F-stop Pack Sizes

Since last fall I have been abusing an F-stop Loka pack. It has been on many backcountry snowboard adventures this winter and has been a great BACKPACK that happens to carry camera stuff. Instead of a camera bag that happens to carry "some" other gear. When I bought this pack I signed up for the F-stop Friends with Benefits Program. Included in this are a few free shipments of gear to check out and demo for a while. It lets you check stuff out and even borrow loaner gear. I had to get a bigger ICU so I had a bunch of other stuff shipped out to see how my gear fits. I wanted to see the bigger Tilopa BC and the smaller Guru pack. I need another pack for hauling more gear at events and for my girlfriend.

Here they are lined up to compare sizes.
Left to right. Guru, Loka, Tilopa The Guru and Tilopa I have here are what they call Foliage Green. It is sort of green gray. I like it.

You can see here the Tilopa BC on the right is not much taller than the Loka. The Guru on the left is much smaller in every way.


All have nice padded straps. As the packs go up in size, so do the straps. Also all of these packs have back panel access to your gear.


In this view it is easy to see the Tilopa is much "thicker" than the Loka.



The Tilopa BC and Guru are are new this year. The Tilopa BC is an updated version of the original Tilopa pack. The BC is a bit smaller than the regular Tilopa and has updated straps. It is basically a bigger version of the Loka.

The Guru on the other hand is much smaller and resembles more of a school backpack. But it shares a few important features with the bigger packs. #1 is it has an aluminum frame to help support the weight of camera gear. #2 is interchangeable ICUs. The Guru seems most suited to a small ICU but a medium will fit too.

Here are a few views of the Guru.
Rear panel access. Small ICU with a 300s 24-70 with the hood extended and a flash.


Using the small ICU gives you about 1/2 the pack for other gear. In here I have the Fstop large lens case with an 80-200, Gorillapod and a few layers.


Here is a shot of the Medium ICU in my Loka. This is a D3s with a 105 VR attached. The empty pocket on the left fits my 300s with a small prime attached, usually the 10.5 fisheye. And the lower left pocket fits a flash or small lens. In the main compartment I have the large F stop lens case with the 80-200, gorillapod, SB900 flash in its case and a jacket. It has more room to spare too.


In the end I like both packs. But the guru is a bit small in the torso for me. It would fit my girlfriend very well though. I think the Tilopa BC is more of what I need for travel and more gear hauling. It is just a bigger version of the Loka. So I guess it is next on the list for packs for me to get. It is a very versatile design and should do the trick. The Guru is a great pack for less gear. The frame in it will distribute load like the bigger packs and it does have a nice waist belt to put the load on the hips instead of your shoulders. This might be the perfect sight seeing camera pack. The best part is it does not look like a camera bag. Nothing screams steal me like most camera bags.

It is cool to see a company making gear for outdoor photographers. I can't say enough about the ability of these packs to carry your gear, not just camera gear. I don't need a bigger pack with more holes for lenses. I need to carry jackets, food, water, shoes, shovels, avalanche gear, fishing stuff, or even my dog:huh But I also need a space for a camera or 2.

Check them out here: http://fstopgear.com/

For my detailed review of the Loka and some shots of the standard Tilopa check it out here: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=180316