Freeforester
Well-Known Member
Okay, for the past thirty plus years I've been convinced of the merits of a decent tripod shooting stick (basically a [wooden] garden cane type job, with one slightly shorter leg afore, which is swung forward in the general direction of the intended target): easy to carry, faster to set up, and offering 90+% accuracy of quad sticks, without the hassle of repositioning of some of the garden cane type sticks with no lateral ledge built in.
My trusty tripod - a little like Trigger's broom by now, but an old friend in the field. Great for steadying the binoculars or telescope when looking carefully for the flick of an ear, assessing an animal, etc. The holes in the rear legs are position holes for a cork with a nail through which acts as a mini vee rest when taking sitting shots, etc. Note hi-vis reflective tape, a more recent 'refinement' very handy for marking/relocation after darkness falls. The cloth is for leg slap elimination. Detail of third leg attachment shown in thumbnail, in my next post below
Times move on though, and having seem a few others using them, I thought I'd give the new quad sticks a bit of a try. Main considerations for myself were lightness to carry, to be generally small in the hand when carrying, an adjustable shooting ledge facility for tracking walking and hopefully pausing targets, and not least, reasonable cost.
In terms of outright shooting point adjustability, the Jakele sticks from Austria seem to have the edge with their pivoting Vee, but were discounted on the grounds of excessive weight (primarily) and eye-watering cost (near £380 - thank goodness they were too heavy!); nor was I totally convinced of the consistency of the vee adjustment over time - what if it got too slack, or even too tight?
Researching others I found some had issues concerning noise ( e.g. whistling in the wind, leading to, er, something broadly similar in terms of results!), whilst others seemed good but felt either heavy and/or bulkier in the hand when being carried. In the end, I settled on the French 4Stable sticks, ) not the expensive carbon model, which though were quite tempting, were nonetheless more than I was willing for my 'financial advisor' to discover at some point in the future that I'd have spent on something which I already had pretty much managed to do quite well without these past three decades! The standard model in standard length appeared like it ticked most of my boxes, though like many other similar products came only in TACTICAL BLACK, which I freely admit I'm not a fan of, especially on areas where most of the cover is either light olive green or dead grass - black here stands out a long way! Anyway, this was the least of my criteria considerations, having to hand a selection of suitable shade spray cans for improving matters in this respect.
The 4Stable sticks duly arrived, and whilst I was indeed impressed with improvements in longer range accuracy ( - though for myself these were somewhat moot, as 95%+ of my shots are taken comfortable under 100m (generally 40-70m, and practically all the rest under 150m), I was a little dismayed to find that, despite having now a 25% increase in number of 'stick legs' to carry, in terms of both pre-shot waiting, and post-shot, pre-gralloch housekeeping, my rifle, sack, binoculars and other sundry items now had to be stored 'in the floor-drobe' - this would not do! Nor was I (nor am I yet) totally convinced of the (for my own shooting) somewhat dubious 'advantage' of the potential improved accuracy over longer distances outweighing the increase in movement and time to set the rifle up (it's a personal thing, and I'm sure many will be able to both outshoot and out-aim me in any time trial, but I'm only making my living doing it
and for me every chance at a shot on an animal within my criteria is to be taken if possible, and also for my returning guests). I'm a little too well 'practiced' in the use of the tripod, and even once the 'shock of the New' wore past, I was and still am finding it more cumbersome to move the rifle swiftly and stealthily into place on the quad-sticks: it was "Time to think"...
I decided that despite these shortcomings, I'd like to continue to use the quad stick I've settled with, as I find (in common with many quad sticks) they can be deployed in several different ways, i.e. like a single stick, a vee double stick, and of course the quad set up, but of course not really as a tripod, as already mentioned still my favourite confoguration. I wanted that third leg, for reasons of added stability, my familiar quick roll-out of a tripod setup when a quicker chance was (and in my experience all too often is indeed likely to be presented), and not least for the purpose of setting at rest my kit before the job was either being undertaken (i.e. when standing but at rest, when watching/waiting for movement) and the tidy storing of bag, binoculars, etc. when busy with the knife after the deed.
I wanted the extra leg to be non-invasive, unobtrusive, light, and most of all, useful, and of course, preferably in more than one way (the canny Scot in me dictates everything carried out should have preferably more than one function!).
Anyway, having a decent length of ash binder stick to hand, I set about figuring how best to attach same to my new sticks without drilling a hole through the hinged internals of the working end of the new sticks shooting ledge come opening mechanism; as usual, simple so often effective, and I settled on a minimalist one hole, one length-of-strong-cord solution. My particular quad stick has a ribbed rubber forend rest/shooting ledge, and so the braided cord sits unobtrusively in one of the grooves. The cord is knotted at one end, then passed through the hole near the top of the stick, passed around the head of the quad stick, then passed back through the hole a second time, and another knot is made to secure it relatively loosely in place.
The fifth leg in situ, set up for a down the hill shot. A longer leg could change this, but there is more than one way to 'skin a cat'!
At rest ( 'skinning the cat' : versatile version 2.0!)
The small 90 degree vee notch cut into the top of the fifth leg stick prevents slippage of the front two side legs of the quad sticks, and when the extra stick leg (hereinafter called the penta, though not yet broken, which if ever happens it will be renamed the penta-gone!) is turned around 90 degrees from carrying to shooting or 'waiting ready' so this notch fully engages with the quad-set' shooting ledge, it also tightens up the cord loop:
Now I have, admittedly, another leg to carry on my shooting stick, but as it was already lightweight, and the 'penta leg' is similarly light and unobtrusive, this is little by way of disadvantage, and I have now found I once more have the versatility of my beloved tripod, a super-stable 'penta set' for steady longer and more deliberate shots, and somewhere off the ground to sit the rifle when waiting on, and store my kit when gralloching, or using it as something upright for setting a visible marker out ( see reflective tape on tripod) when the light goes at close of play, etc.
I hope this might be of interest to others; I've found too that it helps eliminate or completely minimise the quad stick's propensity (especially in windy conditions) for up/down movement, which I've sometimes noticed when shooting at distance. No physical damage to the integrity of the new sticks has been incurred, but I find it is certainly a 'worth-its-weight' useful addition for me in terms of practicality and versatility. The penta leg brings me a wee bit nearer to certainty too!
Next post just of the detail of the tripod front leg attachment.
My trusty tripod - a little like Trigger's broom by now, but an old friend in the field. Great for steadying the binoculars or telescope when looking carefully for the flick of an ear, assessing an animal, etc. The holes in the rear legs are position holes for a cork with a nail through which acts as a mini vee rest when taking sitting shots, etc. Note hi-vis reflective tape, a more recent 'refinement' very handy for marking/relocation after darkness falls. The cloth is for leg slap elimination. Detail of third leg attachment shown in thumbnail, in my next post below
Times move on though, and having seem a few others using them, I thought I'd give the new quad sticks a bit of a try. Main considerations for myself were lightness to carry, to be generally small in the hand when carrying, an adjustable shooting ledge facility for tracking walking and hopefully pausing targets, and not least, reasonable cost.
In terms of outright shooting point adjustability, the Jakele sticks from Austria seem to have the edge with their pivoting Vee, but were discounted on the grounds of excessive weight (primarily) and eye-watering cost (near £380 - thank goodness they were too heavy!); nor was I totally convinced of the consistency of the vee adjustment over time - what if it got too slack, or even too tight?
Researching others I found some had issues concerning noise ( e.g. whistling in the wind, leading to, er, something broadly similar in terms of results!), whilst others seemed good but felt either heavy and/or bulkier in the hand when being carried. In the end, I settled on the French 4Stable sticks, ) not the expensive carbon model, which though were quite tempting, were nonetheless more than I was willing for my 'financial advisor' to discover at some point in the future that I'd have spent on something which I already had pretty much managed to do quite well without these past three decades! The standard model in standard length appeared like it ticked most of my boxes, though like many other similar products came only in TACTICAL BLACK, which I freely admit I'm not a fan of, especially on areas where most of the cover is either light olive green or dead grass - black here stands out a long way! Anyway, this was the least of my criteria considerations, having to hand a selection of suitable shade spray cans for improving matters in this respect.
The 4Stable sticks duly arrived, and whilst I was indeed impressed with improvements in longer range accuracy ( - though for myself these were somewhat moot, as 95%+ of my shots are taken comfortable under 100m (generally 40-70m, and practically all the rest under 150m), I was a little dismayed to find that, despite having now a 25% increase in number of 'stick legs' to carry, in terms of both pre-shot waiting, and post-shot, pre-gralloch housekeeping, my rifle, sack, binoculars and other sundry items now had to be stored 'in the floor-drobe' - this would not do! Nor was I (nor am I yet) totally convinced of the (for my own shooting) somewhat dubious 'advantage' of the potential improved accuracy over longer distances outweighing the increase in movement and time to set the rifle up (it's a personal thing, and I'm sure many will be able to both outshoot and out-aim me in any time trial, but I'm only making my living doing it
and for me every chance at a shot on an animal within my criteria is to be taken if possible, and also for my returning guests). I'm a little too well 'practiced' in the use of the tripod, and even once the 'shock of the New' wore past, I was and still am finding it more cumbersome to move the rifle swiftly and stealthily into place on the quad-sticks: it was "Time to think"...I decided that despite these shortcomings, I'd like to continue to use the quad stick I've settled with, as I find (in common with many quad sticks) they can be deployed in several different ways, i.e. like a single stick, a vee double stick, and of course the quad set up, but of course not really as a tripod, as already mentioned still my favourite confoguration. I wanted that third leg, for reasons of added stability, my familiar quick roll-out of a tripod setup when a quicker chance was (and in my experience all too often is indeed likely to be presented), and not least for the purpose of setting at rest my kit before the job was either being undertaken (i.e. when standing but at rest, when watching/waiting for movement) and the tidy storing of bag, binoculars, etc. when busy with the knife after the deed.
I wanted the extra leg to be non-invasive, unobtrusive, light, and most of all, useful, and of course, preferably in more than one way (the canny Scot in me dictates everything carried out should have preferably more than one function!).
Anyway, having a decent length of ash binder stick to hand, I set about figuring how best to attach same to my new sticks without drilling a hole through the hinged internals of the working end of the new sticks shooting ledge come opening mechanism; as usual, simple so often effective, and I settled on a minimalist one hole, one length-of-strong-cord solution. My particular quad stick has a ribbed rubber forend rest/shooting ledge, and so the braided cord sits unobtrusively in one of the grooves. The cord is knotted at one end, then passed through the hole near the top of the stick, passed around the head of the quad stick, then passed back through the hole a second time, and another knot is made to secure it relatively loosely in place.
The fifth leg in situ, set up for a down the hill shot. A longer leg could change this, but there is more than one way to 'skin a cat'!
At rest ( 'skinning the cat' : versatile version 2.0!)
The small 90 degree vee notch cut into the top of the fifth leg stick prevents slippage of the front two side legs of the quad sticks, and when the extra stick leg (hereinafter called the penta, though not yet broken, which if ever happens it will be renamed the penta-gone!) is turned around 90 degrees from carrying to shooting or 'waiting ready' so this notch fully engages with the quad-set' shooting ledge, it also tightens up the cord loop:
Now I have, admittedly, another leg to carry on my shooting stick, but as it was already lightweight, and the 'penta leg' is similarly light and unobtrusive, this is little by way of disadvantage, and I have now found I once more have the versatility of my beloved tripod, a super-stable 'penta set' for steady longer and more deliberate shots, and somewhere off the ground to sit the rifle when waiting on, and store my kit when gralloching, or using it as something upright for setting a visible marker out ( see reflective tape on tripod) when the light goes at close of play, etc.
I hope this might be of interest to others; I've found too that it helps eliminate or completely minimise the quad stick's propensity (especially in windy conditions) for up/down movement, which I've sometimes noticed when shooting at distance. No physical damage to the integrity of the new sticks has been incurred, but I find it is certainly a 'worth-its-weight' useful addition for me in terms of practicality and versatility. The penta leg brings me a wee bit nearer to certainty too!
Next post just of the detail of the tripod front leg attachment.
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ps i still think 4 legs is enough.
