Tripod Hack

I have an old Bogen-Manfrotto tripod that I use for short range (ie when I'm not hiking long distances), heavy duty purposes. Many years ago I gave up on the crappy center column design, stripped it off, and planted a big Kirk ballhead on it.

The problem with it is that sometimes it's just too short.

I figured out that 5/8-inch diameter aluminum rod fits inside the smallest leg section.




This modification will give me a 14 inch boost. The new 4th section can be either fully out or fully retracted.


The end result is 72-inches max, just a couple of inches shorter than me. I'm not sure how it will hold up to the abuse it will see in the field, but I'm about to find out :-)