What To Look For When Buying the best Spotting Scope Tripod

Basically speaking, a spotting scope tripod is made of two main parts:  the tripod itself, which consists of legs and a central column and a separate tripod head where you mount your scope.  Prices of tripods vary greatly depending on quality and name brand, but if you have invested a substantial amount of funds in your spotting scope, it goes to reason that you will also desire a quality tripod to complete your set. Some characteristics to look for in a good quality tripod include steady, sturdy construction; mobility of the tripod head (preferably to provide both horizontal and vertical rotation); lightweight construction to make it more feasible to carry when travelling (contemporary tripod models of carbon fiber construction have this quality but they are more expensive); and a reasonable price.

Stability

Stability is a very important feature in a tripod. If you opt for the lightweight model you will have to ensure it is compatible with the weight of your scope, else the scope may cause the tripod to vibrate or even fall under too heavy a weight.  If you plan to move about quite a bit during the course of your day, you can also consider purchasing a tripod with padded legs for greater comfort in carrying from location to location. Or an alternative would be to acquire a Tri-Pak, which is a bag specifically designed to carry both scope and tripod while mounted in backpack fashion.

Spotting scope with tripod

Online retailers offer a wide variety of tripod name brands and models for your comparison shopping convenience. If you own a large spotting scope, the Vortex STX legs model is one basic tripod brand you can look into as it can handle spotting scopes of full size and is reasonably priced.  On the more expensive side, the Gitzo GT2531 carbon fiber model is durable, lightweight and can also effectively hold the weight of a full-sized scope.  Suggestions for tripods that hold smaller scopes include the Gitzo 1531 MK2 model with its three leg section construction and easy fold-up features for travelling or the Gitzo 1550T Traveler for an even more compact model while still maintaining good stability features. 

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