Vortex high country tripod - good value for the price - Vortex High Country Tripod

Have used this tripod on 3 hikes looking for Desert Bighorn Sheep since purchasing it a month ago. Works very well with my Kowa lightweight spotting scope. Both Scope and tripod weigh slightly less than 4 lbs. Tripod sets up quickly, and snap locks on the leg work well. The tripod handles my scope well but would probably have trouble with a heavy spotting scope due to lack of bar/handle for panning. I haven't tried it with binocs and my binocs adapter but I think it would work fine for a backpacking tripod.

I'm not real fond of two things - the big swivel ball attached to the floorplate for the scope has a tendency to turn down to one side when panning the spotting scope, rather than keep the scope level. Again, I think a short panning bar would help. The other thing I don't like about Vortex tripods is the requirement to use the vortex floorplate rather than a general floorplate for a spottig scope. It has a tendency to come loose from the scope more than a gener floorplate and it his harder to mount the scope with the vortex floorplate on to the tripod than it is with a convential tripod. The good news is that it is a positive locking mechanism once installed on the tripod. In order to swap back and forth between spotting scope, binocs, and camera requires a separte Vortex floorplate for each item rather than a cheaper, more commonplace conventional floorplate.

I have found it necessary to hang my backpack from the attachment for weight to stabilize the tripod when there's any kind of a breeze, but that's not a big deal. At least it's easy to attach.

For a backpacking/hunting type of situation where weight is a big deal, and with a spottig scope with an elbow viewing piece since the tripod is a little short for people taller than 5' high to look through a straight-thru scope, it's a great item. For extensive glassing I find I need to get on a side of a hill or glass from knee high or less to comfortably see due to the shorter tripod. But this also helps with the wind.

I would buy it again for a backpacking use and work around the minor issues with it.