A backpack or a duffel can be great for weekend trips, but sometimes they can be overkill for a day spent out and about shooting stills or video. When you want to travel light but also give your gear a safe, comfortable ride, this new sling bag from Gura Gear might be just what you’re looking for.
It should come as no surprise that most of us in the photography and videography world tend to be somewhat obsessive when it comes to the luggage that we use to transport our precious gear. Cameras, lenses, and the plethora of accessories that we use with them represent a significant investment for most of us, and there are relatively few of us who don’t have a sad story about gear being damaged or ruined by being dropped, bashed, or exposed to the elements. A few years ago, I personally learned the hard way that a compact camera might not enjoy the refreshing summer rain as much as I do! If you’re a working photographer, the financial losses that can be incurred by your gear not surviving a trip can extend well beyond the value of the gear itself.
That said, the new Kiboko City Sling 6L from Gura Gear is definitely not a bag aimed at working photographers with loads of gear that they need to transport to a job. This is a bag for somebody who wants to step out for the day with a few compact items of photo or video gear; have a safe and comfortable way to carry it; and ensure that it all gets home in one piece. As I mentioned in the introduction, I feel that this is a bag that nicely fills that gap between carrying everything on your person—on a strap around your neck or in your pockets, for example—and toting your gear with you in a backpack or a full camera bag.
Gura Gear’s Kiboko City Sling
Before we go any further, I would like to make it clear that although Gura Gear sent me the Kiboko City Sling to try out, they gave me no directions with regard to writing this review. All of the opinions expressed here are my own, and Gura Gear did not participate in any way in the writing of this review.
I think it’s worth mentioning, before we get into the guts of the review, who the Kiboko City Sling is not targeted at. This is probably not a bag that you are going to use to carry a large DSLR and its lenses. This might be possible with some of the smaller camera systems like Micro Four Thirds, for example, or other compact mirrorless cameras such as the Lumix S9, perhaps with one of its compact prime lenses such as the 7Artisans 35mm f/1.4. But I would say that the Kiboko City Sling is more squarely targeted at compact photo and video gear. For videographers for example, this would be an ideal bag for carrying compact video systems such as the Sony ZV-1F, DJI Pocket Osmo 3, Insta360, or GoPro cameras, along with their myriad accessories like filters, microphone systems, batteries, and stands.
Gura Gear’s Kiboko City Sling
One of my day trip configurations for still photography is built around the Leica Q3, which, although being significantly smaller than a full frame digital SLR, is definitely not as compact as some of the cameras I’ve mentioned here. I wanted to see if the Kiboko City Sling could support this setup, and after a little time spent rearranging the layout of the padded insert that comes with it, I was delighted to discover that it could comfortably accommodate the Q3, a couple of spare batteries with their USB charger, a wallet for my spare SD cards, a portable on-camera flash unit, a portable tripod, and a microfiber towel that I like to keep with me for drying off or de-dusting my gear. As a quick aside—any of you who have ever read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy will understand the importance of always having your towel with you!
Gura Gear’s Kiboko City Sling
Even with all of this gear packed, the bag still has plenty of pockets and spaces left for other accessories and personal items such as a cell phone, keys, etc. As I said previously, this sling is not intended to replace a full size camera bag or backpack, but despite its relatively diminutive profile, it still manages to accommodate an impressive amount of stuff.
The interior of the Kiboko City Sling has been very thoughtfully designed with a view to organizing and protecting your photo and video gear. The sling has some degree of protective padding built into the sides and the bottom of the bag, but it also has the kind of configurable, padded insert that you often find in camera bags, with Velcro panels that can be rearranged to create the layout that is ideal for your gear. One of the features that this bag has, however, that is definitely not common to all camera bags, is that the insert can be removed entirely and is even compatible with other items in Gura Gear’s range of luggage.
This could be very useful if, for example, you want to move your camera gear into a larger item of Gura Gear luggage such as a duffel for a weekend trip, while still retaining the insert’s organization and protection. Being able to remove the insert also gives you the flexibility to repurpose the sling itself for other uses, such as day trips where you might want to carry other kinds of items and don’t need the protective padding for them.
Gura Gear’s Kiboko City Sling
One of the coolest and most thoughtful design features in the sling’s interior is the row of four built-in SD card pockets that are positioned for easy access when the zipper of the main compartment is open. These pockets are color-coded with nice stitching, two of them in blue and two of them in red. This allows you to conveniently carry SD cards in a way that places them close at hand when they’re needed but also allows you to distinguish between the cards that are empty and the cards that are full. I would personally use the two blue slots to carry empty cards and move each one to a red slot when they are full, but how you choose to use these color codes is obviously a matter of personal taste.
Gura Gear’s Kiboko City Sling
In terms of quality, the Kiboko City Sling feels like a beautifully made piece of luggage. From the premium feel of the bag’s materials to the quality of the stitching, the zippers, and the interior, there is nothing about this bag that feels cheap. I have not had the opportunity to test the sling in heavy rain yet, but one intriguing feature of it that I really like is that the long zipper on top of the main compartment seems to have a very nice rain cover integrated into it that perfectly pulls together behind the zipper as you close it. This is not one of those annoying fabric collars that always seem to get snagged in the zipper on backpacks and camera bags. It looks to have been very carefully designed and crafted to cover the zipper just enough to keep out the rain without being wide enough to get snagged in it. As I said, I have not had the opportunity to test the sling in inclement weather, but this thoughtful addition to the main zipper makes a lot of sense if it works as it looks like it should, since the top of the sling is where you would most expect (and least desire) the ingress of rain or snow.
The detachable shoulder strap and the nicely contoured carry strap make this beautiful bag a delight to carry, and even when I had it filled with gear, it never felt uncomfortable or cumbersome on my shoulder. The Kiboko City Sling has just been released, and at the time of writing this article, is available in a variety of colors at a special introductory price of $149.99 from B&H Photo—a saving of 20% on the regular price. I would say that for anybody looking for a compact, comfortable bag to bridge the gap between carrying your gear on your person versus using a backpack or camera bag, this thoughtfully designed and beautifully crafted sling could be exactly what you’re looking for.