I've had the F-Stop Tilopa camera bag (original 48L one, not the new 50L), for about 12 years, and a few years ago the rubber coating (Hypalon?) on the front of the bag (the part you lay on the ground when opening the bag) began to deteriorate, and started to shed black particles all over. F-stop considers the damage part of wear and tear and not covered by warranty, so is there a way to fix it? I suppose I can attempt to peel off remaining coating somewhere outside, but would that compromise the backpack? Has anyone experienced this issue before? On a related note, are there similar bags to original Tilopa (new one is too big) that are maybe slightly lighter?
I had the rear access panel zipper fail on my Tilopa BC as well as the rubber coating on the bottom completely fall apart. Took the back to a few different local outdoor gear repair shops and none were able to source/repair the gigantic zipper. All shops were willing to sew a new rubber/plastic membrane to the bottom of the bag for minimal cost. However, without the rear access panel zipper being fixed, I ultimately needed a new bag
