After I got my nicer, heavier, Bogen 3020 legs I left it in the trunk for a few
weeks. I figured that anything that heavy could
fend for itself.
Wrong. When it rolls, the plastic lever locks stick out, absorbing the impact.
I broke off a lever lock and found out why Bogen sells padded tripod bags. Who
knew? The levers on my old, flimsier tripod were
aluminum.
Unfortunately, there aren't many used padded bags ones around big enough to
accomodate these legs with the bulky (but useful) 3047
3-way head. The right sized Bogen padded bag from B&H (new) is $75 USD plus
shipping.
Bah. I paid less than that for the XA with A-11 flash!
At Target, I found a amazingly heavy-duty folding aluminum lounge chair that
comes with..... an equally heavy, unpadded, ripstop
nylon, bag with a shoulder strap. I didn't need the chair so that's up for
sale! $25 USD.
I simulated putting the tripod into the bag by skidding the tripod feet on the
various mats on the floor at Wal-Mart. I found out
that rubber "welcome mats" stick and catch on the feet. I settled on a thin
but VERY durable mat intended to sit under exercise
treadmills. As I slidded the tripod along, the right mat allowed the rubber
feet of the tripod to slip, skip, and bounce.
It's big and cost $20.
So, it cost me more than half of a new one but I have a free folding lounge
chair. BTW, at Target, last year's chair was built of
stronger nylon than this year's model. The Denier count (?) was 1600 vs. 800
this year. I wish I could report that I got a huge
closeout discount for buying old stock but I didn't in this case. I'll tell ya
though, that padded bag will outlive me!
Lama
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