I heard he was quite chuffed with how secure he could strap his AK-47 and RPG to either side of the Loka and still be well balanced enough to jump onto ships. He was a bit concerned though about his mags rubbing against his 5DII body in the ICU.
I placed an order for a Loka recently an just received this email today. Can't wait to get and try thus bag
"Howdy jay,
I am just writing to give you an update on your order. As noted in our previous email, the ocean shipment (which was expected) has arrived in the USA. It landed last week, and is currently awaiting customs inspection � there was a delay due to US Thanksgiving. With some luck the product will be inspected and released this week, but more probable is that it will happen early next week. We have resolved all of the previous issues that caused the shipment to be held for more than 3 weeks last time, so hopefully it will be a simple inspection and release.
As we have hundreds of orders in the system and everyone wants their packs as quickly as possible (and because each order can take up to 25minutes to process), we plan to start processing orders this week. We have pre-processed orders on the past 5 shipments and it has allowed us to turn 99% of the orders the same day the product arrives at our warehouse in St. Louis...
My Foliage Green Loka plus Raincover, Small, Medium, and Large ICU's just shipped. I ordered on October 26th, in case that helps anyone. Can't wait to get my hands on this bag, I look forward to retiring the rest of my camera bags.
Chirsdee, the restock of bags and ICU's are processing through customs and our system as we speak.
There is back log of Pre Oorders being dealt with first. So you can order at any time you wish. I will always recommend sooner than later. The Pre Order for items like the Medium ICU was much more than expected and as a result are expecting to be out again by new years.
snow was (at the risk of overusing the word) epic. We've done this Thanksgiving training camp for several years. Word is that parts of Colorado are 7-8 weeks ahead of schedule for snow. Copper and Vail were fantastic. Imagine a powder day at Vail for you and about 200 other people on the entire mountain all day.
I am in the market for a bag just like the Loka and it looks pretty good, but man oh man, the good folk at F-stop need a web weenie.... BAD!!! The website is terrible, essential information is missing, and it is near impossible to figure out much about the product.
1) Rain fly optional? I wouldn't have known it if Ian had not posted here. It is buried on p.6 of the product workbook, which itself is at the bottom of the web page.
2) Want to order the optional rainfly? Good luck figuring out how to do it. Nothing listed under accessories, nor anywhere in the web site (at least the 1-page deep section)
3) MediumPRO ICU mentioned here. The website... not so clear. The front page lists small, medium, large, x-large. The moment you click on any one of them you get a list that identifies them as x186, m210 and m220. It takes some digging and back and forth to figure out what is what (L=x186, S=m210, M=m220, XL=not available any more).
People all over the web have posted that they waited MONTHS for their Lokas. That better be one damn good bag, I don't have that kind of patience.
1- nowhere in the product description does it mention an included rain cover
2- sea to summit rain covers are about the best. i don't need logo stuff. i pay enough for gear i don't do free adverts. you want me to show i use your stuff? make it worth my effort.
GroovyGeek wrote:
I am in the market for a bag just like the Loka and it looks pretty good, but man oh man, the good folk at F-stop need a web weenie.... BAD!!! The website is terrible, essential information is missing, and it is near impossible to figure out much about the product.
1) Rain fly optional? I wouldn't have known it if Ian had not posted here. It is buried on p.6 of the product workbook, which itself is at the bottom of the web page.
2) Want to order the optional rainfly? Good luck figuring out how to do it. Nothing listed under accessories, nor anywhere in the web site (at least the 1-page deep section)
3) MediumPRO ICU mentioned here. The website... not so clear. The front page lists small, medium, large, x-large. The moment you click on any one of them you get a list that identifies them as x186, m210 and m220. It takes some digging and back and forth to figure out what is what (L=x186, S=m210, M=m220, XL=not available any more).
People all over the web have posted that they waited MONTHS for their Lokas. That better be one damn good bag, I don't have that kind of patience....Show more →
If websites and lead times are your criteria for a good bag, then don't buy the Loka. If you want a great bag that is better and more flexible than other stuff for adventure sports shooting, then this is worth putting up with the website and the leadtime. They are a small company serving a niche market of adventure sports photographers. For my money, they do a pretty good job of that. If that is not your gig, then this is probably not your bag or company.
I'm going to pipe in here for a woman's perspective. The chest harness on the Loka goes straight across our chest. Very, very uncomfortable. This is the first backpack that has ever had this problem. My Osprey & Think Tank bags all allow that strap to be adjusted to get out of the way and still do its job.
I was super pleased with the company though. Had great service and support even though I sent the entire shipment back to them. Hopefully they'll address this issue for women in upcoming packs.
sjms wrote:
1- nowhere in the product description does it mention an included rain cover
Fair enough, though the video review on their web site highlights it as a feature of the pack. Most packs in this price range are either waterproof or include a rain cover. I say "most" to be safe, personally I am not aware of a single photo pack about $200 that does not have it.
2- sea to summit rain covers are about the best. i don't need logo stuff. i pay enough for gear i don't do free adverts. you want me to show i use your stuff? make it worth my effort.
I certainly sympathize with the sentiment. I wear prescription eyeglasses and go out of my way to avoid anything with a notable logo. Going completely logo-free is often not possible. Which size cover for the Loka? I found them on Amazon, but they do not list dimensions.
One of the things that I specifically asked about the Loka raincover was if it was made to fit over a small tripod on the outside of the pack. Much to my surprise, they said that there was allowance for that! I didn't verify that, but I was happy that they had thought about that detail.
GroovyGeek wrote:
Fair enough, though the video review on their web site highlights it as a feature of the pack. Most packs in this price range are either waterproof or include a rain cover. I say "most" to be safe, personally I am not aware of a single photo pack about $200 that does not have it.
I certainly sympathize with the sentiment. I wear prescription eyeglasses and go out of my way to avoid anything with a notable logo. Going completely logo-free is often not possible. Which size cover for the Loka? I found them on Amazon, but they do not list dimensions.
Kris Reiswig wrote:
One of the things that I specifically asked about the Loka raincover was if it was made to fit over a small tripod on the outside of the pack. Much to my surprise, they said that there was allowance for that! I didn't verify that, but I was happy that they had thought about that detail.
most pack covers fit a range of sizes in packs so if you properly choose there is no issue. you know collapsable ski poles and pads and such.
