Premium Quad Stick Comparison/Review Blaser vs Viperflex vs Spartan
Now I am fully expecting some lively responses to this because very few other things get shooters quite so emotive as shooting sticks. Well, maybe the best deer calibre…..
Now I fully appreciate that a large proportion of the stalking population will live and die using their four bits of bamboo from B&Q, and I fully respect that carbon fibre isn’t for everyone. But like society in general, we are all different, and some people either have or are in the market for the sticks discussed below. If you feel the need to make a comment saying “carbon is expensive poo and I have shot a million deer using bits of bamboo,” please feel free. I won’t take offence, and I am happy for you to have an outlet for your frustrations.
So important to say I have owned all the above sticks, and they were all purchased with my own money.
So the sticks in no particular order….
Blaser V2 Carbon:-
When these first came out in their V1 form, they were probably quite an innovation in a market dominated by Viperflex and similar-style sticks. Their front-mounted pistol grip was certainly different, and it was clear that although they obviously retained the quad style, Blaser had actually put some thought into how to make improvements. The pistol grip design allows them to track moving targets like nothing else on the market, as all the other designs require a more physical approach. Like a lot of revision 1 items, though, there were some shortcomings with the locks, the front V coming loose, and a couple of other minor issues, so Blaser released the V2 versions about 12 months later. Now, I have used all these sticks extensively, so the following comments are not made after a quick poke about at a set on a stand at the stalking show. I find the Blaser sticks have a couple of drawbacks. 1. The legs are a pig to get adjusted to the correct length. It’s fine if you always leave them extended and never reduce them, but it takes an age to get them all the correct length and tight. The leg locks on the V2 also still come loose on occasion, which can be annoying. 2. They tend to “clatter” when opening and closer more than some sticks do. Because the rear two legs lock into the pistol grip, you need to pull these free before they will open, which might need two hands and might cause them to clatter together. 3. They have a lot of movement in the legs and pistol grip. I have attached a video below taken with the 5th leg option fitted, and with a pretty light carbon chassis Tikka T3x light sitting on them, you can see that there is a lot of flex in firstly the legs and secondly the joints between the sticks and the pistol grip and secondly the pistol grip and the V. I personally find this level of flex unacceptable and feel it’s a direct compromise caused by the innovation of the pistol grip. Other sticks with a 5th leg I can use to zero rifles at 100m and shoot clover leaf groups if I haven’t had too much coffee. I did the video because it was hard to express the point without it. All that said, though, the Blaser sticks are a perfectly viable tool, and a lot of people (even those who don’t shoot a Blaser while wearing a Blaser jacket, pants, and hat) find them a useful tool.
Viperflex Pro Carbon:
Viperflex have been one of the stalwarts of the shooting/stalking world now for, I think, eleven.
Plus years. I believe I had my first set in 2014, which I think is when they first emerged? Someone please correct me? Starting off in aluminium before releasing more premium models in carbon, the basic design hasn’t altered greatly since launch. Having used aluminium ones for so long before switching to carbon a few years back, I can report the following good features: 1. Tough unless you run them over with the truck (done it), they are pretty tough. I use them several times a week to help me tow fallow deer to the closest track. 2. Stable. I regularly use them to zero rifles at 100m with the addition of the 5th leg. As can be seen in my other video, there isn’t the same level of flex in the system as the previously mentioned Blaser ones. 3. They open to the correct width every time one-handed if you set the leg lengths correctly. 4. Fast to mount the rifle on. Of the three models on here, the Viperflex are by far the quickest to get your rifle onto and steady. Downsides include: 1. If your rifle has a rounded front stock and thin rear end of the stock, then the cradles can be rocky. This means the rifle can roll from side to side unless held in place. The Blaser sticks, for example, control this movement by having tighter V-shaped front and rear rests. 2. Well documented as a downside of the Viperflex is the ability of them to play a tune in the wind. Although this was something that was addressed previously by leg covers and more recently by rubber covers, I find the newer rubber covers very easy to damage. Six months of tough use has left them ragged and needing replacement. I have, though, replaced my rubber covers with much tougher electrical cable heat shrink, solving the issue.
Spartan Sprinbok Quad Sticks: -
I have briefly reviewed these before, and my opinion hasn’t changed really. Spartan has taken the quad stick design and, by forcing the use of their spigot magnet system, they have somehow managed to make a compromised system. I have three main dislikes. 1. By using the spigot, there is no way they can be as fast to use as the other two models being discussed here. You have to insert the 9mm male spigot into the hole in the front of your rifle, and this is just something that takes longer than dumping the rifle on a simple cradle or V. 2. The rubber-jointed legs, while giving a lot of flexibility to bend and kneel, etc., on uneven ground, have a mind of their own unless clipped. The sticks are designed to spring open in both ways, and as a result, they need to be clipped both side to side and back to front to enable them to be carried. These clips add even more time to the deployment process mentioned in item 1. Holding them closed by hand is possible, but it isn’t exactly comfortable for long periods. 3. The biggest downside for me, though, is the rear cradle. Because the Spartan offering fixes the front, you have to use the rear to pan. Obviously, it pans, but it’s not as good as the front cradle/pistol grip style of the other two, and they have done it purely so they can use their magnetic spigot system. Worse than this, though, is the floppy nature of the rear cradle, as it physically drops a couple of inches when you reach the extreme ends of the travel. So you are tracking a deer from left to right, and as you reach the end of the cradle, the rifle butt drops a couple of inches, and the deer disappears out of the scope picture.
Hopefully someone finds this review of some use. And again. These are just my observations and opinions other peoples will likely be different.
Now I am fully expecting some lively responses to this because very few other things get shooters quite so emotive as shooting sticks. Well, maybe the best deer calibre…..
Now I fully appreciate that a large proportion of the stalking population will live and die using their four bits of bamboo from B&Q, and I fully respect that carbon fibre isn’t for everyone. But like society in general, we are all different, and some people either have or are in the market for the sticks discussed below. If you feel the need to make a comment saying “carbon is expensive poo and I have shot a million deer using bits of bamboo,” please feel free. I won’t take offence, and I am happy for you to have an outlet for your frustrations.
So important to say I have owned all the above sticks, and they were all purchased with my own money.
So the sticks in no particular order….
Blaser V2 Carbon:-
When these first came out in their V1 form, they were probably quite an innovation in a market dominated by Viperflex and similar-style sticks. Their front-mounted pistol grip was certainly different, and it was clear that although they obviously retained the quad style, Blaser had actually put some thought into how to make improvements. The pistol grip design allows them to track moving targets like nothing else on the market, as all the other designs require a more physical approach. Like a lot of revision 1 items, though, there were some shortcomings with the locks, the front V coming loose, and a couple of other minor issues, so Blaser released the V2 versions about 12 months later. Now, I have used all these sticks extensively, so the following comments are not made after a quick poke about at a set on a stand at the stalking show. I find the Blaser sticks have a couple of drawbacks. 1. The legs are a pig to get adjusted to the correct length. It’s fine if you always leave them extended and never reduce them, but it takes an age to get them all the correct length and tight. The leg locks on the V2 also still come loose on occasion, which can be annoying. 2. They tend to “clatter” when opening and closer more than some sticks do. Because the rear two legs lock into the pistol grip, you need to pull these free before they will open, which might need two hands and might cause them to clatter together. 3. They have a lot of movement in the legs and pistol grip. I have attached a video below taken with the 5th leg option fitted, and with a pretty light carbon chassis Tikka T3x light sitting on them, you can see that there is a lot of flex in firstly the legs and secondly the joints between the sticks and the pistol grip and secondly the pistol grip and the V. I personally find this level of flex unacceptable and feel it’s a direct compromise caused by the innovation of the pistol grip. Other sticks with a 5th leg I can use to zero rifles at 100m and shoot clover leaf groups if I haven’t had too much coffee. I did the video because it was hard to express the point without it. All that said, though, the Blaser sticks are a perfectly viable tool, and a lot of people (even those who don’t shoot a Blaser while wearing a Blaser jacket, pants, and hat) find them a useful tool.
Viperflex Pro Carbon:
Viperflex have been one of the stalwarts of the shooting/stalking world now for, I think, eleven.
Plus years. I believe I had my first set in 2014, which I think is when they first emerged? Someone please correct me? Starting off in aluminium before releasing more premium models in carbon, the basic design hasn’t altered greatly since launch. Having used aluminium ones for so long before switching to carbon a few years back, I can report the following good features: 1. Tough unless you run them over with the truck (done it), they are pretty tough. I use them several times a week to help me tow fallow deer to the closest track. 2. Stable. I regularly use them to zero rifles at 100m with the addition of the 5th leg. As can be seen in my other video, there isn’t the same level of flex in the system as the previously mentioned Blaser ones. 3. They open to the correct width every time one-handed if you set the leg lengths correctly. 4. Fast to mount the rifle on. Of the three models on here, the Viperflex are by far the quickest to get your rifle onto and steady. Downsides include: 1. If your rifle has a rounded front stock and thin rear end of the stock, then the cradles can be rocky. This means the rifle can roll from side to side unless held in place. The Blaser sticks, for example, control this movement by having tighter V-shaped front and rear rests. 2. Well documented as a downside of the Viperflex is the ability of them to play a tune in the wind. Although this was something that was addressed previously by leg covers and more recently by rubber covers, I find the newer rubber covers very easy to damage. Six months of tough use has left them ragged and needing replacement. I have, though, replaced my rubber covers with much tougher electrical cable heat shrink, solving the issue.
Spartan Sprinbok Quad Sticks: -
I have briefly reviewed these before, and my opinion hasn’t changed really. Spartan has taken the quad stick design and, by forcing the use of their spigot magnet system, they have somehow managed to make a compromised system. I have three main dislikes. 1. By using the spigot, there is no way they can be as fast to use as the other two models being discussed here. You have to insert the 9mm male spigot into the hole in the front of your rifle, and this is just something that takes longer than dumping the rifle on a simple cradle or V. 2. The rubber-jointed legs, while giving a lot of flexibility to bend and kneel, etc., on uneven ground, have a mind of their own unless clipped. The sticks are designed to spring open in both ways, and as a result, they need to be clipped both side to side and back to front to enable them to be carried. These clips add even more time to the deployment process mentioned in item 1. Holding them closed by hand is possible, but it isn’t exactly comfortable for long periods. 3. The biggest downside for me, though, is the rear cradle. Because the Spartan offering fixes the front, you have to use the rear to pan. Obviously, it pans, but it’s not as good as the front cradle/pistol grip style of the other two, and they have done it purely so they can use their magnetic spigot system. Worse than this, though, is the floppy nature of the rear cradle, as it physically drops a couple of inches when you reach the extreme ends of the travel. So you are tracking a deer from left to right, and as you reach the end of the cradle, the rifle butt drops a couple of inches, and the deer disappears out of the scope picture.
Hopefully someone finds this review of some use. And again. These are just my observations and opinions other peoples will likely be different.
