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mpriest

Tripod

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I'm looking for a good tripod that will fit in my pack for my vortex spotting scope. I want not that I can use while seated to save on weight. Also any suggestions on tripods that will fit both the scope and my binos so I can interchange them as needed. Thanks

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I have a vortex summit SSP that I like a lot.its small,very light and sturdy for how small it is.it handles my binos great, not sure how it'd handle a heavier spotting scope

People are saying that it holds their spotters good in the reviews on the vortex website. Goin to do a little research on this one.

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Last year I bought a small SLIK from Archery Headquarters for $100. It's very light weight and handles binos well when sitting. It has 3 leg sections, so you can stand with it if it's not windy. Should handle a mid-size scope OK...the lower to the ground the better.

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Last year I bought a small SLIK from Archery Headquarters for $100. It's very light weight and handles binos well when sitting. It has 3 leg sections, so you can stand with it if it's not windy. Should handle a mid-size scope OK...the lower to the ground the better.

Ya we have one with the ball head. It handles binos good but I think it would be stretching it pretty far to get a 20-60X80 spotting scope on there

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If you don't plan on standing with it much I highly recommend one of the sirui tripods. They haven't really made much of an impact in the hunting world yet but the birders and backcountry photographers consider them the best tripods on the market without paying for something high end. Most of them come with ball heads so if you plan on using your binos with it then look into a high quality pan head or pistol grip.

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I use a carbon Promaster 525. It's a decent tripod and has held up well. More important than the tripod is the quality of the tripod head you choose. A marginal tripod works good with a quality head, the reverse, not so much.

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No body ever talks about mefoto tripods , but I think the road trip model would be worth checking out. I bought it after looking at a ton of specs from different tripods. I was looking for one that would fit in the side pocket on my kifaru timberline. It was the only tripod I could find that folded down small enough to fit in the pocket and would still support enough weight for my purposes. It is rock solid and is very light. It does not weight much more than carbon tripods with similar specs, or enough to justify the increase in cost in my opinion. I use it to glass with 15's all the time and have also shot two animals off it with a triclawps on top. This year I went hunting with my friend who is an anesthesiologist. I am guessing money is less of an issue for him than it is for me. He had a large carbon fiber manfrotto tripod and a light slik tripod for backpacking. I let him use my tripod for the morning and he said he was going to sell both of his and replace them with the roadtrip.

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I love my carbon fiber Manfrotto. It does not fit "in" my pack, but straps on just fine, lightweight, and sturdy as heck. From sitting on the ground to standing, it easily holds my 15s. But you have to buy a separate head, either a pan or ball head. I prefer pan heads myself. So it can get kind of pricey.

 

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Vortex. For 15s, you need the one with the Allen head. For 10s, you can use the one with the knurled finger knob.

 

I keep them attached to various optics, and add a Manfrotto base plate to each. It makes swapping optics very quick and easy, like 10 seconds.

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I've been using a Slik 340 Pro EZ with either the Vortex Uniadapter for binos or direct to my spotting scope. Has worked just fine for me so far but isn't as solid as some of the more expensive ones (but also ~1/3 of the price). It also fits nicely in my pack which I appreciate. I will say that i mostly spot from a sitting position vs standing. I think the tripod would be at it's limit if I was wanting to use it a lot in a standing position.

 

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I've been using a Slik 340 Pro EZ with either the Vortex Uniadapter for binos or direct to my spotting scope. Has worked just fine for me so far but isn't as solid as some of the more expensive ones (but also ~1/3 of the price). It also fits nicely in my pack which I appreciate. I will say that i mostly spot from a sitting position vs standing. I think the tripod would be at it's limit if I was wanting to use it a lot in a standing position.

 

This is what I ended up ordering. It had good reviews, in my price range and seemed capable of everything I wanted it for

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