Modifying a tripod for mud, salt and sand

Hi,

I thought I'd share this one....... If you're a landscaper photographer or perhaps a birder, you might have had occasion to put your tripod up in some pretty appalling ground - sand, wet mud, salty mud, marsh, etc - gritty, sandy, rocky soft stuff. I learned the hard way many years ago that this wrecks tripods. And very quickly. The sand and the mud gets into the tubes and clamps. If you can't wash them and don't have the tools with you in the field to disassemble and clean them internally, you have to keep using them until the end of the trip. Result - corrosion and scoring, and nothing sliding and locking smoothly. A good aluminium tripod ruined. I also learned that although they don't corrode, carbon fibre fares just as badly in the scoring and scratching department.

Solution - reverse the legs on your tripod. This won't work for all makes, but certainly does for some......... If you reverse them so that the thinnest leg is at the upper end of the leg, the clamps come to the top and you can seal the open end of the bigger (outer) tube, now at the bottom, and you can stick this into the mud just as much as you like....... This isn't an original idea. Gitzo actually used to make a few tripods like this. They looked a bit odd, but it was the best idea since sliced bread.


Use a lathe, or get the help of a machinist friend..... It may not work for every make and style, but it works for Manfrottos. I got a friend to modify my manfrotto (Bogen) Art 190 many years ago and I still use it. I'm planning a little photographic project in the local mangroves and dragged it out of the shed..... The photos below explained how it was modified.

Hope this is useful to someone. It would have saved me the loss of two metal tripods and a carbon fibre one.....

Cheers, Rod



Bush made to fit where thickest tube came out of yoke with inside diameter machined to take thinnest tube.


New leg end made to fit onto thickest tube and seal it. Adds 75mm (3") length. Epoxied into place.


End result. Sand, mud and water cannot contaminate the sliding sections of the legs


And fully extended.....Note fattest tubes are at the bottom.

As I ready my kayak to head for the mangroves, it occurred to me that some people might also find this idea useful........ if you ever need lens and tripod cases that are lightweight, bash-proof, waterproof, dirt-proof and cost almost nothing, just head for the local plumbing suppliers. PVC down pipes and waste pipe come in an array of diameters and can be cut to length. You can buy blank end caps, threaded ends and caps with "o"rings. Glue it all together, line them with a thin layer of closed cell foam and you have the world's toughest lens cases for a few bucks each. Brilliant for the outdoors, but a tad declasse for the wedding assignment!!

Cheers, Rod

Thanks for useful tips.

Tx for the tip Rod, but I don't understand how this is any different than not collapsing the last 4-6 inches of the thin legs when they get dirty until you get a chance to rinse them with fresh water ? That's what I always do, and never had an issue with either mud, dirt or salt water.

Hi Roger,

Rinsing worked for me on many occasions, but sometimes I didn't notice dirt stuck to the leg higher than I'd expected. I also eventually I hit situations where I was trekking for days and didn't have clean water for anything other than drinking - that's sometimes the case here in desert areas. In sand dune ranges I found that the windblown sand that seems to skim along just above the surface of dunes seemed to penetrate the clamps - most that work with threads like the Gitzos have a little grease in them that it just loves to stick to...... This solution wasn't that hard and worked for me - no further problems, no washing required.

Cheers, Rod

I have an older tripod in my collection that was built that way on purpose. Do not remember the name on it but it was a well known brand in the 60's at least. The release for the legs was a lever on the top of each leg at the head. The legs could be released and set with just the flick of the lever. Has a center column with a head that has a single control arm. Its blue in color and the center column can be reversed for macro use. Might be a Quick-Set but not sure. Only heavy enough for my Sigma 100-300/4 and Canon 60D. I used to have it setup in my old house pointed out the window towards my bird feeder with a Century Tele-Athenar II 500/5.6 and a Pentax Super A. Later I switched to an *ist D and the same lens.

Thx Kent - haven't heard of that brand or the use of the 'upside down' idea that early. The only brands that I know that used it were Gitzo and Benbo. Benbo have disappeared and I don't think Gitzo do them any more........don't know why - it works well.


Cheers, Rod

Rod McD said:

Rod McD wrote:

Thx Kent - haven't heard of that brand or the use of the 'upside down' idea that early. The only brands that I know that used it were Gitzo and Benbo. Benbo have disappeared and I don't think Gitzo do them any more........don't know why - it works well.

Cheers, Rod

Click to expand...

Hi Rod

Pleased to report that Benbo haven't disappeared after all. They're distributed by Paterson: http://www.patersonphotographic.com/benbo-tripods.htm

I've been using a Mark I Benbo for years now, and find it ideal for outdoor stuff, with the aluminium construction, upside down design, and the legs and centre column all independently maneuverable, being controlled by one big lever. It takes a bit of getting used to at first: it can feel a bit like wresting with a set of bagpipes at times

Hi Pebar,

Thank you - I stand corrected. I checked your link - they do indeed still exist....... My apologies to Benbo (not to be confused with Benro). I just haven't seen one on sale here for quite some time.

Cheers, Rod