huntingdad
FNG
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2025
- Messages
- 31
Well, after 6 or 7 years of toting around a promaster xc-m 522c and Sirui va-5, I decided to make a move to shed some weight. As I’ve gotten older ounces started to add up. Not to mention I’ve started having issues with my existing setup. The main issue has been with the spacers inside the carbon fiber legs. They have popped loose from time to time and when I extend a leg the leg comes all of the way out instead of stopping. Imagine digging around between your feet trying to find a tiny piece of plastic lol. I thought I had remedied that issue with super glue before my mule deer hunt on October when I took apart the entire tripod and glued each spacer (2 per section on each leg) in place. Nope. Still having issues. And somehow I snagged the release button on the head that holds the safety pin in place so your optics don’t slide off and popped the pin out. No big deal other than there is no safety pin. Other than that the va-5 has been flawless and I’ve enjoyed it thoroughly.
My original plan was to buy a tricer bc tripod and tricer bp head or maybe the lp head. After reading some feedback I found on Rokslide and watching some videos on YouTube I settled on Wiser nighthawk head and Aziak backcountry light tripod. 98% of my glassing is sitting on a pad and I don’t shoot off a tripod so I didn’t want/need anything too beefy and shedding weight was my overall goal. Finally got the head in today so I stuck it on the tripod and threw my swaro 85mm on it to see how it felt.
First, I was impressed at the weight of the tripod and head. It’s substantially lighter than my previous setup. I was even more impressed how well it handles the 85mm but I probably wouldn’t run anything any bigger on the head. I can set the pan to almost the exact same feel as my va-5. The tilt will take a little getting used to and I’ll have to play with it more but first impression is as long as the spotter isn’t tilted at an extreme angle the head will tilt without needing to loosen the tilt adjustment. If you run the head with the handle rear facing it will hit the base plate on the tripod when you are around a 45 degree angle glassing upwards. If you run the handle out front you can tilt all the way back but would be limited on forward tilt. I assume the base plate could be modified/machined smaller and one would avoid this tiny issue. The levers/handle feel solid and you don’t have to torque either to lock the spotter in place. It really is a matter of a 1/4 twist one way or the other. I have noticed that if you have the tilt snug and try to adjust up or down without loosening you will most likely experience some minor bounce back both directions. I have not noticed any bounce back when panning. I did, however, notice that if you run the pan lever fully loosened there is some minor play/wobble due to the fact that the machined part around the center post has slack in it. Very simple to avoid, just run light pressure on the pan knob and the play/wobble is gone but you can still pan smooth as butter with no jerk starting or stopping.
The tripod can best be described as light and simplistic. Was more simplistic than the promaster that has 5 leg sections I believe. My only knock is that the center telescopic section is not quite as rigid as the promaster when fully extended so any considerable wind will give you a shaky view. That being said, it’s an 85mm on an ultralight tripod. I typically run my center section elevated to give me clearance over my legs so with this one I will probably run it halfway out under normal conditions and all the way in on windy days or all the way in period. Other than that, it seems to be an awesome ultralight setup and the tripod collapses down to about the diameter of a coke can.
For weight comparisons, my promaster and sirui head weighed in at 3.138 pounds (with the little Allen screw pouch attached but minus the safety pin).
The aziak back country and wiser nighthawk came in at 1.631 pounds. That’s an incredible 1.5 pounds lighter. Very significant. My overall weight with the new setup and 85mm spotter (with lens cover, Olin adapter, and baseplate on spotter) is 6.19 pounds. I could drop the baseplate but I like that it gives me more adjustment attaching the spotter which enables me to play with the center of gravity and balance the scope on a tripod head. Wish I some hunts planned soon to really get out and test everything but nothing as of now. Maybe after the first of the year I can slip away. lol
I guess since this seems to be such an awesome setup I’m going to end up spending more money…. Even though I have a 65mm votex razor I’ll have to get the 65mm swaro lens. For now I’ll keep packing the 85mm but that 65mm lens is in my future for sure!
My original plan was to buy a tricer bc tripod and tricer bp head or maybe the lp head. After reading some feedback I found on Rokslide and watching some videos on YouTube I settled on Wiser nighthawk head and Aziak backcountry light tripod. 98% of my glassing is sitting on a pad and I don’t shoot off a tripod so I didn’t want/need anything too beefy and shedding weight was my overall goal. Finally got the head in today so I stuck it on the tripod and threw my swaro 85mm on it to see how it felt.
First, I was impressed at the weight of the tripod and head. It’s substantially lighter than my previous setup. I was even more impressed how well it handles the 85mm but I probably wouldn’t run anything any bigger on the head. I can set the pan to almost the exact same feel as my va-5. The tilt will take a little getting used to and I’ll have to play with it more but first impression is as long as the spotter isn’t tilted at an extreme angle the head will tilt without needing to loosen the tilt adjustment. If you run the head with the handle rear facing it will hit the base plate on the tripod when you are around a 45 degree angle glassing upwards. If you run the handle out front you can tilt all the way back but would be limited on forward tilt. I assume the base plate could be modified/machined smaller and one would avoid this tiny issue. The levers/handle feel solid and you don’t have to torque either to lock the spotter in place. It really is a matter of a 1/4 twist one way or the other. I have noticed that if you have the tilt snug and try to adjust up or down without loosening you will most likely experience some minor bounce back both directions. I have not noticed any bounce back when panning. I did, however, notice that if you run the pan lever fully loosened there is some minor play/wobble due to the fact that the machined part around the center post has slack in it. Very simple to avoid, just run light pressure on the pan knob and the play/wobble is gone but you can still pan smooth as butter with no jerk starting or stopping.
The tripod can best be described as light and simplistic. Was more simplistic than the promaster that has 5 leg sections I believe. My only knock is that the center telescopic section is not quite as rigid as the promaster when fully extended so any considerable wind will give you a shaky view. That being said, it’s an 85mm on an ultralight tripod. I typically run my center section elevated to give me clearance over my legs so with this one I will probably run it halfway out under normal conditions and all the way in on windy days or all the way in period. Other than that, it seems to be an awesome ultralight setup and the tripod collapses down to about the diameter of a coke can.
For weight comparisons, my promaster and sirui head weighed in at 3.138 pounds (with the little Allen screw pouch attached but minus the safety pin).
The aziak back country and wiser nighthawk came in at 1.631 pounds. That’s an incredible 1.5 pounds lighter. Very significant. My overall weight with the new setup and 85mm spotter (with lens cover, Olin adapter, and baseplate on spotter) is 6.19 pounds. I could drop the baseplate but I like that it gives me more adjustment attaching the spotter which enables me to play with the center of gravity and balance the scope on a tripod head. Wish I some hunts planned soon to really get out and test everything but nothing as of now. Maybe after the first of the year I can slip away. lol
I guess since this seems to be such an awesome setup I’m going to end up spending more money…. Even though I have a 65mm votex razor I’ll have to get the 65mm swaro lens. For now I’ll keep packing the 85mm but that 65mm lens is in my future for sure!
