Shooting tripod curious...

[mtnbound]

I am interested in dipping my toe into this shooting tripod world. All of my tripods are lightweight backpacking style, so I will need to buy one.

Hoping to get something I can both shoot and glass of off, sitting and kneeling. Standing seems unnecessary for the places I hunt where I would consider caring such a heavy tripod, but I would rather not carry two tripods.


Questions:
1) Of the guys that use shooting tripods out at range, how important is a rear support (backpack, trekking pole, second tripod)? Or is the lockup of the head enough to provide the stability?
2) How important are the inverted legs? Sure I can see how they are faster for height adjustments, but the reduction in stability isn't appealing as is the fact that all the inverted tripods I have seen are rather spendy.
3) Recommendations of a entry level (cost wise), but will still give me acceptable performance? In searching threads, this came up which is quite appealing to me. Being new at this, what are the arguments against this setup? Better options in this zone of price, weight, and performance? https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/no-compromise-tripod-glassing-and-shooting-for-cheap.328509/

I have a rifle with an arca plate, so was thinking of giving the clip in approach a go.

Thoughts? Thanks!

I have the Aziak Ridgeline, and it works for me as a short, lightweight tripod. https://aziak.com/products/ridgeline-tripod?variant=44326028017837

 

[satchamo]

I have a an innorel rt90c which is a big boy that I used to run for thermal hunting. It had a leveling head on it and is very stable. I can shoot off of it to 500 with no rear rest but it weighs 15+ lbs.

I’ve been running the Aziak ridgeline for a while and it’s extremely light and compact but you pay for it in stability. That said - pair it with trekking poles and I was shooting off it kneeling and sitting at 500 yesterday and made hits 10/10 shots - I would feel comfortable going to 600 ok this setup.

I like this setup because I can throw on a pan head (tricer lp) onto the ball head of the ridgeline so I have the best of both worlds.

 

[peterk123]

I use my glassing tripod. My rifle has an arca attachment permanently affixed to it.

We practice a lot off the tripod. I think that supporting the stock is very important. I found the most effective way to lock down my stock is with a pair of trekking poles. I loop the straps over each other to create a sling. It's easy to adjust and I can really lean on it to stabilize the gun.