My Tilopa Mk1 is starting to show its age after 10+ years of abuse and I am going to replace it with a Shimoda X pack.
The $300+ question is whether to go for the X70 or X50. It appears that the X50 is more like 35L unless the roll top is extended, and the X70 is closer to 50L with the roll top down.
My inclination is therefore to go for the X70, use it like a Tilopa with the roll top down most of the time, but have extra space for overnight or few day trips.
Can those who have experience with either the X50 or X70 comment? For X70 owners have you had issues taking it on airplanes as carry-on (reasonably loaded and fully synched up of course)? Any other considerations to keep in mind when deciding between the two?
GroovyGeek wrote:
My inclination is therefore to go for the X70, use it like a Tilopa with the roll top down most of the time, but have extra space for overnight or few day trips.
That sounds like a reasonable idea. I've not used either of those Shimodas so I can not speak to your question specifically other than to say that I love my Shimoda. The build is pretty decent and it fits my body pretty well.
Got my X50 today. Size fully synched down is about equivalent to a Tilopa mk.1, and if you expand the roll top it has meaningfully more space than a Tilopa. Have not taken it out on a hike yet but from everything I have seen so far ***for me*** it is a better pack than the Tilopa across practically every parameter that matters
a) Torso adjustability
b) Water bottle pockets, with the ability to synch them near the body so they don't catch on stuff
c) Stands up with our without tripod added
d) Organisation - that mesh compartment on top that keeps your snacks and small stuff from falling behind the ICU. Some people don't like the extra fabric but I love it, particularly with the two pockets
e) Usable side pockets
f) Just enough extra space for one nighters in fair weather
Yeah, I like the metal buckles on the Tilopa because on more than one occasion I have crushed plastic buckles with the swing gate of the Jeep but that is a tertiary benefit. The redesign feels fairly cosmetic.
One nit with the X50 is that the padding of the hip belt feels like it is a few inches too short, it seems to end right around my hip bone and has the potential to create pressure points. I have an inquiry to Shimoda whether it is possible to swap out an X50 hip belt with an X70 hip belt.
Women would absolutely want to order packs with the female specific shoulder straps directly from Shimoda (where they can do it at no extra charge), the default ones seem like they would be fairly uncomfortable for the female anatomy.
Lastly, I checked the specs of the X50, X70 and the new Tilopa Duradiamond, and both Shimodas are meaningfully smaller for the rated volume than the Tilopa. Tilopa does not specify internal dimensions so the numbers below are external dimensions per specs posted on respective websites
The height of the Shimoda roll top implied by these numbers is around 6 inches for the nominally 50L X50, consistent with what I measure. However the numbers for the Tilopa imply some significant inefficiency - the raw exterior numbers indicate 61L capacity but the interior capacity is spec'd as only 50L. Probably has to do with the significant tapering of the top pocket and the overall trapezoidal shape. The Shimodas are a lot more vertical.
I had both an Ajna and a Tilopa and moved over to the x70 and x50 (during the most-regrettable Kickstarter, but I did eventually get the gear).
I think the other advantage of the x50 is the airline restrictions. The larger bag is (I think) really on the verge of not meeting the restrictions but the x50 is comfortably under unless you somehow overfill it considerably.
I took the Tilopa on a few flights (pre-COVID) and didn't get challenged, but I feel much more safe going with the x50 or even the x70). However, I haven't had any issues with the Tilopa but I'm US based. In Europe and other places, I understand they can be much more aggressive on the size llimitations.
At the moment, I have the x70 for the GFX gear and I am thinking of putting my Haselblad film gear in the x50 (it's a bit more compact, but I need to determine the right insert for that before I set it up that way for the summer)... but then what am I supposed to do with the GX617? Ugh, I have too much gear to carry with me at any given time.
A few further thoughts for the benefit of others who may be going through a similar decision process in the future
After spending a week with both packs side by side at home I am still undecided. Despite their nominally small differences in dimensions, the X70 feels ***massive*** next to the X50. Perhaps this is due to the extra padding on the straps and hip belt. The extra inch of depth also makes the fit of a DSLR ICU feel sloppy in the X70, Shimoda explicitly says that the X70 was designed with a DV ICU in mind.
Both packs suffer from a common shortcoming - the padding of the hip belt is 1-2 inches too short giving the strap the opportunity to dig into the hipbone of someone with size 36+ waist. Hopefully this is something that is addressed in future product updates and the redesign is backwards compatible.
I wished the X50 side pocket design was similar to that of the X70 instead of the dinky mesh. On the other hand I wish the X70 side pockets had a drainage hole at the bottom, hiking with your tripod in the pocket in the rain is likely to result in some pooling in the pocket.
At this point I am inclined to keep the X50 but still have a week or two to decide.
Over the past 2-3 days I have spent several hours with each bag on my bag, loaded with a Z6, 14-24, 24-70, 100-300, tripod, some clothes and a water bottle.
The X50 feels uncomfortable after a relatively short walk. The hip belt is not sufficiently padded and very quickly becomes bothersome when properly tightened.
The X70 hip belt is sooooo much better, but the shoulder straps feel somewhat overdone. The shoulder straps felt somewhat stuffy in warm weather.
Finally, I created a franken bag - X50 with the X70 hip belt. And it felt wonderful. Perfectly sized for that medium dslr ICU, plenty of space for layers, food with the roll top expanded, and side pockets that take standard Nalgene bottles.
Will call Shimoda tomorrow to see if they will sell me a X70 hipbelt. Otherwise I will likely return both. The X70 is just a tad too much for most of my use, and it hangs slightly lower over the glutes which makes it less comfortable on extended hikes.
I hear you, Groovy. I've been wanting to create a Shimoda bag from various features of Gen 1 and Gen 2. I have the original Explore 60 and my main beef with it is that the hip belt is attached to the sides of the bag vs the back panel. As a result, when you tighten the belt, your back simply caves into the back panel. It limits how much weight it transfers to the hips. OTOH, I don't care for the rolltop of the Action X. I think I would like the X70 thick hip belt, but I don't need the depth of the X70. The X70 is made for the deeper DV core units. Maybe the large DSLR core units won't sit properly in the X70? I can't try the X70 locally. Perhaps you can comment on that?
My dream would be an Explorer 60 size body, X70 hip belt, Action X backpanel with the hip belt attached to it. I love my large DSLR core unit. That just works perfectly for my kit.
Yes, the medium DLSR unit is somewhat floppy in the X70 - both width and depth-wise. Not annoyingly so but you need to synch up the bag. I also don't need that much space most of the time. The increased width and depth generate a more subtle annoyance - the ICU no longer sits snugly in the pack when the rear opening is unzipped. The ICU now has the option to partially pop out of the opening which makes it slightly more difficult to zip and unzip the back panel. But that is a design parameter for the X70 so we can't fault Shimoda.
Another peculiarity of the X70 applies if you have the straps in the "S" torso size position. The extra padding of the straps is now very close to the back zipper, and you have to hold the straps out of the way when zipping and unzipping the back. This is not the case on the X50.
Thanks for your thoughts. Yeah, my perceived shortcomings of using a DSLR insert in the X70 appears to be true. I shall cross fingers for gen 3 to address my wants. In the meantime, the Ex60 fits the bill.
p.1 #10 · Shimoda X50 or X70 as Tilopa replacement
GroovyGeek wrote:
Will call Shimoda tomorrow to see if they will sell me a X70 hipbelt. Otherwise I will likely return both. The X70 is just a tad too much for most of my use, and it hangs slightly lower over the glutes which makes it less comfortable on extended hikes.
Please report back what you find out about the waist belt. If they sell those separately I might buy one too if it would fit in an Explorer 30.
p.1 #11 · Shimoda X50 or X70 as Tilopa replacement
Have been in touch with them, currently they do not offer it as a standalone product and I am talking to the US based product manager who has expressed optimism that they can do something as a special case but it will take "some time" - which can be as much as several quarters.
Over the long weekend I spent my first quality time with the X50 in actual field use and my initial impressions still hold. It is a great bag that is somewhat held back by the hip belt when meaningfully loaded. IMO a "holy trinity" set will definitely push the comfort limits for the standard X50 belt.
p.1 #13 · Shimoda X50 or X70 as Tilopa replacement
GroovyGeek wrote:
Have been in touch with them, currently they do not offer it as a standalone product and I am talking to the US based product manager who has expressed optimism that they can do something as a special case but it will take "some time" - which can be as much as several quarters.
Thanks for taking the time to investigate and report back. Mucho appreciated.
Long gone are companies/businesses that make customized products for their customers needs. Today it's all about the numbers, if the numbers can't justify doing it in mass quantities then it will never be done. Miss guys and places like Marty Forscher of New York Repair, Michael Bass of Micael Bass Designs (actually he is still around) and so many others.
p.1 #15 · Shimoda X50 or X70 as Tilopa replacement
Dawatm wrote:
You should give the Nya-Evo Fjord 60 a try.
The padding on their RCI walls looks to provide better protection and shock absorption than the Shimoda ICUs. I can not tell too much from their photos about the hip belt.
p.1 #16 · Shimoda X50 or X70 as Tilopa replacement
Dawatm wrote:
You should give the Nya-Evo Fjord 60 a try.
Looks like an interesting option. Does not seem to have a torso adjustment capability which makes a BIG difference when hiking with a heavier load. Love the fact that it can expand from 44L to 60L, great to see more bags provide this option.
The only question remaining is why all hiking oriented backpacks cost $400+ which is an extremely princely sum for a purely hiking backpack. Surely the rear zipper cannot add that much more cost. An Osprey Kamber 42 can be had for under 200 and has most/all of the features of the Nya-Evo, Shimoda, F-stop except for a conventional brain and fewer internal pockets. It is probably a volume thing, Osprey sells a lot more but still, 2x feels rich.
p.1 #18 · Shimoda X50 or X70 as Tilopa replacement
Really nice review. Had I seen it before I sunk $300 into the X50 I may have considered that Nya. Seems to have taken many of the Shimoda features I like and improved on them. Oh well, can't own them all.
Dawatm wrote:
I totally agree! I am so tempted to take medium and large inserts to REI and our local mountaineering store to experiment.
Here is a very in depth review of the Nya-Evo. I do think there is some torso adjustment, think he talks about it around the 3 minute mark: &t=880s
p.1 #19 · Shimoda X50 or X70 as Tilopa replacement
I guess I'm late to the party...its now 2026 and I'm looking to replace my F-Stop Loka. Even though this bag review is from 2022, its nice to see the NYA-EVO is still available. Very promising.
p.1 #20 · Shimoda X50 or X70 as Tilopa replacement
I’ve had the X50 and would probably go that route. It’s pretty close to the Tilopa size when compressed, but you still have the option to expand the roll top when you need the extra space. I’d be a little more hesitant with the X70 for flying since it’s getting pretty close to the carry-on limits. If you’re doing a lot of overnight trips and need the extra room, though, I can definitely see the appeal of the X70.
