Shoulder Harness/Belt sytem: help!

MikeA · #8 05-31-2006, 05:38 AM

Walter,

Have you looked at the Kinesis belt system?

I have a belt and a few of the pouches, and it is very well designed and made. It's a modular system, there are belts, pouches and harnesses for everything...

http://www.kgear.com/

Mike

Walter_Kimmel · #9 05-31-2006, 08:26 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Have you looked at the Kinesis belt system?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I have, and it looks interesting. I also went in to B&H and tried on the Lowepro belt and harness, which did not feel that comfortable on me.

The other question I have sounds silly, but walking around in both NYC and Philadelphia I've been stopped many times by police and security people wanting to know what and why I was photographing. Would they be even more suspicious of a belt and shoulder harness setup because it resembles what a well dressed suicide bomber would wear?

MikeA · #10 05-31-2006, 09:14 PM

Walter,

Well, compared to a nondescript bag like a Crumpler, I would think so. The belt systems I have seen all have that S.W.A.T. look about them. The Kinesis system especially is black and obviously ruggedised for heavy use, with belts and D-buckles all over the place:

The wide padded belt is very comfortable to wear. With this admittedly much smaller kit than you are considering (5D + 24-105L and accessories) I regularly hike through rugged terrain and steep trails - I swing the camera holster around to the back for climbing steep sections and it's the easiest way of safely carrying a SLR ofer that sort of ground that I have yet seen.

Mike

DouglasUrner · #11 05-31-2006, 09:23 PM

I switched from LowePro to ThinkTank a while back and have been very, very happy with my new bags. I started off with the largest of their waist packs, in which I usually carry a D200, 10.5 fisheye, 55 macro, 18-70 or 12-24, and a 70-200 plus a teleconverter (plus hoods and a polarizer and a few other bits. I use a couple accessory bags for strobes and more miscellaneous stuff. The pack comes with a shoulder strap to enable you to either carry it like a shoulder bag or to help distribute the load -- I've been really pleased so far. It has carried well for extended periods. This bag has basically replaced my Tenba backpack.

One thing I've found is that while the waist pack is great for hauling a bunch of gear and for looking almost normal, it is not so great for changing lenses (at least if you pack it as full as I do). For that it is nice to have the individual lens pouches so that you don't have to "hot swap" the lenses. The Steroid Speed Belt (or whatever they call it) is great for that kind of set up. It holds a bunch of bags and pouches that you can configure for the particular job and can be used with shoulder straps -- though I haven't found myself needing them. ThinkTank offers a package of a belt and a set of bags that seems like a better deal than buying the components individually.

The construction of the ThinkTank bags is absolutely first class. My LowePro bags aren't even in the same league.

Doug

DouglasUrner · #12 05-31-2006, 09:28 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Would they be even more suspicious of a belt and shoulder harness setup because it resembles what a well dressed suicide bomber would wear?

[/ QUOTE ]

For whatever it is worth, I haven't been questioned while using my
ThinkTank gear -- I wonder if it is the "SWAT look." Maybe the police look at my bags and think, "hmm, that one looks like one of us, must be ok." Or some such thing. Maybe it's just a coincidence, or maybe folks are mellowing out here.

"Civilians" on the other hand, they always comment about that modular bags. That was one of the reasons why I started with the waist pack. I though I might attract less attention.

Doug

Keith_Randolph · #13 06-02-2006, 06:53 PM

Just a thought. Have you looked at newswear.com
http://newswear.com/index.html
I don't have the system, but like you, I have been looking into belted and harness type systems. Came across newswear in the RG forums and kept the link on hand. Can't hurt to look!

DavidBabcock · #14 06-03-2006, 01:18 AM

about six months ago I ended up getting the Thinktank belt system after looking at numerous different companies and getting suggestions from here on RG. I'd have to say that I am happy with it, work with a D2X over my neck, and have pouches for a 17-35 and an 80-200 and the small pouch that comfortabley holds a 50 and an 85, or a 24-85(and has the zippered section big enough for a card holder, pens, coiled Nikon flash cord) plus a flash pouch which I find handy. All this is about as comfortable as I expected (having used Lowe-pro fanny pack for ages) but after numerous hours, its normal to need to move stuff around and to be a bit uncomfortable given where the weight is. The Newswear stuff seems that it will always be more comfortable as it puts the weight on your shoulders, there's a press guy who uses it here in Montreal and when I asked him about it a few weeks ago, he swears by it. I think for someone who is shooting every day like this, it would definately be worth it. I however chose teh belt system for the more discreet look that is more convienent for me anyway. and the pouches do work well for quick changing, which is still a priority for me as I'm really always shooting with one body. Oh and of course being able to stick on however few or more pouches is a plus for me too, that is one of their selling points with it.

ditto the comments on quality of construction.

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