freescape 24 and Freescape Pro 38+ both boast some impressive features: you can carry the skis in an A-frame or diagonally (using extra fastening straps). There’s an avalanche safety tools compartment with plenty of room for a shovel and probe and there are two places to attach ice axes to the outside of the pack. The Freescape 24 offers a side pocket to access the interior of the pack without opening the top while the Freescape Pro 38+ has a zippered compartment on the back so you can access the interior of the pack with your skis in an A-Frame and a small side pocket for your phone.
Photo: Jack Stauss
While I liked all these features, I think the best feature is that the pack is designed with slimmer body types in mind and what really struck me about these packs were how light and comfortable they both felt. The hip belts on both fit me really well and actually cinched down to distribute weight around my hips, without rubbing on my hip bones. When full, both packs felt like they fit snugly and compactly without towering over my head. The shoulder straps characteristic of the SL fit were noticeably narrower, which made the sternum buckle more comfortable and kept the straps centered on my shoulders and out of my ears. The well-designed fit of the packs meant that they moved well with me and didn’t bounce around or pull me off balance on the descents.
I did find that the narrower fit of the shoulder straps meant that the Freescape Pro 38+ sat directly on top of my bibs shoulder straps leading to some rubbing. But it may just take some time to dial women’s gear to the point that it accounts for narrower / smaller shoulders.
Capacity
As someone who gets cold and likes snacks, I like being able to have all my stuff with me, so I’m usually skeptical of touring packs smaller than 30 liters. But I was willing to give the Freescape Lite 24 SL a try and was pretty surprised by how spacious it felt on the skintrack. I was able to comfortably fit my helmet, extra layers, water bottle, snacks, and goggles in the main compartment and still slide my skins in for the descent. This pack definitely works well for most ski tours but, given its small capacity, I’d likely look for a larger pack for days that require more technical gear. Though I will say that the Freescape 24 makes 24 liters feel really big compared to some other packs with the same stated size.
Photo: Jack Stauss
The Freescape Pro 38+ is a great option for longer days out or more technical ski tours. I recently used this pack on an early season adventure up Mount Timpanogos in the Southern Wasatch. We started in trail shoes and needed to bring ice axes, tons of extra clothes, and food for a big day out. I was able to strap my skis and boots to the pack no problem, fill it with layers and food, strap my helmet and ice axe to the outside, and still felt like I had tons of space left. While the pack was weighed down with all my gear, it didn’t feel overly bulky or unreasonably heavy and was pretty comfortable for an 8 hour day that mixed hiking, skinning, ridge scrambling, and skiing. But I’ve also been able to use it for more mellow tours that require less gear and haven’t found it to feel overly big or sagging when it’s not full.
Both of these packs are great options with technical features, so the size you choose really just depends on what capacity you like to have with you in the backcountry and what your goals for this pack are.
In Use
I find myself reaching for the Freescape Lite 24 for more mellow ski tours where I don’t need tons of technical gear. It’s a great size for a half day out with friends where you likely don’t need to carry your skis and aren’t hauling a rope or other safety gear. I’ve used this pack for some early season tours in the Wasatch and have been shocked by how light it feels on the uphill and how unobtrusive it is on the downhill. I didn’t love the diagonal ski carry with this pack on because it felt like there wasn’t enough pack to buffer the skis off my back, but the A-Frame carry works well if you need that while using this pack.
Given its larger size, the Freescape Pro 38+ is a great option for more involved, longer tours. I appreciate that it allows me to comfortably carry a lot of gear and has pockets designed with ski gear in mind. The fact that it fits my frame really well then makes it unobtrusive on the downhill. I find that I prefer the A-Frame ski carry with this pack. I tend to shy away from ski carries that require fiddling around with extra straps in the backcountry and the A-Frame is super easy to do without too much hassle and I didn’t find using the extra straps to set up a diagonal carry to be intuitive with this pack. The back panel opening is an awesome feature because it allows you to access the contents of your pack while your skis are mounted in an A-Frame, which is a great feature.
I really liked having top pockets on both packs, too, as a place to put snacks I wanted easily accessible and to hold goggles and other small, but important items.
Compromises
I really loved these packs and am psyched to see some women-specific designs hitting the ski touring pack world, so my critiques are small.
Both packs have just one, small hip belt pocket each. The pockets are too small to hold a phone and I wasn’t really sure what to put in there other than some chapstick and a half eaten granola bar. While there are plenty of pockets on the pack to choose fun, having a slightly bigger hip belt pocket and perhaps adding pockets to both sides of the hip belt would have been a good addition.
Both packs come with an external helmet carry that can be attached to the back of the pack. I generally like this feature but felt like the mesh provided was almost too small for my helmet. It was able to hold it, but I kept checking to make sure it wasn’t going to fall out.
Who are these packs for?
If you’re on the narrower side and have struggled with finding packs that fit your shoulders and torso (and usually have packs that are too big), I highly recommend trying one of the Freescape SL packs. These packs offer comfort and a better fit for certain body types without compromising features or performance.
