Black Diamond Firstlight Review

Likes
The Black Diamond Firstlight is a super light alpine assault tent. It’s designed for the climber whose main objective is to reach the summit as fast as possible while carrying the least amount of weight. For this, the Firstlight is tremendously successful. It’s so light (only 3 lbs. 5 oz.) that one person barely notices its weight. When packed into the included stuff sack the tent body is about the size of a large loaf of bread. If jammed into a compression sack it becomes all but minute. The two poles slip into their own sack and get packed separately.

The Firstlight is made of the water resistant NanoShield fabric and DAC Featherlite poles. The tent sets up very fast with both poles supporting the tent from the inside. Simply insert one pole through the door and into a reinforced snap in one corner, and bend it up and over to a snap in the opposite corner. Repeat with the other pole and fasten with Velcro closures. It’s worth noting that Black Diamond’s Bibler series tents use hard plastic twist ties to attach the poles to the tent wall. We much prefer the Velcro closures that are used here on the Firstlight and on other single wall tents such as the Nemo Moki because they’re faster and easier to open and close and also stronger.

Like most single wall tents with a two-pole design, the Firstlight has a tall, narrow profile and very compact footprint. This is advantageous for shedding heavy snows (they fall right off), but the steep walls are less aerodynamic and can be affected by strong winds. When pitching the tent in windy conditions we orient door into the wind.

The Firstlight’s tiny footprint (82”x48”) is by far the smallest of any tent reviewed here. This allows it to be pitched in small, tight spaces and on the most heinously small ledges; a boon to alpine climbers who are frequently forced to bivy in inopportune locations.

Fifty-three ounces!! Wow!! This tent puts some bivy sacks to shame. Why sleep in a claustrophobic coffin when you can fit two people in the Firstlight? We’d much prefer to weather a storm in the Firstlight, where you can sit up, make a meal, and mooch some warmth from the body next to you, than suffer a stormy night in a bivy sack.

Going super super-light on your next Himalayan first ascent? Pick up a pair of carbon fiber poles! The ones from Fibraplex will shave six ounces from your pack.

Dislikes
The Firstlight’s selling points are its low weight and compact footprint. When compared to the 12 other four-season tents we reviewed, the Firstlight performs poorly. It’s not waterproof, not strong, not stable, not livable, and has very few features. It’s an alpine climbing tent!

Because it’s not waterproof (the seams aren’t even taped – you’ll have to seal them yourself), the Firstlight is very much a one-season tent. It’s made for the winter and only the winter. The NanoShield fabric, one that has been used on sleeping bags, is more of a windbreaker than anything else. It’s sufficient to stop the wind (although it’s not 100 percent windproof) and deflect snow and ice. We found that the tent provides enough protection in light rain, but is inadequate in heavy rains. The Firstlight is meant for conditions where the only precipitation you’ll get is snow, and dry snow at that.

In a sense, the Firstlight acts like a softshell in that it’s not waterproof, but wind and water resistant. Trading water resistance for breathability can have benefits for a tent, too. We found that the Firstlight was much less prone to condensation than tents in the Bibler lineup that used ToddTex. More air passing through the tent walls also makes the tent safer to cook inside of (circulating air removes deadly carbon monoxide). But this too has its drawbacks. A thin single wall is considerably colder than the waterproof ToddTex found on the Bibler series and way colder than any double wall tent.

Durability is quite poor, too. The Firstlight goes as light as possible everywhere and looks like a toy when compared with most other four-season tents. We encountered one problem with the Firstlight’s vents. After several months of use one of the vent wires (which are protected by small plastic caps) poked through the cap and through the fabric.

The Firstlight is not about comfort and amenities. There are two pockets and two vents. That’s it. The pockets are the worst of any tent we’ve ever tested. They’re tiny, but sufficient to hold the few accessories an alpine climber would bring along (headlamp, lighter). Two people of any size will be cozy in the Firstlight and two people six feet or over will be spooning. We found that one six-foot person touches both the top and bottom at the same time!! This fact further reinforces its winter only use because pushing the walls of the Firstlight in a rainstorm would be a condensation disaster, especially if you had a down sleeping bag. The tent’s small size also makes it terrible for base camping where you want a strong and spacious tent.

Finally, the Firstlight is the least versatile tent we’ve ever reviewed. It’s made for winter alpine climbing and nothing else. While some backpackers use the Firstlight, we believe they’d be much better off with a tarp or tarp and bivy sack combo. This would be more weatherproof, more versatile, more comfortable, and more durable.

While there are many drawbacks to the Firstlight, it does make an excellent and inexpensive shelter for alpine climbing.

Best Application
Alpine climbing.

Value
If you’re a dedicated alpine climber the Firstlight is a very good value. For others, we recommend either a three-season tent or a stronger and more spacious single wall tent.

Other versions and accessories
You can also buy a vestibule, but that would be silly if you wanted to save weight. Go with aftermarket carbon fiber poles if you really want to move fast.