I've used a Promaster 525 tripod with an Outdoorsmans pan head for the last few years. I also had an Outdoorsmans compact medium tripod for a while but ended up selling it. It was a great tripod but having one tripod that was only a few ounces heavier that got me to standing height shooting or glassing with my 15x Swaros kept me packing the Promaster.
The removable leg on the Promaster has been a benefit I use infrequently but still more than I thought I would. I've used it to elevate one side of a tarp while the other 2 legs elevate the other with some guylines and stakes when nothing else is available. I've also used it as a trekking pole when I didn't pack one that day. That said I'm a believer in good trekking poles and usually pack them anyway. Its a few ounces heavier than some options but also more versatile to me. The hook on the bottom of the center section allows me to hang weight on the tripod if it's needed for stability. Standing to glass in the wind I can hang my pack on it and not worry about it being sturdy enough to handle the weight. Sometimes the wind blowing the pack makes that less beneficial than I'd think it should be.
Sometimes with the Promaster and that set-up I have to slightly hunch to use the binos standing and hunch a shade more with the spotter. It's not quite high enough for standing but its close enough that it works. I don't often glass standing for long periods of time. If there isn't a reason I have to I don't.
After deciding I liked the simplicity of one foot on all my optics I bought a quick adapter from Outdoorsmans for my tripod. That lets me put the pan head on their window mount when scouting from the truck or on the tripod when hunting. It also let me put the Outdoorsmans adapter on all my optics and never remove them. It simplified my set-up from using a Cabelas window mount and the Outdoorsmans head on my tripod.
For optics that set-up has worked excellent for me. I really don't think I'd change anything unless they could make them function exactly the same at half the weight. I might not like that even if they could do it, the weight isn't bad and it adds stability.
Later I decided I wanted to shoot off the tripod and not pack any other shooting rest other than my pack for prone (or hurried sitting) shots. I don't pack a bipod or sticks as often as I used to, not even close. I bought the Outdoorsmans rifle rest and it's so much steadier than anything I've tried before with it's 2 points of contact with the gun. I usually shoot off it with the tilt and pan adjustments loose enough to move freely and one hand on top of the scope, the other on the grip/trigger. I can lock down really well that way. I shot my moose in AK at 300 yards kneeling behind that set-up and my whitetail yesterday sitting behind it at 370 yards. I made those shots with a Rifles Inc LW 70 with a few modifications that weighs under 8lbs ready to hunt (gun, sling, ammo, and optics). It's a very light rifle with a slightly heavier optics system.
When waiting to be able to take a shot I can lock the adjustments on the pan head down close to where they need to be and have the rifle sitting there waiting almost in position. Then when the animal stands or otherwise offers a shot minimal movement or adjustment is needed to be able to shoot. It's fast and precise. It's steadier than using my trekking poles, a bipod at sitting height, or shooting sticks. There also isn't a vise system like the saddle rests compressing the stock and possibly affecting the point of impact.
Anyway that's my set-up. It is not cheap but it does everything I could ask of it well and lets me carry less into the field by being very multi-purpose. For maybe a 10oz weight penalty over the lightest tripod systems I gain a lot of versatility.
The removable leg on the Promaster has been a benefit I use infrequently but still more than I thought I would. I've used it to elevate one side of a tarp while the other 2 legs elevate the other with some guylines and stakes when nothing else is available. I've also used it as a trekking pole when I didn't pack one that day. That said I'm a believer in good trekking poles and usually pack them anyway. Its a few ounces heavier than some options but also more versatile to me. The hook on the bottom of the center section allows me to hang weight on the tripod if it's needed for stability. Standing to glass in the wind I can hang my pack on it and not worry about it being sturdy enough to handle the weight. Sometimes the wind blowing the pack makes that less beneficial than I'd think it should be.
Sometimes with the Promaster and that set-up I have to slightly hunch to use the binos standing and hunch a shade more with the spotter. It's not quite high enough for standing but its close enough that it works. I don't often glass standing for long periods of time. If there isn't a reason I have to I don't.
After deciding I liked the simplicity of one foot on all my optics I bought a quick adapter from Outdoorsmans for my tripod. That lets me put the pan head on their window mount when scouting from the truck or on the tripod when hunting. It also let me put the Outdoorsmans adapter on all my optics and never remove them. It simplified my set-up from using a Cabelas window mount and the Outdoorsmans head on my tripod.
For optics that set-up has worked excellent for me. I really don't think I'd change anything unless they could make them function exactly the same at half the weight. I might not like that even if they could do it, the weight isn't bad and it adds stability.
Later I decided I wanted to shoot off the tripod and not pack any other shooting rest other than my pack for prone (or hurried sitting) shots. I don't pack a bipod or sticks as often as I used to, not even close. I bought the Outdoorsmans rifle rest and it's so much steadier than anything I've tried before with it's 2 points of contact with the gun. I usually shoot off it with the tilt and pan adjustments loose enough to move freely and one hand on top of the scope, the other on the grip/trigger. I can lock down really well that way. I shot my moose in AK at 300 yards kneeling behind that set-up and my whitetail yesterday sitting behind it at 370 yards. I made those shots with a Rifles Inc LW 70 with a few modifications that weighs under 8lbs ready to hunt (gun, sling, ammo, and optics). It's a very light rifle with a slightly heavier optics system.
When waiting to be able to take a shot I can lock the adjustments on the pan head down close to where they need to be and have the rifle sitting there waiting almost in position. Then when the animal stands or otherwise offers a shot minimal movement or adjustment is needed to be able to shoot. It's fast and precise. It's steadier than using my trekking poles, a bipod at sitting height, or shooting sticks. There also isn't a vise system like the saddle rests compressing the stock and possibly affecting the point of impact.
Anyway that's my set-up. It is not cheap but it does everything I could ask of it well and lets me carry less into the field by being very multi-purpose. For maybe a 10oz weight penalty over the lightest tripod systems I gain a lot of versatility.
