I just got my Kiboko bag and wanted to do a quick review
and show some photos of how it works for me.
My main goal in getting this bag is transporting my equipment
including tripod when I have a pretty long hike to take
bird photos.
What I do now, is carry one camera over my neck, have my
camera with 500L on my tripod over my shoulder. Trust me
your shoulder does not want to have a huge lens, heavy
tripod, heavy ballhead and Sidekick riding on it for any amount
of time.
On several websites people have raved about the Kiboko.
Their biggest positives are the lightness of the bag (4 lbs),
what you can fit in it, and how it is capable of fitting in
almost any airline overhead bin, even regional airlines.
If you want to read a more comprehensive review and video
of details I don't cover please go to Guragear.com and there
is plenty of info.
Let me show you the bag itself.
THE FRONT
THE BACK - STRAPS HIDDEN
The front opens from the side to the middle so you have
two separate compartments. I have taken part of the
dividers out to begin to fit things. There are a load of
dividers and they send you a pack of about 8 more to
be sure.
LEFT SIDE OPEN
Okay so this is my goal, to get all this stuff that you see below in this
bag and be able to attach my tripod to the side.
Here is what is going in:
Mark 1 DSII
40D
500L
70-200 F4
17-40
100 Macro
580 EXII Flash
1.4 TC
2 TC
Assorted CPL Filters
Lee Filter Holder
Lee Filters
Extra Mark I Battery
Compact Flash Cards
Gitzo Tripod with Ballhead and Sidekick
First Step get the 500 L in.
I took all the dividers out, connected the 500 and the 1.4 TC and the 40D
I also had room for the 580 Flash.
On the inside of the flap was room to add the CPL Filter holder
and the Better Beamer. There is more room on the outside flap but
I wanted to keep it free if I needed to add something else. I put
the 500 on the left side to balance the weight of the tripod
which fits on the right side.
Now I had to rework some dividers for the stuff for the right side.
From the left 17x40 no hood.
100 Macro
I took a divider and made the long opening with the 70-200
two levels. The Mark 1 battery is below it.
70-200 Hood with 2Tc inside it
Lee Filter holders and Lee Filter
Mark1 DSII
On the flap on the top right side I put flash cards and the hood for the 17-40
Bag zipped and with Tripod attached. I have been informed by Andy Biggs,
the maker of the bag, that he uses his bag to carry a tripod larger
than this all the time with no problems.
Finally here is the bag with the shoulder straps and
waist straps fully deployed.
I could have added more items like a poncho to the zipper compartments
in the front. There is really a lot more space there.
For what I want to do with it it is a great bag. It is pricey $399.
However it is very unique and does what I want it to do. BTW
If you buy it at Naturescapes.net they will give you a $30 gift card.
which takes a bit of the sting out.
Hope this is helpful to anyone looking at the bag.
Garry
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