Best sub 4lb tripod for shooting and glassing?

[timber_ghost]

TLDR - Looking for recommendations on a tripod that is lighter than 4 or 4.5lbs and solid enough to shoot off and small enough to be carried on the outside of my pack with a small spotting scope on it

I know tripods have been discussed a lot on here but I am having a hard time finding anything conclusive while reading through old threads. What are the top tripods I should be looking at to use for shooting and glassing in a backcountry setting? My current setup for backcountry rifle hunting is using an older minimalist carbon tripod with my lightweight spotting scope for glassing and then shooting off a bipod, pack or whatever else I have available. The glassing tripod feels too flimsy to shoot effectively with. I have been practicing shooting off a BOG deathgrip while sitting and standing and it makes me want to get a more supportive tripod to have a solid seated or standing option while in the field. I am going to add an ARCA rail to my main mountain rifle.

 

[guitarpreston]

I use an aziak frontcountry tripod and head, but I swapped the arca plate on it for one with a handle. You can lock the head where it just tilts and pans for glassing, I feel like I can be more precise with the handle, then unlock if you need to for shooting off of it if you need to adjust cant.

 

[Kurts86]

4-4.5 lbs will get you into most of the RRS 14 and 22 series and up to a Leofoto 324 all of which are capable of being shot from.

 

[Tbone26]

4-4.5 lbs will get you into most of the RRS 14 and 22 series and up to a Leofoto 324 all of which are capable of being shot from.

Came here to say this, I run the RRS 14 and anvil head with a PT scout for glassing.

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

RRS Ascend-14 w/ Anvil-30 & a small pan tilt head.

 

[Jdeck09]

I havent found a ton of reviews on the Peak 44 Teton Tripod but it would work for your use case. I am kicking around picking one up for a hunt this fall.

 

[willfrye027]

If you are willing to carry 4lb and budget is not an issue, RRS is the way to go. The ascend has been awesome, mine is pretty beat up and gets taken almost everywhere. Others will weigh the same and have similar dimensions but are not as stiff of carbon or as stable IME.

 

[doc holiday13]

you're asking for something difficult to deliver on. A shooting tripod can be used for glassing, but you dont' want to shoot off a glassing tripod.. If you're not shooting beyond 300 yards, i suppose you could use a glassing tripod, but you're gonna be wobbly. Which that means you'll need to remember to preload your tripod before you shoot

 

[Firerock]

you're asking for something difficult to deliver on. A shooting tripod can be used for glassing, but you dont' want to shoot off a glassing tripod.. If you're not shooting beyond 300 yards, i suppose you could use a glassing tripod, but you're gonna be wobbly. Which that means you'll need to remember to preload your tripod before you shoot

Sorry for lack of knowhere but why don’t you wanna shoot off a glassing tripod? Also does it matter the head?

 

[Marshfly]

This is what I did so I could glass off my shooting tripod. Screwed the fluid head to an Arca plate.
The Sunwayfoto is 3#. The VA5 is 1#. There you go. And light on a budget. I have zero regrets not spending more. The tripod took 80% of the big game my family shot last year. I carry it on virtually every single hunt that I carry a rifle.

 

[doc holiday13]

Sorry for lack of knowhere but why don’t you wanna shoot off a glassing tripod? Also does it matter the head?

The difference in stability is very apparent. Can you shoot off of a glassing tripod? Sure, but its gonna be wobbly AF. You'll have to add a lot of pressure to pre-load the glassing tripod before you feel steady enough to shoot. If you compare a shooting tripod and glassing tripod, you'll see a difference of a couple pounds.

I feel comfortable taking 900 yard shots on my shooting tripod. Yes I've done this a number of times. I've shot off a glassing tripod a number of times too and you better hope your target is only steel target because if you're trying to tracking and wait for your target to stop, you'll struggle with 200 yard shots

 

[Lyeatman]

1 vote for the Revic Hunter tripod. Have really enjoyed mine

 

[Crews]

Small/light, Stable, cheap… pick two. I have the non-ascend (no center column) RRS 14 tripod with a BH-30 ball head. The compromise is no standing height glassing. But it’s light, only ~19” long collapsed, and extremely stable (relative to size.) The BH-30 is a decent compromise for glassing and shooting. There is no one head that’s the absolute best for both. You’re almost better off just getting the best head for glassing and throwing a light fill shooting bag on top when it’s time to shoot.

 

[ruger35]

Without spending more RRS money, has anyone tried the Two Vets Voyager? My Teo Vets Recon V2 is pretty nice, and not trying to buy another RRS at the moment.

 

[wind gypsy]

I have a Leofoto so-282cmx I plan to cut shorter for that purpose will be sitting/kneeling only.

 

[wind gypsy]

Without spending more RRS money, has anyone tried the Two Vets Voyager? My Teo Vets Recon V2 is pretty nice, and not trying to buy another RRS at the moment.

I dont, seems about right for a hunting option. Be cooler if it had inverted legs.

 

[Quandary]

Take a look at the Spartan Ascent tripod. Under 4 pounds with attachments that a for shooting and glassing. Not as stable as my Two Vets Recon but pretty good. Not inexpensive, not RRS with head expensive, price competitive with Two Vets with head.

 

[Kurts86]

Take a look at the Spartan Ascent tripod. Under 4 pounds with attachments that a for shooting and glassing. Not as stable as my Two Vets Recon but pretty good. Not inexpensive, not RRS with head expensive, price competitive with Two Vets with head.

I feel like the spartan system just has too much slop in their interface for tripod mounting a rifle. It’s a very flexy system for both bipod and tripod mounting. I’ve run their bipod the last 5 seasons and it was the best thing going for a while but now it’s been eclipsed by the MDT mountain bipod and others.

I recently sold a rifle with an installed gunsmith spartan adapter and it definitely lowered the value. I feel like arca has won the format war and even Picatinny is well supported on many tripod heads.

To me the spartan interface is like the Outdoorsman plate standard that is all but dead. It’s nice but expensive, proprietary and not the best product on the market anymore.

 

[Quandary]

I feel like the spartan system just has too much slop in their interface for tripod mounting a rifle. It’s a very flexy system for both bipod and tripod mounting. I’ve run their bipod the last 5 seasons and it was the best thing going for a while but now it’s been eclipsed by the MDT mountain bipod and others.

I recently sold a rifle with an installed gunsmith spartan adapter and it definitely lowered the value. I feel like arca has won the format war and even Picatinny is well supported on many tripod heads.

To me the spartan interface is like the Outdoorsman plate standard that is all but dead. It’s nice but expensive, proprietary and not the best product on the market anymore.

That's why I went to the TwoVets as my primary shooting tripod.

Spartan did send me a prototype locking adaptor that makes a substantial difference but still not as stable as an ARCA clamp. Adds expense but you can swap the heads on the tripod to a fluid head or a ball head. I am swapping to a fluid head to use as glassing tripod.