Squeaks like a cricket. - Primos Hunting Trigger Stick Gen3 Tripod 24,62in, Clam

Bought this to hold my scouting scope and hopefully hold my rifle for last week's Coues deer hunt in Arizona. Pros: Pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. 2) Quick to connect and disconnect. 3. Not too heavy to carry and I could use it as a hiking cane when climbing the rocky hills. Cons: 1) It doesn't rotate smoothly. And When it does rotate, the cylinder squeaks about every half turn. Very annoying, and actually, very unacceptable for such an expensive item. I almost think the internal chamber needs some kind of grease or oil. 2. No matter what you do, it DOES NOT hold your rifle steady, nor a scouting scope. I had just a little bit on movement trying to scope, but the amount of movement trying to shoot a Cous deer at 400 yards is not good at all. For my second shot, I was better off going prone and using my back pack to rest my rifle on during my kill shot. 3) I about busted my scope NUMEROUS times when leaving the tripod unattended. It would tilt and start to fall. There just isn't enough weight, like my buddy's Vortex tripod, to keep it from tilting. On the other hand, who wants to carry an extra 10 lbs? 4) While sitting, and having the legs folded, the ends of the polls don't do a very good job of digging into the soil. They kept sliding, which made it really difficult to stay focused on the area I was trying to scope. Slick marketing will make one think this is the end all to tripods, but Primos needs to keep improving this thing. Thus the 3 stars out 5.