f-stop packs

[andrewjesaitis]

We do have another line coming next winter that may work for your needs. They are ICU's that are sized for Pro-sumer bodies (5D, 7D). Lower profile and work rather well for keeping a low profile. I am a big fan of a low profile and its is one of my main goals and desires when designing them..

This sounds great to me. I'm definitely moving in the direction of downsizing to the Pro-sumer size factor. Pro size body are just so unwieldy to pack, especially in the BC (winter or summer).

In the mean time I'll check out the M when it gets back in stock. I actually like the 58L, because if I'm just climbing without a full on photo kit. I like packs around 50L because often the guy who is following is the only one with a pack--at least thats how we work it. So the extra 8L is about right for a body and a couple lenses.

[shroom]

has anyone heard/purchased from f stop lately? i put out an order in june for a small icu that was out of stock, was told they'd be in toward the end of summer. well, they've been in for a while, and i havent been told anything. three emails later i still have yet to get a response. what gives?

[saaka!]

what email addy are you sending it to, We have a 'team' that deals with CS and CS only. To send 3 emails with out any reply seems a little off.

Please forward those emails to me ian@fstopgear.com if you can and I'll pass them to the right people. Also send your sales order number.

[shroom]

just heard back from susan today. all emails were sent to the same address. due to the great reviews on here ill refrain from the bitching that i want to do.

[saaka!]

bitch if you would like - that's what the internet is for or PM me the problems. As one of the owners of this company, claims of poor service need to be addressed...

[hop]

Ian, I'm still waiting for that camera strap Druid promised to send me back in December....

[supermodel159]

I recently picked up the Tilopa BC a few weeks ago. I was looking for a bag that I could basically do anything with: travel, backpack, ride...ect., all with my camera and gear coming with. Although it cost more than my 50mm, I am very happy with the bag. It took me a long time to finally pull the trigger on a $400+ bag, but now I wish I would have sacked up and bought one earlier.

Its construction is very high quality, much more so than my previous Burton and DaKine bags. When you take the ICU out, it becomes an amazing backpack on its own, suitable for a 4-5 day BC trip (in the summer).

If you have the money, don't skimp out, get one.

[deciblast]

I'm having trouble deciding between the Tilopa and Loka. I'm guessing with the following gear I would need the Medium ICU.

When I have another lens besides the 70-200 on, is there room to stash it elsewhere in the ICU? What do most people do usually? I always see gear pictures with the 70-200 attached but not other lenses.

Would the Tilopa BC allow me to ride decently or does it lean towards a straight photo/video day if you carry it.

I would use it in the resort and sidecountry mostly with occasional day backcountry trips around Tahoe. I also want to use the bag as my primary camera bag when I bike/hike/travel etc. I have a 63L I use for multi-day non snowboarding backpacking trips and only carry my camera with one lens.

Btw I'm currently using an old Burton Zoom 28L and the hip belts are atrocious putting all the weight on my shoulders. It also barely has any room for any gear.

Any other advice you can provide would be helpful. Thanks!

Carrying:
Canon 7D
Canon 70-200 f/2.8
Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 or [Olympus 28mm f/3.5 / Pentax 50mm f/1.4]
Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye
Couple flashes
Carbon Fiber Tripod with Manfrotto 701HDV

Sometimes:
Shovel
Probe
Snowboard

[supermodel159]

^ You carry a ton of gear, get the tilopa.

[avyoung]

I think you should get the larger Tilopa if you intend on carrying all that gear. I rides well, but only as good as it is light You will probably need the large ICU to fit all the camera stuff.
I sold mine as I only do side trips or day trips. The smaller Guru fits the med sized icu and is good for general photo for me. I loaded the guru about 15-16lbs of photo gear and took it mtbing recently.

I'm having trouble deciding between the Tilopa and Loka. I'm guessing with the following gear I would need the Medium ICU.

When I have another lens besides the 70-200 on, is there room to stash it elsewhere in the ICU? What do most people do usually? I always see gear pictures with the 70-200 attached but not other lenses.

Would the Tilopa BC allow me to ride decently or does it lean towards a straight photo/video day if you carry it.

I would use it in the resort and sidecountry mostly with occasional day backcountry trips around Tahoe. I also want to use the bag as my primary camera bag when I bike/hike/travel etc. I have a 63L I use for multi-day non snowboarding backpacking trips and only carry my camera with one lens.

Btw I'm currently using an old Burton Zoom 28L and the hip belts are atrocious putting all the weight on my shoulders. It also barely has any room for any gear.

Any other advice you can provide would be helpful. Thanks!

Carrying:
Canon 7D
Canon 70-200 f/2.8
Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 or [Olympus 28mm f/3.5 / Pentax 50mm f/1.4]
Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye
Couple flashes
Carbon Fiber Tripod with Manfrotto 701HDV

Sometimes:
Shovel
Probe
Snowboard

[saaka!]

If I was you I would go Loka and medium ICU to be safe - but if it were me personally I would get a medium or small shallow ICU - not the PRO size.

I am speaking with out the flashes though... And if you are packing flashes I would grab a Micro ICU for those and stack the ICU's.

Loka is my personal favorite bag to ride in and I use it for most missions. The Tilopa is still ride friendly as it is only as big what is inside. It compresses to what ever you need it too.

We did design the Loka to be a more ride friendly photography backpack. Loka would be more enjoyable when actually snowboarding/skiing with the load you said.

We did update the site recently with a lot of lens combo's in ICU's. If you have not seen it -- http://fstopgear.com/en/icu-shallow

[shroom]

damn, wishing those shallow models had come up before i ordered.

[deciblast]

If I was you I would go Loka and medium ICU to be safe - but if it were me personally I would get a medium or small shallow ICU - not the PRO size.

I am speaking with out the flashes though... And if you are packing flashes I would grab a Micro ICU for those and stack the ICU's.

Loka is my personal favorite bag to ride in and I use it for most missions. The Tilopa is still ride friendly as it is only as big what is inside. It compresses to what ever you need it too.

We did design the Loka to be a more ride friendly photography backpack. Loka would be more enjoyable when actually snowboarding/skiing with the load you said.

We did update the site recently with a lot of lens combo's in ICU's. If you have not seen it -- http://fstopgear.com/en/icu-shallow

Cool. I ordered the grey mist loka and shallow medium ICU. I figure I will squeeze and carry as much as I can and more often. Then maybe eventually I'll use the Large ICU if I need more space.

Says restocked Dec15 so it will leave your warehouse on the 16th?

[Arno]

sorry if this has already been asked in the thread but is there any issue using the ICU with a pack from another mfr? it looks like it might work quite nicely with an old Marmot La Meije I have lying around. i expect it won't fit quite as snug as it would in an f-stop pack but any other issues?

[deciblast]

I ordered my pack on Dec 6 and it had a inventory date of 12-15. Now their website says End of April, which is after the snow season ends. I haven't received any word about my order except that when I called a few weeks ago they said they discontinued grey mist and that they'd change my order to black.

Does anyone have a used Loka for sale?

[supermodel159]

^ Ha, thats such bullshit. It looks like Saaka cancelled his account on here...weird.

Everything considered, I hope you cancelled your order.

[outabounds]

hmm... I hope things work out. Sounds like they have a great product, but the $400 daypack market has got to be tough to survive in.

[nfaust]

I ordered my pack on Dec 6 and it had a inventory date of 12-15. Now their website says End of April, which is after the snow season ends. I haven't received any word about my order except that when I called a few weeks ago they said they discontinued grey mist and that they'd change my order to black.

Does anyone have a used Loka for sale?

I waited 14 months for my first gen satori (which I might end up selling). Nice packs, but speed was not one of their strong suits. (To be fair, they did offer to refund/cancel, and they also sent some extra goodies along when it did arrive).

[carvemeister]

Anybody else have a GURU? If so, I'm looking for an aluminum shovel small enough to fit in the outside pocket. Anybody know of a specific shovel that might fit?

[uglymoney]

Anybody have a Clik Elite Contrejour 35? Expensive but I'm thinking of buying it for my camera bag/carry on/occasional backcountry ski bag (live in Iowa)/general hiking bag with room for dog frisbee and small stuff for kiddo/multi hour day hikes. I really can't see buying a pack that I can't A-Frame my skis on and for now I have no desire for more than one camera bag.

[uglymoney]

Went ahead and ordered it from B and H since I had a handy gift card from x-mas. Nice and small like I was hoping. Put all my gear into it and it looks and feels dope.

[eug]

Anybody have a Clik Elite Contrejour 35? Expensive but I'm thinking of buying it for my camera bag/carry on/occasional backcountry ski bag (live in Iowa)/general hiking bag with room for dog frisbee and small stuff for kiddo/multi hour day hikes. I really can't see buying a pack that I can't A-Frame my skis on and for now I have no desire for more than one camera bag.

Love that pack. I can fit laptop in the gear compartment for travel. Skis really well, fits a ton of photo stuff. Side opening for camera is awesome. Takes no time to pull the cam out and snap a picture when trying to keep up with the crew.

[sklar]

I'm looking to get an ICU to put in my bag for backcountry skiing, backpacking, and the like.

All i really want to fit in it is my t2i body, tamron 17-50, and canon 70-200 f4 L.
I'm looking for the smallest possible bag to put in my backpack that will hold that stuff^.
This has led me to look at Fstop ICU's. I have a Medium Pro ICU (for sale, PM me), but it doesn't fit in my bags well.

My decision is betwen the small shallow and micro. Does anyone have experience with these two? How will it work for my needs?

Thanks

[supermodel159]

I'm looking to get an ICU to put in my bag for backcountry skiing, backpacking, and the like.

All i really want to fit in it is my t2i body, tamron 17-50, and canon 70-200 f4 L.
I'm looking for the smallest possible bag to put in my backpack that will hold that stuff^.
This has led me to look at Fstop ICU's. I have a Medium Pro ICU (for sale, PM me), but it doesn't fit in my bags well.

My decision is betwen the small shallow and micro. Does anyone have experience with these two? How will it work for my needs?

Thanks

I've got a small icu. If you are only going to carry a small body and two lenses, it will fit with no problem.

[couloirman]

Score! Loka with small and medium shallow ICUs are inbound-- my new camera pack setup for biking season. Been looking for a pack like this for quite some time now. If all goes well with it, I can see a Tilopa BC and Sartori in my near future as well. The dudes at f-stop were great to work with seeing as the packs were sold out in the US and I got one of the last ones available from the Euro warehouse. Fingers crossed that these packs are as sweet as they look!

Also hoping I made the correct choice of ICUs for my 7D with 15-85, 70-200 f/4, 50 f/1.4, Rokinon 8mm fisheye, and maybe one more lens when I find some more cash. The small shallow ICU should be good for a small setup with the 7D, 15-85 and maybe the fisheye, and the medium shallow ICU looks like it'd probably fit all the mentioned lenses. Are the shallow ICUs deep enough to accomodate lens hoods pre mounted on the lenses or will they have to go somewhere else?