What the...?? Prices on tripods are crazy!

Tim

Tim

Checked Out
Staff member
2A Bourbon Hound 2024
2A Bourbon Hound OG
Charter Life Member
Benefactor
Vendor
Multi-Factor Enabled
Joined
Dec 17, 2016
Messages
16,515
Location
A Glass Cage of Emotion
Rating - 100%
85   0   0
Seriously...this precision shooting game is just bonkers. I've been pricing tripods, ball heads, mounts, etc. One could easily spend $1000 on gear that most would call entry level.

Does anyone have any bargain basement tips/tricks to crack this particular nut?
 
bhphotovideo.com is the canonical photo supplier. All kinds of tripods and heads.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
JimP42 said:
bhphotovideo.com is the canonical photo supplier. All kinds of tripods and heads.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


FINDING them isn't a problem, justifying the cost is where I'm having issue.
 
Tripod? As long as you got a buddy, you got stability:

images
 
Tim said:
FINDING them isn't a problem, justifying the cost is where I'm having issue.
Click to expand...

Tripods and heads aren’t $1k. Unless they say “tactical” maybe.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Tim said:
Seriously...this precision shooting game is just bonkers. I've been pricing tripods, ball heads, mounts, etc. One could easily spend $1000 on gear that most would call entry level.

Does anyone have any bargain basement tips/tricks to crack this particular nut?
Click to expand...
Shadow tech at brownells My buddy has one and it’s awesome. With the saddle they both are around $300 total
 
Last edited:
I got a classic Circa 1960's Bencher tripod on ebay, save the search and you'll get one reasonably priced.
All aluminum construction. Normally used for large format camera and cinema.
 
Tim said:
Seriously...this precision shooting game is just bonkers. I've been pricing tripods, ball heads, mounts, etc. One could easily spend $1000 on gear that most would call entry level.

Does anyone have any bargain basement tips/tricks to crack this particular nut?
Click to expand...
My best tip is don't play if you don't want to pay. A corollary is don't pay and have no prayer of being competitive.

Like I've said about 3G, there are more expensive things than crack addiction and divorce. Holds true for this as well. Now factor in match fees, ammo components and related equipment, travel expenses, etc and you'll see why I'm sticking to Civil War guns.
 
I don’t know why you’d want a ball head vs a pan/tilt or especially gimbal.

If weight isn’t an issue, maybe pawn shop surveyors tripod?

Could you mount a wireless camera down range? They sure are cheap if all you need is to see hits and near misses w/o a spotter.

To you original point, yeah price goes way up once it’s sold to a hobbyist.
 
F Class ain't cheap, and neither is SASS. Unfortunately that is the way of competitive shooting unless your flavor has a class for bone stock only.
 
JimB said:
I don’t know why you’d want a ball head vs a pan/tilt or especially gimbal.

If weight isn’t an issue, maybe pawn shop surveyors tripod?

Could you mount a wireless camera down range? They sure are cheap if all you need is to see hits and near misses w/o a spotter.

To you original point, yeah price goes way up once it’s sold to a hobbyist.
Click to expand...


It's not for a camera, it's used as a Rifle rest.




19082010074.jpg
 
Last edited:
Tim said:
It's not for a camera, it's used as a Rifle rest.




19082010074.jpg
Click to expand...
Oh, I thought it would be for the spotting scope.

That’s a pan/tilt head - commonly used for video cameras. I’m trying to recall if I know of any heads that incorporate micrometer adjustments, never really messed with them as they are too restrictive for nature photography. It is designed for slow movement in a single plane.

Looks a lot like an aluminum Bogen tripod painted green.

BTW, you can also get a back leg support that would go from the buttstock to the back leg of the tripod, would eliminate a lot of vibration, or for this application a monopod connected to the buttstock would probably be even better. Also could hang a heavy bag from the tripod, or run a line from the top of the tripod straight down to a stake in the ground and add tension. The long lens photographers have been working on these problems for many decades.
 
tod0987 said:
I've been looking at a Pig Saddle from Hog Saddle and a tripod from them. They took a photo one and went to the manufacture and beefed it up. $300 for the Pig Saddle and tripod.

http://stores.hogsaddle.com/pig0311-g-field-tripod-od-green/
Click to expand...

That tripod is available on ebay as Shadow Tech Pig0311-g for $159, if you look on he SLIK website I expect you’ll find something very very similar for less, but it’ll be black. I was always a fan of Gitzo or Bogen over SLIK.

Just checked, looks like the PRO 700 DX, listed at $99.95, but you might want to add spiked feet and the hang hook so the eBay price doesn’t look bad at all.
 
JimB said:
That tripod is available on ebay as Shadow Tech Pig0311-g for $159, if you look on he SLIK website I expect you’ll find something very very similar for less, but it’ll be black. I was always a fan of Gitzo or Bogen over SLIK.

Just checked, looks like the PRO 700 DX, listed at $99.95, but you might want to add spiked feet and the hang hook so the eBay price doesn’t look bad at all.
Click to expand...

They don't deny it. Straight from their site

"The PIG0311-G tripod is based off of the budget friendly yet capable SLIK DX700PRO tripod. We partnered up with Slik and started putting together several prototypes with beefed up specs, tighter tolerances and shooter specific features that are not readily available. Eight months of testing later we came up with this field tripod."
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
JimB said:
That tripod is available on ebay as Shadow Tech Pig0311-g for $159, if you look on he SLIK website I expect you’ll find something very very similar for less, but it’ll be black. I was always a fan of Gitzo or Bogen over SLIK.

Just checked, looks like the PRO 700 DX, listed at $99.95, but you might want to add spiked feet and the hang hook so the eBay price doesn’t look bad at all.
Click to expand...


The PIG0311 from Shadowtech directly is $138 and includes that spikes and hang hook. I just went ahead with that order. Once I got over the sticker shock, it's a comparatively good deal.
 
tod0987 said:
They don't deny it. Straight from their site

"The PIG0311-G tripod is based off of the budget friendly yet capable SLIK DX700PRO tripod. We partnered up with Slik and started putting together several prototypes with beefed up specs, tighter tolerances and shooter specific features that are not readily available. Eight months of testing later we came up with this field tripod."
Click to expand...
Lol, should have looked at their website rather than SLIK’s!
 
Tim said:
just pulled the trigger on that combo. buy once....
Click to expand...

Hey throw one in for me too lol

I was hoping they would have had a sale over the holiday's but I'm guessing in this soft market, their markup isn't enough to be able to do so.
 
In all my years of shooting, I've never seen a rifle on a tripod. Can someone explain to me what that's all about?
 
RedneckFur said:
In all my years of shooting, I've never seen a rifle on a tripod. Can someone explain to me what that's all about?
Click to expand...


Well, first you take a tripod. Then, you put a rifle on it.

















:D
 
Last edited:
It comes from field shooting. A tripod is much more stable for positions other than prone. If you aren't relying solely on bone/muscle support, you'll be more steady and able to hold position longer.
 
Seems like it’ll be less stable than a bipod plus a monopod on the buttstock, but has the advantage of keeping you from lying down in the grass/dirt/mud.

Not my game, but interesting.
 
@Tim you chose wisely going with the PIG0311 and pig saddle. You will want to add a leveling base in place of a ball head, unless you will be doing high angle shooting.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00MVNBTDG/ref=dp_prsubs_1

@tod0987 go with the new (short) one if you only want to take prone or seated shots. The original can do high prone, seated, and standing.

The tripod and saddle are great, but understand they will never be rock solid like a bench. Make sure to practice shooting from the tripod as there are various techniques.
IMG_1491.JPG
 
Last edited:
Over the years I’ve purchased a bunch of tripod accessories for photography from Really Right Stuff, so I looked at their website and they have gotten deep into this stuff too. They make a nifty picatinny dovetail adapter, and even plates for specific chassis. Prices aren’t too bad as long as you stay away from their carbon tripods, heads and leveling plates.
 
JimB said:
Over the years I’ve purchased a bunch of tripod accessories for photography from Really Right Stuff, so I looked at their website and they have gotten deep into this stuff too. They make a nifty picatinny dovetail adapter, and even plates for specific chassis. Prices aren’t too bad as long as you stay away from their carbon tripods, heads and leveling plates.
Click to expand...


My new rifle has an RRS/Arca spec rail all along the bottom. I put an RRS adapter on my Harris bi-pod that allows the bi-pod to travel fore/aft as needed. I may end up selling the PIG saddle I just ordered and replacing it with one of the RRS mounts for the tripod. We'll see how it goes!
 
Tim said:
My new rifle has an RRS/Arca spec rail all along the bottom. I put an RRS adapter on my Harris bi-pod that allows the bi-pod to travel fore/aft as needed. I may end up selling the PIG saddle I just ordered and replacing it with one of the RRS mounts for the tripod. We'll see how it goes!
Click to expand...
It looks to me like you can mount the RRS/Arca spec rail to the tripod head, no need for the Pig saddle or anything else. But what do I know, I’m just procrastinating at work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom