Hands Free Tripod Carry

If you're active, travel, or have a strap-phobia kinda like me - you're constantly looking for secure, convenient, trouble-reducing ways to carry your gear.

(DO ME A HUGE FAVOR AND VOTE FOR ME IN THE PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST!)

With my upcoming UK epic journey - so was I. Found a decent budget carbon fiber tripod so I wouldn't be weighed down, but hanging it from a shoulder strap still allowed it to flop around too much for carrying into heritage sites, long journeys, etc.

Seems like a lot of tripods now-a-days have a hook under the center post to hang weight bags from for stability. I tried hanging the tripod from my belt with that, but the "hook" is too shallow to trust while climbing stairs or any real activity. Mine unscrewed right out, and with a common photography thread adapter, I was able to put a better hook on it and it's PERFECT!

I'll detail how it worked for me, and hopefully you will be able to adapt it to your model.

After unscrewing the existing hook, I was fortunate to find the thread pattern on the tripod was 3/8-16. There are tons of 3/8-16 to 1/4-20 adapters on any auction or web sales sites. So my parts list is simply as follows:

• 3/8-16 to 1/4-20 Thread Adapter
• 1/4" U-Bolt
• 1/4" Heat Shrink Tubing

Step 1 is to determine your situation by unscrewing the hook assembly and determing for sure what the thread pattern is. Mine being the above, I screwed in the adapter, and then the U-Bolt.

I put the shrink tube over the exposed threads because I didn't really want my belt grated away from them chafing on the leather. A little flame action and it looks pretty factory. The hook is deep enough, and the heat shrink grippy enough to still stay secure.

To me it's one of those slap-my-head projects (the simplest ones usually are, eh?). It's extremely stable on my belt and does not flap around a bit. It's all of 2lbs so it's not a burden but I'm glad I will be able to keep the tripod handy for the few times I'll need it while traveling.

The hook can still allow a weight bag, so I didn't lose that feature either. The U-Bolt doesn't stick past the collapsed legs, so it won't snag things during general transportation. Pretty much a win-win in my book.