


Second, the fact that you access gear through the front means that strapping your tripod or other gear to the back and sides of the Tilopa doesn’t interfere with getting into the camera compartment. I frequently end up with the straps and back pad of such packs becoming wet, muddy, or otherwise covered in forest floor debris from setting it down. Packs that have access from the rear require you to place the straps and back panel ground side down. First, it means that when you set your pack down on the ground to access your gear the straps and back panel are facing up instead of resting on the ground. This solves multiple problems inherent in most camera backpacks. One of the best features of the F-Stop packs is that you access the camera compartment through a zippered door in between the shoulder straps instead of through a lid on the back of the pack. The Tilopa has roughly the same dimensions as the common LowePro Photo Trekker AW II and meets the carry on size limits for major airlines. Photo Cascadia will post additional reviews and stories from the field as we have a chance to use some of the other pack and ICU combinations in the future.Īll the stats for size and construction for the Tilopa can be found on the F-Stop Gear site, so I’ll focus mostly on function and features. I thought a quick review of the Tilopa would be helpful for people wanting to get more information about F-Stop Gear’s products from someone who uses them. The Photo Cascadia Team is currently outfitted with the Tilopa, the medium size pack, matched with the large ICU. The ability to mix and match ICU and pack size means that you can custom design a system to match both your camera equipment and other gear you want to carry. They currently have three sizes of packs, the Loka, Tilopa and Satori.

You can get an ICU that will carry the amount of camera gear you have and you can select a pack size. One of the big innovations F-Stop gear has introduced is the interchangeable Internal Camera Units (ICUs) that come in a variety of sizes. The result is camera packs that have the comfort, mobility and features of a good backpack instead of a suitcase with straps attached to it. They started by creating a backpack that was designed to ride well in active situations, such as hiking and skiing, and then engineered it so it could carry and protect camera equipment. F-Stop Gear did it’s engineering in the opposite direction. Many camera bag companies seem to have focused largely on the camera compartment features of their packs, leaving how the pack fits and what else it can carry as a bit of an afterthought. In that respect, F-Stop is a great partnership for us.į-Stop Gear began making camera bags and backpacks to meet the needs of extreme sports photographers like Christian Pondella and Mattias Fredriksson, guys who hang it out there to photograph big mountain skiers and climbers. We wouldn’t use gear that didn’t meet our needs. In the field the equipment we use needs to be of the highest quality, be versatile and function well in demanding outdoor situations. F-Stop Gear makes camera bags and accessories for active outdoor photographers and is now sponsoring the Photo Cascadia photographers and our workshops. The Photo Cascadia Team was very proud to announce our collaboration with F-Stop Gear recently.
