I still am not seeing the bit about equipment sort of moving around in the bag. I tend to place my dividers such that you need to push the equipment down into the ICU, you can't 'drop' it in. In other words, there is considerable friction side to side that grips the lens or body. Doing that, there is no movement, unless I were to slam down hard in a fall or something like that (at which time, I'm more worried about other things....).
I spent the better part of a month trekking around Thailand and I used my Loka as my every day bag and it was great. Very comfortable even when wearing it all day loaded with a completely filled Large ICU and a bunch of extras on top. The average temperatures were high 80s with humidity hovering between 50% and 90%. I have to admit that I am very impressed with this bag and was pleased to find that it raised no eyebrows as a carry-on despite exceeding the weight limit by a healthy margin.
Oh, and I still like Thinktank's dividers better but the dividers in my ICU caused no problem except on the rare occasion that I wanted to reconfigure them.
JohnJ80 wrote:
I still am not seeing the bit about equipment sort of moving around in the bag. I tend to place my dividers such that you need to push the equipment down into the ICU, you can't 'drop' it in. In other words, there is considerable friction side to side that grips the lens or body. Doing that, there is no movement, unless I were to slam down hard in a fall or something like that (at which time, I'm more worried about other things....).
J.
Agreed, my personal preference has been for a looser fit, that way I don't have to mess with dividers when I switch out elements of my kit. For example, on my LP pack I have one large slot that I use to hold either a 70-300 or a 70-200/2.8 without any adjustments, depending on what I am using that day. I also keep the center slot large enough to hold the body with whatever lens happens to be attached to it. I have resolved my problem with the Loka by stacking an SB-800 under the 70-300, with a thin soft pad to prevent the two from rubbing against each other. That way the pressure of the flap keeps things in place.
I also bought two el cheapo $5 zippered bags on clearance at my local target. The first one is a utility pouch that is perfect for storing filters and memory cards in the top compartment, great for a few GNDs in soft sleves and half a dozen cards. The second one is nominally a "hip bag" with numerous pockets and compartments. I cut off the strap and stuffed all my adapter rings, cables, remote releases, lens pen, etc and keep it in the top slot of the ICU. Very nice fit and good quality.
I am less and less annoyed by the lining of the ICU. As many others have pointed out if F-stop comes out with an improved version it cam be bought relatively inexpensively.
JohnJ80 wrote:
Cool. I have a Tilopa from almost a year ago. This looks like a nice improvement.
Turns out, I use the Loka a lot more now but they are both terrific packs.
J.
Same here, I just got my Loka a few weeks back and for landscape work, I think this is going to take priority over my Tilopa. I must say the improvements in the ICU units and the construction of the bags is great. I am completely satisfied with my Tilopa and now I am looking to upgrade to the Tilopa BC
Anybody interested in picking up a Tilopa & ICU in good shape
Hello all, wondering if I could get some advice from the group. I am looking at purchasing a new pack and from what I have been reading it sounds like the F Stop products are the way to go. What I'm stuggling with is whether the Loka or the Tilopa BC would be best. I mostly will be hiking with the pack, no skiing and any biking will be quite sedate and slow. I'm a pretty big person (6'4" 275-ish) so my raincoat plus a sweatshirt for layers takes up quite a bit of room. I also pack heavy on my non-camera gear because I do quite a bit of hiking in secluded areas and never know when I may need first aid and the like. My camera gear is not very large and I think a medium ICU would be the biggest I would need (for now ).
However, while on vacation is not unusual for me to be in the field shooting in the morning and in town shopping with my wife in the afternoon with out stopping to leave the pack at the hotel. I worry with a bigger pack I may have too much girth to manouver about.
I'm just an amatuer photog so its hard for me to justify spending too much on equipment. I definitely think a good pack is worth the price though, however I want to make sure I pick the right one the first time.
Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can offer.
It sounds like a Loka would be the right choice for you. I have a Tilopa BC, and there really isn't much difference between the two. But for a medium ICU and some clothing for a day trip, the Loka would be best.
Give the guys at F-stop a call and talk it over with them. They know better.
I bought a Tilopa BC with small and medium ICUs. The plan was to use the medium ICU most of the time. My main gear is a Canon 5DII, with 16-35mm, 100mm macro, and 24-70mm lenses. Well, I quickly realized it wasn't going to work and mailed it all back.
My main gripe is that the medium ICU is not nearly as useful as Dan Carr would suggest. First off, F-stop advertises the ICU as being 7.5 inches deep. It isn't. The external depth is barely 7 inches and the internal is 6.5 inches. But worse, it tapers to a mere 5 inches. Furthermore, the dividers are tapered and only work in one orientation. What this all means is that it is only useful if the camera body is on the deep end and the lenses aren't longer than about 5 inches. Since all my lenses are 6 inches or longer, this isn't going to work. I'm also annoyed that the camera body would be at the very bottom of the bag in the most difficult location to access. I considered getting a large ICU, but that would have defeated the whole point of the pack--I wanted space for non-camera gear.
I was also somewhat annoyed with some of the Tilopa's features. It seemed like F-stop tried too hard to be clever and in the process made it overly complicated. I'm a big fan of simple. I don't need a bladder access hole. (Having had the bottom tube of my Camel Bak come undone a couple times while mountain biking, I'm not about to put a bladder over top of my camera gear!) A simple water bottle pocket would have been far more useful. I don't need a laptop sleeve. I don't need hidden pockets all over the place. I could go on, but you get the point...
On the plus side, I must say I very much liked the Foliage Green color!
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