I was just posting up to see if anyone has a good combo for these? The combo I have is pretty basic and I am looking to upgrade next year. So I was just wanting some ideas.
Lightweight tripod/spotting scope
- Thread starter TaftHunter
- Start date
Nikon ED 50 is probably the best lightweight spotter out there. I have experience with that and the Minox MD 50. Big difference in cost. I'd go with the Nikon out of those two.
Snake Charmer
Happiness is a warm gut pile
Take a look at the Outdoorsman brand of tripod. Made by hunters for hunters in the USA. They offer a modular system that allows you to build a tripod to suits your hunting needs. I have one that I built in 2009 and its served me well. Not cheap but its one of those tools where I believe in the buy once cry once train of thought.
Snake Charmer said:
thank you snake charmer! Im going to save up some money and see what I can do. right now I have 2 tripods, one super light but crappy, and one super heavy but very smooth while glassing longer distances, and I hate dragging it miles into the wilderness!
After this discussion came up, I took my Bushnell in to FF to talk with John about how I'm using it (along with 12x50 Leupold binos and Leupold 6x TBR rangefinder). With the heavy, bulky 12x binos, 20x mag w spotter adds less than it would to 8x binos. Magnification beyond 20x doesn't always result in better detail, so I've got two optics in my pack with a lot of overlap. I may look for some 8x Leicas and keep the 12x glasses for use from my vehicle.
My Slik U6000 and Bushnell Elite Tactical spotting scope come in at just under 5lbs total weight. That's my definition of light. The slik is plenty rigid but in a wind you need to keep it compact: the more you extend the head and legs, with the weight of the scope, the more vibration you'll get. That's due to resonance, and it's predictable. Similar to a tuning fork.
I use a very similar setup as Bonejour. It will be the lightest weight combo that you can assemble.
Great info and things to consider in this thread, so I'm reviving it. Since the last post, the head on my Slik tripod broke and couldn't be replaced, so I bought a used Manfrotto tripod and head for spotting. I like it a lot. It's not light by any means, but it is rock-solid, quiet and easy to adjust. Anyone else have an update? Garrett, what did you end up with?
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I ended up with the Slik Sprint** mini pro ii, with a manfrotto head. I love it!
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Last edited:
I copied Lungpopper and went with the SLIK SPRINT PRO II which comes in at 28.5 ounces. I pulled off the ball head that comes with and replaced it with the 7 ounce MICRO PAN HEAD.
Total Weight 2.2 lbs
SLIK Sprint Pro II http://www.slik.com/DS-SPRINT_PRO_II.html
Outdoorsmans Micro Pan Head https://outdoorsmans.com/collections/tripod-accessories/products/outdoorsmans-micro-pan-head
Total Weight 2.2 lbs
SLIK Sprint Pro II http://www.slik.com/DS-SPRINT_PRO_II.html
Outdoorsmans Micro Pan Head https://outdoorsmans.com/collections/tripod-accessories/products/outdoorsmans-micro-pan-head