New extremely lightweight backpack to haul long glass or full kit + lighting kit!

[fishfoto]

If any of you are looking for an international carry-on compliant, extremely light weight, backpack to carry your full-camera & lens kit along with your small-strobe lighting gear check out the newly released Gura Gear Kiboko bag at http://www.guragear.com

Gura Gear's was launched last week, but I got mine last night, and it is fantastic. The bag was designed to carry long glass on international flights, then on African safaris, however I immediately saw this as a great bag to carry cameras, lenses, compact light stands and small strobes around in one compact and light weight bag. Mine is now packed with two full-size bodies, 7 lenses, 2 light stands, a softbox, speed ring,etc etc etc......and I can't believe how compact the bag still is on my bag or light it is to wear.

The incredible thing about this bag, besides its very well thought out design and ergonomics, is that it weighs in at less than 4lbs, compared to the Think Tank Airport Addicted which weighs 8lbs!

I wrote up the Kiboko bag on my site for traveling photogs, Flying With Fish, along with 16 detailed photos of the bag set up with lighting gear here: http://flyingwithfish.blogspot.com/2008/11/gura-gear-kiboko-photo-backpack-first.html

[Chris Walker]

cool find looks like it would be awesome for people like me who like to take everything with them all the time.

[Vascilli]

Expensive. o_o

I hope they do a daypack.

[vkalia]

What's the padding on the bag like? How robust is it when it comes to handling rough use (ie, setting down on the floor none-too-gently, etc).

Vandit

[fishfoto]

I just flew with it, as a carry-on while flying a Dash-8 turbo prop twice in one day. The padding is minimal. Bags do not need a lot of padding if they are not checked My gear flew just fine and the bag was comfortably stuffed under the seat in front of me.

I would not 'gate check' this bag, but since it fits under the seat of a Dash-8 turbo prop, I only see a potential problem when flying Embraer 135/145 flights , when sitting in the 'single seat.' I plan to fly it on an E135/145 in the next few weeks. This bag should also fit under the seat of the BAe146 aircraft commonly found in Europe and Africa.

As for setting it down roughly, even when I travel with my Pelican case I don't just toss the bag around. This bag was bumped around in normal fashion in two airports, on two flights, on two inter-terminal shuttles and on a commuter train and subway. My gear turned up just fine.

[vkalia]

Thanks for that, Fish.

I agree that you dont need a lot of padding for bags that you fly with, but some TT bags (for example) reduce padding too much - I've broken the filter on a new 400/5.6 simply from putting it on the ground a few times. Now, I dont lower it ever so gently to the ground, but I dont drop it from a few feet either, and I expect a camera bag to be able to handle that degree of bumping.

Larger and light is good, however, so I may be giving this one a go. It looks suspiciously similar to the Moose Peterson bag, though, doesnt it?

V.

[fishfoto]

V,

The bag does look a lot like the Moose Peterson's MP-1 bag. Initially I thought the MP-1 would be a good bag, however I found it 'floppy' and difficult to work with. The bag simply does not hold its structure the way I expected.

the Gura Gear Kiboko holds its structure and is far from floppy. While this bag may have similar exterior similarities to the MP-1 bag, the actual use and structure of this bag are very different.

[tkoutdoor]

I'll start saving my pennies. It's light for a camera bag, that's great. It looks to have enough room that I could take limited gear and fill the rest with backpacking stuff and go out in the woods for a few days. The harness looks well enough adapted for that as well. I'd still like to see one lighter, but this is a giant leap in the right direction.

My typical 2 to 4 day backpack weighs 7.5 oz (for up to 25 lbs) and my longer trip backpack that can handle 35 lbs. comfortably weighs under 2 lbs. Those aren't apples to apples comparisons to this bag of course as the bags themselves don't provide the same protection for the camera gear. The second one is padded, the first one isn't. In both bags a folding sleeping pad tucks in a compartment against my back and provides the structure for the pack as well as the padding from the gear. The second pack also has removable stays for heavier loads. Both are plenty comfortable as my 3 season backpack weight for a 2 to 3 day trip is around 15 lbs. inclusive of everything but camera gear. I typically have one camera hanging from me on my left side with a Rapid strap and a second one hanging on my right side along with 2 or three lenses and a couple of accessories. That means hardly any camera gear is carried in my pack. They could go in the bag if necessary (or desirable), but they reside on my body if not. In those cases I put the padding on the camera instead of put the camera in a padded bag. From that perspective 4 lbs is a step in the right direction, but still a step backwards for what I'm currently doing.

Backpacking aside though it looks fantastic and most folks aren't going as light as me I think so it may have some appeal for backpacking as well. I also think it's multi-use role where it can be a "real" backpack and a "real" carry-on commercial travel bag is perfect. Even backpacking if I were taking in a 300mm 2.8L IS lens or bigger there's a good chance that this would be the bag I'd reach for over my current gear. That's the apparent design standard for this bag so it's quite nice in that regard. I hope they put some other products on the market as well as I'd like an everyday bag that could take a pro body with a 70-200 2.8L IS mounted along with room for 2 to 5 lenses, a second body, and a flash in a smaller lighter package with a similar design. 2 to 2 1/2 pounds (or less!) would be fantastic and I think is achievable given the state of ultralight backpacking gear that's already gone down this path.

They could save weight in the harness system and still have it be comfortable I think based on what I'm seeing from the photos. Significantly lighter padding is available than what the market uses for photo bags and I wouldn't mind a bag that's intended to last 3 or 4 years instead of a lifetime if the weight and cost savings reflected that. This is the direction that Ultralight backpacking is headed and I've been waiting for the same thing to happen with photography gear. Looks like we're headed there now. Glad to see it. I'll follow this gear and look forward to being able to support their efforts when finances allow.