F-Stop Tilopa Review

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I finally took the plunge and bought myself a new backpack to ski with. I previously owned a Dakine Sequence and although it was a great bag, it wasn’t perfect for what I wanted.

I talked to numerous people before ordering the bag. Everyone has loved them so far. I went for the Tilopa because it was a tad bit taller than the dakine and much more comfortable to ski with (so I was told). It is about the same width as the Sequence but the straps are much closer together. It seems like it would make it much more comfortable to carry around. They are also curved which I assume provides better support.

Overall

It appears to be very high quality. The zippers are all covered and waterproofed, the material seems very waterproofed, the straps are strong and the buckles are nothing like I’ve ever seen before.

I love the side straps and the pouches to hold the bottom of the light stands. There are way more pockets than I will ever need. It may even be a burden because I love pockets and tend to fill them with things that I hardly ever use but could need one day. It’s a gift, and a curse. Monk anyone?

Inside

The pack is hugeeeeeee. There is tons of room. To give you an idea of how much bigger I’ll compare it to the Sequence. From the base to the top of the Sequence it held a lens, 285, d2h with 50mm. And outside the ICU, 555 and had a small pocket for tape. In the Tilopa it holds a lens, 285, d2h with 70-300mm (plus 3-4 more inches of empty space), 2″ pocket. And outside the ICU, AB800 and a very large pocket.

The ICU came with 4 small dividers, 2 large corners and a large flat piece. I still haven’t decided how I want to arrange them. There’s just so many options. The bottom of the ICU has a thick foam piece and a cover to open it and get to it if needed. The sides are heavily padded and have velcro to attach to the frame inside the pack itself. The only thing I didn’t like is the cover for the ICU is just a fabric cover. I would have thought it would have some sort of padding. I understand why they didn’t, because it would be annoying to have to open 2 covers to get to your gear but they could have at least done something like the Sequence where it slides behind the pockets. Other than that, I don’t have any gripes at all.

Specifications

(Straight from the www.fstopgear.com site)

UPDATE 1/10/10

I haven’t had a chance to ski with it yet but I took it out snowshoeing today. I loaded it up with all my camera gear plus a little extra to see how it felt. It was awesome. The straps are the perfect width and they support the weight almost perfectly. It felt like there was nothing there even with a loaded bag. I can’t wait to ski with it.

Grievances:

The straps make it difficult to get to the camera and tend to “flip” snow into it.  A tip: take the straps and turn them inside out, away from the backpack. This should keep them from getting in your way. The zipper is somewhat difficult to close and open the last little bit but that can be good if you don’t want your gear falling out. The top pocket for the main compartment is flimsy and I would like to see a little more rigidity when opening and closing. It also makes the stuff in the very top pocket difficult to get to if you have something large in the main compartment. All minor things.

Update 1/15

I love this backpack even more now that I’ve skied with it. I packed it with all my camera gear, extra gloves, goggles, food, cambleback pouch and fleece. It was still lighter than my old backpack. It doesn’t ride up when leaning forward, it doesn’t feel heavy and it’s easy to get on and off which is important when riding lifts all day. I’ll be in Washington for another 8 days so I will continue to update this.