I carry mine in the trunk of my car. I try to use it, but it just gets annoying when walking through thick brush or rough trails. I have a spot to carry it on my camera bag, but it either ends up sliding out of position on the bag, or just being useless for me. In the time it takes to set it up, chances are that I would have missed the wildlife.

I've been thinking much along the same lines - I noted earlier that I keep my tripod in a padded shotgun case that has a strap; it's a good way to carry the thing around, but I picked the tripod/ball head combination I did at a time when I was doing more video with much bigger cameras, and for holding up large binoculars (so I can see what I'm hitting at a hundred yards downrange with a .30-06). In other words, I optimized for stability and the ability to hold up heavy objects. I'm thinking now I need a different tripod, or perhaps a "monopod", for the camera. Optimized for ease of carriage and setup. It's too hard to go trudging down an overgrown path in the woods with the package I've got, good as it is when it's all set up and operational. It's the "getting there" that's a problem.

[f22]

Tripod usage seems to be both a more convenient and reasonable choice when the distance to the shoot is nearer by. The Monopod is a good compromise when hiking out a farther distance away. While not ideal, or nearly as stable as the tripod, it is at least better than trying to handhold on longer exposure times. With today's more sophisticated image stabilization implementations, unless you are choosing very long exposure times, you can get by with a monopod.

[LeDave]

My tripod fits inside the laptop compartment of my camera backpack. Very convenient.

[FantasticMrFox]

Just attach it to the side of my backpack.

[Jake21209]

I have a RRS Series 2 and got a nice padded bag with handles and shoulder strap from them. When I get to the location where I am going to shoot I take it out of the bag and carry it on my shoulder. I use the tripod for just about everything so I also bought a set of those foam wraps for the upper legs which helps. Most of my work is macro or garden photography so I use a tripod all of the time.

Jay

I've been looking into monopods. I've been thinking I want one that I can use to stabilize a rifle as well as a camera, and to function as a walking stick too. And the height has to be sufficient - I'm thinking a max of about six feet (or about 1.6 meters, I think). So it has to be lightweight and strong - carbon fiber matrix? Another thing is that a good many of them come with ball heads, but in the pictures they look kind of cheesy - pot metal? Nearest thing I've found is a BOG-Gear "BOGPod". Any other ideas?

[Canada_Rockies]

Iso I also bought a set of those foam wraps for the upper legs which helps.

Jay

I use water pipe insulation on my tripod. Black foam slit down one side with tape covering the adhesive that holds it together. Easily slit with a pocket knife when it is worn too much, and cheap (like me )

Sprung the bucks for the Bog-Pod "Q-Stik"; seventy-five bucks on sale right now at Cabela's:
BOGgear BOG-POD® Multipurpose Monopod : Cabela's

Here's my initial "review" of the product: Length adjustment is tricky, make sure you read the instructions! The stick is adjustable from about a yard to about two yards. (Plenty of height for picture-taking except for the tallest among us.) Advertised as suitable for a hiking stick, and seems like it would be really good for that - two choices in "feet", and once adjusted, very stable. The hand grip comes wiith a retention strap, and conforms nicely to the hand. Shaft appears to be aluminum, so it does bow a little if you put pressure on it, and would not survive being run over by a truck, still it's lightweight and extremely strong in the vertical dimension. If used within the limits of its design, it should be eminently durable.

It comes with several "switcheroo" attachments and a bag to haul it around in (like, if I needed to haul stuff, I'd really carry the thing in a bag rather than using it for walking support). There is a series of ball-detents in the socket that hold the attachements securely once inserted, and it's just a push-me, pull-you to get 'em on and off. There's a compass embedded in a cushioned hand-grip, a ball-head for photography, a stabilizer bar for use with binoculars, and a rifle-stock rest support. I bought it primarily because of the height and the flexibility provided with all those attachments.

The ball-head is usable and seems pretty much indestructible but not up to the quality standards that one might expect from a "real" one. I tried it out in low-light long-shutter release time mode with good success, including times up to thirty seconds. I had the anti-shake function on, of course, but the result was very good - what was supposed to be in focus was, and what was supposed to be blurry was blurry. The ball head is made with two gaps for tilting a camera up or down, but it's also easy to aim the camera by changing the angle of the whole stick and adjusting the ball head appropriately.

Overall, I think I recommend it; I can see myself hiking on the trails of the Blue Ridge Mountains with that thing.

[rod_grant]

I have a Kata 3in1 bag and bought an Kata accessory tripod holder to match.
Tripod holder is intended for much smaller tripods
So.. if my wife is walking with me, she is my tripod holder!


We don't do much walking anyway, so it is not much of a problem.
For short walks without wife, camera in right hand, tripod in left.

[ccc_]

I suppose I should note that due to late onset decrepitude I don't freight a tripod as often as I once did.
I do use an old bogen monopod quite often (with a permanently attached sling) but a monopod is a substitution not a replacement for a tripod.

I've found very few bags that accommodate a full sized tripod very well.
too much weight in the wrong places. too much flopping and banging about.

I've modded a few shoulder bags with attachments that held the pod over the top flap but the pod with a sling or in hand has always been the best solution for me,

back when I drug along a couple of lenses and a body or two, I mounted one on the pod and slung it and put the other in a tarmac holster (often worn as a chest pack).

it was a clean solution that meant I could move through the woods any way I wanted.
my camera could be deployed without scaring every critter for a hundred yards.

now however I usually carry some body with a sigma 150-500 attached in a kinesis holster and depend on some form of shake reduction. while a second body/lens in a holster/belt bag rounds out my load.
if I know i'm just going to walk in and sit, I will haul in an old bogen tripod ( it wasn't heavy forty years ago) on a sling or over my shoulder.

what I've discovered over time is to take what I need and leave everything else home.

[UserAccessDenied]

Camera and lens mounted, ballhead locked down, legs extended, closed and slung over shoulder like a rifle...
Seems the fastest for dropping the rig and snapping a quick shot if I need to.
However, I am fond of my monopod. Induro carbon fiber, weighs nothing.
Plus I have a belt slot for the monopod so I can drop it into the holster and hike for hours without noticing it.

Carbon fiber is the way to go!
Light weight and strong, just be aware of temps below 0F

[hjoseph7]

Mine came with a bag, so I just sling it over my shoulders and go...

[Morgoth924]

Game bag from decathlon, holds loads of other stuff as well. I just put my camera bag in it as well (golla sling bag).