Tripod recommendations

lordy

Well-Known Member
Want to get a tripod prefer it to shooting off bipod sticks. Any recomendations and where to get them?
 
Are the bushwear ones any good I saw them before but wonder if they are flimsey or sturdy. They are made of seperate sections which i thought would flex more?
 
I use two Hazel sticks and a length of rope with a loop on each end.
One loop around the top of the sticks, tread on the other end of rope and brace against the sticks.
You will not get anything more stable than that.
When you have taken the animal use the rope as a Drag rope or for hanging the carcas.
Carry spare ropes.
 
The Stoney point polecat tripod is very good and sturdy enough for any deerstalking. I have used the two section one for years and it will shorten right down for shooting when seated. I covered the top sections with camo tape and painted the bottom ones green just because I wasn't keen on them being black.
The third leg clamps around the top of one of the other two legs and is designed to rotate to give more freedom of movement when setting up your rifle. I found this was using valuable time so I fixed the third leg so it would always be facing directly to the rear when set up.

The achilles heel is the length adjustment system. The bottom section has a aluminium cone fitted with a bolt. When the section is turned it pulls a three part nylon bush onto the cone forcing it outwards so clamping the two parts together.
Occassionally if you have overtightened one leg the two parts will not unloosen, or if you haven't tightened one leg enough when you mount the rifle one leg slowly telescopes down! Sometimes the leg will not tighten at all which means the nylon bush has become detached from the aluminium cone.
I have learnt now it pays to periodically remove the plastic end cap between two sections and thoroughly clean and regrease the moving parts. Sometimes the rubber "O" ring that holds the nylon bush has to be replaced. With time it comes second nature to tighten everything just enough.
Of course with the three section sticks you will have three more adjusters to look after and the bottom legs of these are a bit narrower and flimsier than the two part.

Apart from the odd problem I find my sticks are invaluable. I can rest my binos on when glassing an area, they help me get up steep hills when I'm puffing a bit, they are good to probe dense ground for potholes or ditches and support you as you cross streams and to use as a depth gauge!
 
To save going to the bank for a loan for the above :lol:

You may wish to keep your Garden Canes and follow the idea below that Monkey Spanker posted a link to a while ago.

If you are feeling rich you can replace the garden canes with telescopic bipod shooting sticks (about £20.00 at Sportsman) and have adjustable quadpods still costing less than half the price of the ones above.

Orinally posted by Monkey Spanker:

I couldn’t bring myself to spend £85 of hard earned money on shooting sticks, so I made my own.

Below are some pictures of the finished article, they were simple to make and cost less than £5.

You will need,

Green Garden Canes 1800mm x 16mm, or 1700mm x 11mm.
Bungee Rope
O rings, Bike Inner Tube or Bridle Rope

Most of you will have seen Bipod stalking sticks using garden canes.
Simply make two sets of these,
P1060130.jpg


By joining the sticks with either large o rings, inner tube or a bridle rubber you will be able to adjust he height to allow for sitting shots.

You may think this is not necessary as the support you get when using these is as good as when prone, but do you really want to stand for 2 hours waiting for the elusive buck to show up.


Join both sets together at the bottom using 3/8 bungee rope, go around the sticks 3 times this will make them sufficiently stiff to work as a bipod for quick shots.

P1060133.jpg


I found I needed to shorten one of the 4 poles to make for a more comfortable shooting position.

P1060132.jpg


The sticks work great as a normal bipod sticks and have the benefit of being ultra stable when fully deployed for those longer range shots.

P1060122-1.jpg


P1060129-2.jpg


You will need to practice the use of them to get the full benefit them, and some range time to assess your abilities with them.

I am 6” 5’ and found I needed to use 1800mm x 16mm Green garden canes to be able to use them as a bipod, if you are shorter you are lucky enough to be able to use 1700mm x 11mm which makes a lighter smaller set of sticks.

I have used single, bipod and tripod sticks over the years but these are by far the best I have used so far.
 
If you are interested in the Polecat tripod I have bought a three piece Explorer model last month and have been out with it once. Great kit but I realise that at 6ft 2" I could benefit with it being an inch or two longer. So would consider selling it to you so that I could buy the two piece model Explorer model that goes 3" higher.
The three piece model has the advantage of being usable for sitting, as well as kneeling or standing shots whereas the two piece is too high for sitting shots.
In other words if you don't need the extra height and want one of these at a good price drop me a PM.
Neal
 
Sauer

I do give £10 cash back to SD members which means you more or less get the Quadpod post free. You will need to state your SD site user name on the order via my website or call me, the numbers are on the site.

www.midfieldandco.com

At the moment I will not be at The Midland Game Fair as I'm flat out with sales following Jon Snowdons article in Sporting Gun (see NEWS link on my website) and sales at The CLA Game Fair at Belvior Castle.
 
tripod.jpg


Got this tripod made up by a mate this year, the big advantage is if the deer moves you dont have to pick the sticks up you just move with it,
got castration rubber rings on the canes to stop them banging together, much better than my bushware ones, only down side they dont collapse down.

Anthony
 
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