Wildlife Photographer Launches New Photo Bag Line
Inspired by his extensive travel and career in wildlife photography, outdoor photographer Andy Biggs has launched Gura Gear. Gura Gear will offer on-the-go photographers a lightweight and comfortable yet highly functional alternative to bulky photo gear currently available to photographers.
The Kiboko bag is the first design from the Gura Gear line. Weighing in at only 4 pounds, the Kiboko is the lightest bag in its class. This bag allows all photo gear to be safely stored and comfortably carried but also quickly accessed. The Kiboko bag is deep enough to accommodate a pro level SLR camera body, as well as medium format cameras. The bag will also hold up to a 500mm and 600mm lens simultaneously. The Kiboko bag is made from high-tech Dimension Polyant VX-21, a unique and durable water-shedding material made from the same process that is used on some of the fastest lightweight sailboats in the world. The outer materials are abrasion and tear resistant and the interior is well padded, ensuring that the bag and your equipment will hold up regardless of the terrain you’re photographing.
The Kiboko bag can be carried either as a backpack with a retractable harness system or as a shoulder bag using ergonomically placed handles. The Kiboko also features a convenient butterfly flap access system, allowing the photographer to easily get to multiple bodies, lenses and all their photo accessories. The bag’s interior is also fully customizable to suit the photographers’ individual needs. The Kiboko’s harness system fully retracts for loading into airplanes and can be used as a carry on for both domestic and international flights. Every detail of the Kiboko bag has been specifically designed, down to the zippers that can be handled even while wearing winter gloves.
I’ve been beta testing this bag and I can vouch for it. It will fit on any major airline in the overhead bag compartment and likewise, even on regional jets. It’s a better choice than the bag Moose Peterson designed, but it does something similar.
Andy is a regular traveler to Africa and this bag meets the needs of someone with that demanding need.
My only gripe is that it doesn’t hold my Sigma 300-800 :)
Will I be giving up my trusty ThinkTank Photo Airport Addicted Rolling Backpack for this? No way. But I do have an absolute need for just such a bag as the Kiboko as a supplement to my ThinkTank bag. The Kiboko can go places the ThinkTank bag cannot. Accordingly, I look forward to using it on a regular basis. I’ll give a more detailed, long-term report on the bag after I’ve had it for a while.
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How is your 300-800 working out for you?
This is a nice bag but very pricy.
Being in the market for a new bag – I was pretty excited by this. Then I saw the price. EEK!
That’s pretty spendy for bag from an unproven start up.
I do like the design though – looks well thought out.
The bag this most closely compares to the Moose Peterson bag for $365. I agree it’s expensive but I can attest to the fact that it’s very well made. I think ALL photo bags are overpriced.
This looks nice… in particular the retractable harness. Thanks for the mini review Scott.
I use the Lowepro Nature Trekker AW II. I’m no professional but it can carry the bulk of my gear, hold a small tripod on the side/front, fits into overhead storage and is very adjustable providing excellent, durable protection. They can be got for around $230. Worth a look if your in the market for a backpack!
Note: I don’t have any big telephotos, so the Lowepro is not exactly a comparable product to the Gura Gear.
Is there anywhere to put spare batteries, memory cards, cables and other small accessories with any sort of organization? I see two mesh pockets on the main flaps is that it. Looks like a nice bag
Thanks for the post, Scott. After some consideration, we have reduced the price to $399. We do believe the Kiboko bag is worth $429, but given the current economic condition we want to make our product more attractive from a pricing standpoint. All of our feedback from shipped orders is that this is the best made bag on the market, and we hope you feel the same way.
Jay, that is a great question. There are more individual mesh pockets than we have photos at the moment. There are 2 mesh pockets on each side of the main compartments, totalling 4. Then we have 2 outside pockets that are intended for travel documents, gloves, etc and each of those pockets has more mesh pockets. The total number of mesh pockets is 8. Great question, and I will add more product photos to my list for round 2 in the studio.
Hi
The bags looks very good however in this day and age you need space for the laptop. I’m using the Lowepro Fastpac, and although no space for large lenses it works well for me. I definitely would need sapce for my 15″ MacBook Pro.
For a bagful of gears like this, when you travel to Cancun, do you need to do anything special related to custom? Do you need to file special request, form(s), etc? Do you need to do anything prior to arriving at the airport?
This is a wonderful bag. I was thinking buying the Moose Peterson one when I saw Scott’s video on packing for the Alaska trip. Now I am deciding between this and the Moose Peterson one.
My $.02:
Just because you bring it out of the $400 range (albeit by a whole buck) doesn’t make it more attractive. It doesn’t carry a laptop either? Alex says he likes his Kata bag and it’s not “overpriced” like ALL photo bags. I’ll wait on that video from Alex (and Scott’s Gura) on the bag before I say anymore.
I’ll see your two cents and raise you four cents JBoc. ALL photo bags are overpriced. But I think that if any bag is worth $400, the Gura is – of course I have the advantage of owning one and few people have even seen one in the wild. I’ll do a video of it soon so folks can have more data points.
Photo Bags aren’t the only things overpriced when it comes to photography…
Looking forward to the videos on this one and the Kata bag.
Hey Scott, can we get a TWIP discount?
I am interested to try this out! It seems finding the perfect bag is a pretty common misery among photographers. I am on my 3rd. I have been using the Lowepro Rover plus – the top compartment where I put the loose items isn’t sealed from the bottom and I keep losing everything into the bottom part and it gets under the padding.
Where are you going to store your laptop? A separate bag?
Thanks for posting the video when you can.
ps – I’ll take your Sigma 300-800 since it won’t fit in your bag :-)
I am always looking for the right bag for the right job… I feel like the Imelda Marcos of bags and even have a huge Carribee Magnum bag, to hold all my bags….
This looks like a nice piece of kit… looking forward to seeing the bag in the field… c’mon Scott… get that video done.. Like you don’t have enough to do.
Keep up the great work!
Gavin W – Private Investigator & Freelance Snapper.