Gura Bag Review

[jerrygrasso96]

Michael! Such humor in your review! I loved it! And I loved the review. The 22L I think has my name on it... Thanks for the inciteful and humorous review!

[Rajan Parrikar]

I recently purchased the Chobe (it was $100 off during Thanksgiving) and sold my Thinktank UD60.  Both are outstanding products but the Chobe meets my current requirements better.  With the Chobe I can sometimes leave my Thinktank Airport International behind and still be reasonably armed.

One quibble about the Chobe: why isn't a raincover included as part of the package?

[Steve Weldon]

I travel a lot.. and when I travel it's far.  Often 30+ hours at a time.   I find the hardest part about such long travels is keeping yourself.. I want to stay "fresh" but who am I kidding.  I'd be happy to not just stink at the end of the trip.   And where I travel it's often hot and humid.  This means carrying stuff on your back results in an instant wet sweaty shirt back and more sweat all over as you stress your body.

What am I saying?  I want wheels.  If they can put wheels in children's school backpacks they can put them in these fine cases.. And they should.  With a long adjustable handle.

Currently I travel with my Portacase, nothing beats it for airline travel because it can also be used to tote your regular luggage when you transform it into a dolly.  But when I arrive on location unless I'm working out of a car or a stationary event I often have to take a couple small soft bags in my regular luggage.   Wheels on the larger of these Guru Bags would make one bag possible.

[John Camp]

I also travel a lot, and have spent a few thousand dollars over the years, looking for the perfect bag. My biggest recent problem with travel is that I go into a lot of smaller airports (Santa Fe, NM, for example) where the only flights are regional jets, those with two seats on one side and one on the other -- and you can't get even *small* hard carry-ons in the overhead. So, they make you check them at the gate. I tried lots of different bags and packs, and ultimately, decided I had to downsize the equipment -- for air travel, now, I shoot Panasonic m4/3. I can get three bodies and seven lenses in a briefcase-sized bag (Think Tank) that will go in the overhead of a regional jet, along with a separate briefcase that contains the laptop and other stuff. You do have to let go of the idea of ultimate image quality, but I've done that, and it's come as a great relief.

JC

[dreed]

I travel a lot.. and when I travel it's far.  Often 30+ hours at a time.   I find the hardest part about such long travels is keeping yourself.. I want to stay "fresh" but who am I kidding.  I'd be happy to not just stink at the end of the trip.

If you're travelling by plane, I'd recommend acquiring airline lounge access (if you don't already) because most of them have showers and after an 8 or more hour flight, especially those where you sleep, getting off and having a shower before you jump on to the next lag of your journey brings back a small sense of feeling civilised again.

And where I travel it's often hot and humid.  This means carrying stuff on your back results in an instant wet sweaty shirt back and more sweat all over as you stress your body.

For situations like that, and others, I'd like to see camera backpacks with either a camel-back fitting that you slot into the vacant laptop space or some other part of the backpack. Well, maybe it won't stop the sweating but it will help with the dehydration.

What am I saying?  I want wheels.  If they can put wheels in children's school backpacks they can put them in these fine cases.. And they should.  With a long adjustable handle.

As if to push that point further, I'm now seeing supermarkets with those small hand baskets made with wheels and long handles, so if you've got a small list to collect but it will be heavy, no big deal.

[Steve Weldon]

So, they make you check them at the gate. I tried lots of different bags and packs, and ultimately, decided I had to downsize the equipment -- f

JC

I use to worry about checking my camera bags at the gate, but since you can watch it being loaded and unloaded I'm okay with it.  Often if you're nice to the attendant and tell them there's expensive camera gear inside they'll put it in the closet they put hang up clothes in. 

[Steve Weldon]

If you're travelling by plane, I'd recommend acquiring airline lounge access (if you don't already) because most of them have showers and after an 8 or more hour flight, especially those where you sleep, getting off and having a shower before you jump on to the next lag of your journey brings back a small sense of feeling civilised again.

It's really nice when this is possible.  Some of the VIP lounges have this capability and I've found one I like, so I try to fly that carrier as I now have enough miles to get access as needed.  In Asia more and more airports are putting in shower facilities and even sleeping rooms.  I'm really glad to see this.

[Rajan Parrikar]

Someone has found another option for the insert that goes into the Chobe.  See this post on FM -

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1057741/1#10253383