I have one from colmountaintech.com. I found it to be fantastic. Super lightweight actually converts to a trekking pole. Converts from a trekking pole to a tripod in less than a minute. Holds up to 40 pounds shoots really well. Has anyone found anything similar to this? Or what is your favorite. I haul a lot of things on my back into the backcountry so I need ultralight stuff. This is solved a lot of my problems with weight adding more room in my pack and giving me stability with a heavy backpack.
- Thread starter Vaportrail59
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I’m running an innorel and fatboy traverse 3 section. The fatboy is rock solid, great quality, fast, and super stable 
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Innorel ST344c is the point of diminishing returns for capacity, capability and price. I dislike Chinesium but they did that bit really well.
My favorite tripod is the one that someone else in my squad has to haul around all day.
Wow those are some big tripods, I agree I wouldn’t want to haul those around but they do look solid. Colmountaintech MTNSTICK is my new choice This one converts to a trekking pole. all carbon fiber is really solid platform but is never on my back only in my hand. When I’m done using it for my hunting platform it holds a tent up. It’s the transformer of tripods ha ha. Has anyone found something similar?
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Kind of depends upon what kind of shooting you will be doing while using the scope/tripod combo. Personally, I like a 45 degree scope for both and I like my Freeland for prone and my Manfrotto pistol grip head on a manfrotto tripod when sitting in a chair spotting. My advice is that when you go out to the range next time, jsut ask people if you can look through their scopes and play with their tripods......pretty hard to beat some hands on experience when trying to pick either a scope, a tripod or what kind of a head you want to put on a tripod.
DUDE
Tell me more about that ballhead. Can you compare its stability to an Anvil? Compare how well it works for spotting, to a traditional ballhead? Is it as awesome as the idea sounds?
I've yet to have the opportunity to compare it to an Anvil. I haven't seen any Anvils here in Tucson, and I stopped shooting PRS matches shortly after acquiring this ballhead. I would love to compare the two, but haven't had the opportunity yet.
How it works is that you level the outer ball, and lock it in. The inner ball only moves in the X and Y axis (horizontal and vertical), so as long as you level the outer ball, no cant is introduced. It works as advertised. You can also leave the outer ball unlocked and use it as a "regular" ballhead as well.
The ballhead is pretty stout - it's designed for large cameras, and I bet it's every bit as stout as an Anvil. No issues supporting my 23+ lb rifles. Not sure if the gimbal is useful for PRS type work where you are constrained by a clock and cant isn't really an issue (large targets that are relatively close), but it seems pretty slick for field work.
Its going hunting with me this year, looking forward to that. I bet it's the ticket for glassing, varmint & predator shooting, hunting, or any type of field shooting. Would also work awesome for movers, you just need to dedicate the extra ~5-10 seconds to level and lock the outer ballhead.
If you don't like cant, this is a great system. It's very versatile and stabile. I've paired it with an RRS SC-LR, so that it clamp onto ARCA and picatinney. The OEM clamp uses a knob, which IMO isn't the best for tension and recoil - I much prefer lever clamps. The issue with mounting the RRS clamp to this ballhead is that they are slightly different patterns, so I've used some JB-Weld to create a permanent mount.
I picked up an Artcise AS90 and fitted a Sunwayfoto IB-40 ballhead to it. For the price it's a brilliant bit of gear. I had to make a spacer ring to fit the ballhead into the 90mm base but I imagine you could buy them. The tripod is as solid as they come and quick to deploy. It is big, but fairly light. It came out around AU$750 for the whole setup.
That's the way I roll
but in that using my buddy's Two Vets QDT V2 at matches to spot and when needed in a stage here and there I found it to be pretty nice. Quick to deploy being two piece legs so only one loosening and tightening point and it's very strong. Worth a look. 
QDT V2
twovetssportinggoods.com 
I've used a standard (quality) trekking pole to help stabilize the rear of the rifle before, albeit nowhere near as nice or useable as an actual tripod, but helps in a pinch.
After looking over the tripods at the Leupold bench and using 3-4 brands on the range, I went with a Leupold Pro Guide, mainly cause I'm cheap and I got a nice discount. It already came with the ball head on it set up for arca, and works pretty similar to most of the other tripods. Folds down to 22", weighs 4lbs, and extends to full standing shooting position for me, I'm happy with it for what I do.
Not sure if 4lbs is too much extra weight for your hunting load out, but I'll be taking mine for sure.
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