On 5 May 2010 21:44, eckinator <eckina...@gmail.com> wrote: >> The telescoping hiking stick (which is terrific, by the way), is what >> I currently use with the Basic Ball. > > Tell me more please, I've been considering one for a while
They are carbon fibre, mainly black with Novoflex blue highlights, 3 sections, markings at the two joins to indicate extended (total) length (110 to 145 cm, in 5cm steps). Comes with metal pin at foot, and replacement rubber foot (I made the replacement on mine). Wooden threaded knob on top (standard 1/4" tripod female thread, male screw from stick), with comfortably padded (durable) foam grip, and adjustable webbing strap (some 46cm long) for use as walking stick. Made in Germany by Leki. Closed length 665mm, knob ~50mm diameter, removable stiff rubber bump protector at bottom ~53mm diameter. Mass of 290g with rubber foot and bump protector. I bought mine "on spec" (speculatively), and am very pleased. I've used it as a walking stick, traversing some slippery (sand on stone) slopes, and it enabled secure passage, providing a third point of contact with the ground. Highly recommended. I'm some 178cm tall, and pretty solid, and at no time did I feel as if it was ever going to fail. I did ensure the two extension joints were firmly screwed at my desired length (different for ascending and descending slopes). For use as a monopod, it has the standard 1/4" tripod screw exposed by unscrewing the wooden knob. Length to start of screw (closest to the ground) is 143cm, centre of viewfinder of Pentax K-7 is 167cm above ground, using walking stick, Basic Ball, Leica ball head, Manfrotto RC4 shoe and RC4 plate on base of camera. In other words, sufficiently long for me. -- &i (: -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
