F-stop Tilopa?

Home · Register · Search · Software · Hosting · Software · Join Upload & Sell

FM Forums \| General Gear-talk \| Join Upload & Sell
1 2 end

Archive 2010 · F-stop Tilopa?

ksutton
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #1 · F-stop Tilopa?

Where can I buy one these days? Specifically, one in the foilage color (not too fond of that awful bright red color). Any retailers other than f-stop themselves carry it? Anybody wanna sell me a lightly used one?

Jul 28, 2010 at 02:33 PM

xcel730
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #2 · F-stop Tilopa?

Unfortunately only F-stop sells them.

I've been eyeing for a foilage color one for months, but you don't see them show up in the FS forum often. I ended up just buying one from F-stop directly. Awesome bag. I don't foresee myself getting rid of it for awhile.

Jul 28, 2010 at 03:06 PM

JohnJ80
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #3 · F-stop Tilopa?

Great bag. I've got one and really like it.

j.

Jul 29, 2010 at 03:15 AM

coresare
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #4 · F-stop Tilopa?

I just returned mine. The styling is nice. The backloading design makes a difference when you're putting your backpack down in dirt or other not so clean grounds. It carries well. The suspension is designed well. Only thing was I didn't quite like the organization the ICU had to offer. The mouth of the back entry is a little smaller than the storage itself. Also the ICU tapers down towards the bottom. I guess I prefer boxy type bags where everything has it's own little space.

In the end I wound up with the ThinkTank Airport Antidote. It just seemed to be able to accomodate my gear better and keep it organized better. I did have the Large ICU, and the Extra Large would of been a closer match to the ThinkTank Airport Antidote.

The perfect bag would have been the material/styling/harness system/backloading design of the Tilopa (with a larger opening) combined with the ThinkTank squarish capability to organize all your gear.

Jul 29, 2010 at 05:10 AM

JohnJ80
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #5 · F-stop Tilopa?

The big difference is that most of the photo centric bags, TTP included, *only* have room for photo gear. There is no room, or no good way to store an extra layer, water, food etc... That's the difference in the Fstop gear stuff to everything else out there. They aim at "adventure photography" which usually entails carrying your gear plus other sport gear to the place where you will shoot. "Carrying" often means on things like skis, snowboards, bikes, or serious hiking terrain.

J.

Jul 29, 2010 at 02:12 PM

SHVv
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #6 · F-stop Tilopa?

The mouth of the back entry is a little smaller than the storage itself. Also the ICU tapers down towards the bottom. I guess I prefer boxy type bags where everything has it's own little space.
**********
I think that the XL-ICU is a better fit for the Tilopa. The dividers could be a little more versatile. I initially didn't like the slightly smaller size of the rear opening but now like it because, even though it requires a little more time to remove items, it prevents accidental dumping of contents. I'll personally take "a little more time" over dumping. :>

Steve

Jul 29, 2010 at 11:36 PM

CBphotography
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #7 · F-stop Tilopa?

Steve,

If you secure the ICU to the pack, it should make it a little easier to get gear out of the top of the ICU. There are four velcro attachments on the ICU that fit into loops on the inside of the pack itself. That also helps give enough room between the ICU and the frame of the pack, again allowing for easier access.

As for the ICU's themselves, the new ICU's will be much more form fitting to the packs. You can see a few photos of them along with F-Stop's new 37L Pack - The Loka

Jul 30, 2010 at 04:16 AM

coresare
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #8 · F-stop Tilopa?

I must admit that's a sick looking backpack!

Jul 30, 2010 at 08:29 AM

JohnJ80
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #9 · F-stop Tilopa?

SHVv wrote:
The mouth of the back entry is a little smaller than the storage itself. Also the ICU tapers down towards the bottom. I guess I prefer boxy type bags where everything has it's own little space.
**********
I think that the XL-ICU is a better fit for the Tilopa. The dividers could be a little more versatile. I initially didn't like the slightly smaller size of the rear opening but now like it because, even though it requires a little more time to remove items, it prevents accidental dumping of contents. I'll personally take "a little more time" over dumping. :>

Steve

I think you are not looking at the proper use of F-stops stuff, and in particular, the Tilopa. An XL ICU would almost completely fill up the TIlopa and essentially turn it into a much more traditional camera backpack offering, albeit with a better suspension and harness - something along the lines of what you can get from Lowepro or Think Tank. I've often wanted (and have ordered) a medium and small ICU just to give me more room in the bag for non photography stuff.

The strength of the Tilopa/Satori/Loka is that they provide for camera gear AND other support equipment more related to the sport at hand - i.e. carrying goggles and extra gloves, an extra layer or hydration; stuff that is not directly related to photography but to the sport (or locomotion necessary to get to) shoot site. No other bag does this and that is the significant differentiation.

J.

Jul 30, 2010 at 03:34 PM

stuuke
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #10 · F-stop Tilopa?

I have the Lotus and the Maverick. I use the Maverick to carry my Elinchrom Quadra kit or a camera and several small strobes. I use the Lotus for the Elinchrom Ranger. The quality is great. I used an Elinchrom bag for the Ranger and it just fell apart. The distribution isn't that great but they make a top notch product.

Jul 30, 2010 at 04:05 PM

Peyton
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #11 · F-stop Tilopa?

I own a Tilopa and I must say this has been one of the top 3 investments I've made since I've taken up photography. I currently utilize the large ICU, but I'm planning on picking up a small for more pack space. I really like the versatility of the molle system and it does well with attaching my Gitzo tripod. I've recently opted to use a 3L Platypus hydration bladder which just barely fits inside the bigger of the outside sleeve pockets.

I trekked the Bluebird Lake trail (12.8 miles roundtrip) with roughly 40 lbs of photog gear, layers and water. I admit it was a bit heavy but with a balanced pack it was far more comfortable than my Lowepro Photo Trekker was on even short hikes.

As others have stated, the quality is wonderful, the customer service has been awesome and it comes with I believe a 25 year warranty. These packs are customizable to fit your needs and I really think you'll be happy with the purchase.

A plus on the Tilopa is that minus the tripod, its carry on compatible, I had no trouble flying to Colorado last month.

Jul 30, 2010 at 06:35 PM

JohnJ80
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #12 · F-stop Tilopa?

How did you attach the hydration bladder?

Also, I've found that the Think Tank Modules can, with some work, be used on the MOLLE attachments.

J.

Jul 30, 2010 at 06:46 PM

IanMillar
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #13 · F-stop Tilopa?

Thanks for the kind words guys, the new molle webbing is set to take most Think Tamk gear with ease.

They have some products that have a bigger mount than most but most lens sleeves, drop ins, etc should fit.

Jul 31, 2010 at 12:38 PM

sjms
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #14 · F-stop Tilopa?

JohnJ80 wrote:
How did you attach the hydration bladder?

Also, I've found that the Think Tank Modules can, with some work, be used on the MOLLE attachments.

J.

3L Platypus hydration bladder which just barely fits inside the bigger of the outside sleeve pockets

Jul 31, 2010 at 12:50 PM

sjms
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #15 · F-stop Tilopa?

camel back is producing the armorbak

http://www.camelbak.com/government-military/hydration-packs/armorbak

that has split buckles that attach direct to MOLLE points and depending on your setup all you have to do is replace are add different wedding lingths to it as needed for fit

available in a whole myrid of tactical colors

Edited on Aug 01, 2010 at 01:31 AM · View previous versions

Jul 31, 2010 at 12:56 PM

chez
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #16 · F-stop Tilopa?

What is the difference between the f-stop bags and other light hiking bags with an insert? IE: if you want a bag to carry photo equipment and other stuff, why not get an insert and one of many fine hiking packs? What advantage does the f-stop bag have?

Jul 31, 2010 at 01:08 PM

sjms
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #17 · F-stop Tilopa?

accessability

Jul 31, 2010 at 01:49 PM

SHVv
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #18 · F-stop Tilopa?

I think you are not looking at the proper use of F-stops stuff, and in particular, the Tilopa.
*******
That is one of the nice features of the F-stop system, versatility. My reason for buying the F-Stop was the rigid suspension/weight transfer system combined with "easy" access to the equipment. My LowePro packs "kill" by neck, shoulders and back when I am "humping" 40#s+ of MF gear for any distance.

Steve

Jul 31, 2010 at 03:27 PM

Chris Noyes
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #19 · F-stop Tilopa?

I didn't find the F-stop suspension system anything special, at least on their biggest Satori bag. It certainly wasn't any better than my Gura Gear Kiboko bag, which holds considerably more *camera* gear than the F-Stop XL ICU. I've carried 50+ lbs in the Kiboko, and while it wasn't awful, I was relieved to take it off after 5 hours of hiking. I returned the Satori bag, but kept the ICUs (I got the XL, and L ICUs) because they work nicely with my 65-75 liter Gregory Baltoro hiking bag (which offers comparable access to the ICUs) but with a far superior suspension system.

I'm a bit annoyed with F-Stop because I also ordered the medium size ICU at the same time as the other gear, and was initially told I could expect delivery in mid-June. I've had to follow up every month since then to get updates and am continually disappointed to learn that "it's a month away". The latest response I got (a couple of days ago) was:

"We sent out an email to everyone with pre-orders 2 1/2 weeks ago, it might of gotten mixed up in your junk folder. Regardless, the Medium ICU will be available along with our new Loka Back Pack at the end of August."

Sorry, but it wasn't "mixed up" in my junk folder because it was never sent to me. I understand the fact that this is a new, small company, but I don't like excuses, false promises and just plain BS.

Jul 31, 2010 at 04:39 PM

JohnJ80
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #20 · F-stop Tilopa?

Check your server rules too, btw.

I've found their customer service to be honest and timely. They've typically shared more information with me on pre-released products than most other companies by a long ways. Providing advance information comes with a risk for both consumer and supplier. Advance information can change, and does.

This is not the pack for lugging 50lbs of camera gear. It is the bag to haul the gear you need as well as the other equipment you need to get there and/or do the activity. The Kiboko and others of it's type are not for this sort of role. The two are not mutually exclusive.

J.

Jul 31, 2010 at 05:51 PM

1 2 end
FM Forums \| General Gear-talk \| Join Upload & Sell 1 2 end