Which Tripod?

Sean Lewis · Post by **Sean Lewis** » Thu May 21, 2009 10:01 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Hi Tim, I bought a Redwing P2 backpack recently and it's very light and comfortable. It has two lightweight metal bars running from top to bottom at the back that you can bend into the shape of your back, very cosy. It makes those long distant uphill walks a heck of a lot easier. The camera and lens cases as Thingy mentioned above are pretty light and tidy too.

timparkin · Post by **timparkin** » Fri May 22, 2009 5:12 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Sean Lewis wrote:Hi Tim, I bought a Redwing P2 backpack recently and it's very light and comfortable. It has two lightweight metal bars running from top to bottom at the back that you can bend into the shape of your back, very cosy. It makes those long distant uphill walks a heck of a lot easier. The camera and lens cases as Thingy mentioned above are pretty light and tidy too.

I think something like that would be a very good idea for a leightweight kit...

joolsb · Post by **joolsb** » Mon May 25, 2009 8:17 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

I'm working on a light kit and would love to get a lighter backpack (5.5Kg for the pro trekker with nothing in it!).. Any recommendations of light backpacks (I'd love a McHale but they're not cheap)

I use a Mammut 'traveller' style bag (looks a bit like a parachute pack on my back

) which has a fully opening front. I use various ad hoc solutions for keeping my gear stable and safe from knocks etc. I know JC (no, not our JC

) uses a Mac backpack with the innards of a LowePro for mountaineering. If I was looking for a backpack again, I'd probably go with the Photobackpacker solution previously mentioned.

Anyway and vaguely on topic-ish, I now have to fork out for another Gitzo and 410 head due to my own stupidity. Hint: when using your digital camera handheld do not wander off in search of images and completely forget that your beloved (and expensive) tripod is sitting alone in the woods. I didn't realise how stupid I had been until about an hour later and went rushing back - but it was gone. Someone, somewhere, now has a very nice tripod for free. I hope they appreciate it.

At least my Ebony was securely stowed in the car at the time and I hadn't left that on the tripod.

timparkin · Post by **timparkin** » Tue May 26, 2009 11:36 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

joolsb wrote:
I'm working on a light kit and would love to get a lighter backpack (5.5Kg for the pro trekker with nothing in it!).. Any recommendations of light backpacks (I'd love a McHale but they're not cheap)
I use a Mammut 'traveller' style bag (looks a bit like a parachute pack on my back ) which has a fully opening front. I use various ad hoc solutions for keeping my gear stable and safe from knocks etc. I know JC (no, not our JC ) uses a Mac backpack with the innards of a LowePro for mountaineering. If I was looking for a backpack again, I'd probably go with the Photobackpacker solution previously mentioned.

Anyway and vaguely on topic-ish, I now have to fork out for another Gitzo and 410 head due to my own stupidity. Hint: when using your digital camera handheld do not wander off in search of images and completely forget that your beloved (and expensive) tripod is sitting alone in the woods. I didn't realise how stupid I had been until about an hour later and went rushing back - but it was gone. Someone, somewhere, now has a very nice tripod for free. I hope they appreciate it.

At least my Ebony was securely stowed in the car at the time and I hadn't left that on the tripod.

You have my commiserations... Being a paranoid ex-dweller in Manchester's glorious Moss Side, I get concerned if I can't lean over and grab my camera equipment and totally paranoid if I can't see it (even if I'm up in the middle of the Scottish hills!). I can't beleive someone would thieve a tripod (actually, and sadly, I can)? What use would it be to most people though?? Was there a nearby farm or property where it may have been left (if I found something like that I would either take it to the local police station or tourist centre, failing that the nearest visible building?)

Tim

Post by **Joanna Carter** » Tue May 26, 2009 12:57 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

joolsb wrote:Anyway and vaguely on topic-ish, I now have to fork out for another Gitzo and 410 head due to my own stupidity. Hint: when using your digital camera handheld do not wander off in search of images and completely forget that your beloved (and expensive) tripod is sitting alone in the woods.

That brings back memory of the Maldon Workshop, where I was organising the move from one location to another and drove off, leaving my Gitzo and 410 sitting on the side of a dock. Fortunately, our members are a wonderfully observant and honest bunch and I got it back as soon as they arrived at the new location. Phew!

joolsb · Post by **joolsb** » Tue May 26, 2009 2:37 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

I can't beleive someone would thieve a tripod (actually, and sadly, I can)? What use would it be to most people though??

Ebay?

Was there a nearby farm or property where it may have been left (if I found something like that I would either take it to the local police station or tourist centre, failing that the nearest visible building?)

There was the ruin I was photographing at the time but apart from that, no. As I said it was in a forest. What I didn't say was the forest was at the bottom of the Gorge de la Bienne in the French Jura. This place, more or less.

It doesn't appear to get many visitors and even fewer honest ones, sadly.

Post by **Joanna Carter** » Tue May 26, 2009 2:45 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

joolsb wrote:What I didn't say was the forest was at the bottom of the Gorge de la Bienne in the French Jura.

I shall be in France around the middle of June but, unless your tripod has "walked" to Basse-Normandie....

joolsb · Post by **joolsb** » Tue May 26, 2009 6:03 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Sadly, I don't think they migrate to cooler climes for the Summer...

Patrick Dixon · Post by **Patrick Dixon** » Tue May 26, 2009 6:27 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

I am pretty sure it's an offence to leave a tripod unattended in Switzerland (most things are) - so lucky you were in France and it only got 'confiscated'.

lostlandsuk · Post by **lostlandsuk** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:54 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

I don't think I could ever walk away and leave a tripod no matter how scatterbrained I am getting - why don't you get one of these bad-boys
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgur ... %26hl%3Den
and strap yourself to it

P

joolsb · Post by **joolsb** » Wed May 27, 2009 1:28 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

I don't think I could ever walk away and leave a tripod no matter how scatterbrained I am getting

Neither did I....

- why don't you get one of these bad-boys ... and strap yourself to it

Because if I fell into a river I don't think I could escape from it in time....

lostlandsuk · Post by **lostlandsuk** » Wed May 27, 2009 2:34 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

no problems with the river - just attach one of these to each leg (you have to buy two sets, but at least then you'll have a spare)

https://www.simplyswim.com/ProductDetai ... ckID=45959

Thingy · Post by **Thingy** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:48 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

lostlandsuk wrote:no problems with the river - just attach one of these to each leg (you have to buy two sets, but at least then you'll have a spare)
https://www.simplyswim.com/ProductDetai ... ckID=45959

How cute!

Do the eyes move?

lostlandsuk · Post by **lostlandsuk** » Thu May 28, 2009 8:39 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Unfortunately I don't think so, because if they did, they could roll upwards everytime they and the tripod got abandoned again

Thingy · Post by **Thingy** » Thu May 28, 2009 10:28 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

lostlandsuk wrote:Unfortunately I don't think so, because if they did, they could roll upwards everytime they and the tripod got abandoned again

What a pity. Perhaps what is needed is a proximity/baby alarm fitted that will wail whenever its owner strays too far.