I have had a first generation Kiboko bag from Gura Gear since they first came out, and have really enjoyed its quality and versatility. The one problem I had was in a moment of carelessness, I picked up the bag without the main compartment on one side being zipped up, and my 17-35 bounced off the pavement. Fortunately, the filter took the blow, and the lens is OK, but what if the 600 bounced off the ground? Probably not so lucky.
The new generation of bag has only one set of pull tabs, which does make it easier to quickly visually check to see if the zipper pulls are at the top. The old bag had two sets of pull tabs on each zipper, and it was easy to just glance at it, see the upper pair of tabs at the top, and miss that the lower ones were down, leaving the flap open!
My solution is to improve the ease of telling if the correct tabs are all the way up ( zipped) and provide a smidgen of extra security that they will stay that way!
I bought two small bright green carbiners and put one on each of the lower(outer) two pull tabs. It is very easy to tell that the correct pulls are at the top this way. I also link them together when moving around so that there is no way the zipper will work its way open.
The bright red carbiner you can see in the lower right goes through the main carrying handle. I shoot at a number of places with fences, and rather than set my bag on the ground, I just clip it to the fence with this (after checking that the green clips are up!!)
Perhaps this simple trick will save someone else a disaster! I would do the same thing on the newer generation bag, just to make it more obvious!
Good idea. If I am remembering correctly, there was a review of a Kiboko bag here on bpn a while back. I commented about this issue and suggest the bag needs straps with clips like those on the Lowepro bags. One can buy the straps with clips and sew them on, which is what I did for my computer laptop bag--that saved my computer a couple of times. Zippers can work loose.
I saw something about this a while back, and I do think it was here on BPN.
What I did as a simple solution was to zip all zippers to the top and remove the pulls on the inside zippers. If the pulls are all on top your set to go.
I agree that removing the inner tabs helps. I really liked the added visual cue from the bright carbiners. Like many of us, I find myself working in predawn or post dusk conditions, and any thing I can do to make it more obvious about wehter the zipper is closed properly is worth it to me.
Cheers
Randy
Last edited by Randy Stout; 12-26-2011 at 12:32 PM.
Gura Gear Kiboko Safety Tip
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