[Kerrowdown]

It had better not move or vibrate, it's heavy duty Benbo and besides that it does not have my permission to move.

[Pål Jensen]

Tripods are such a complicated issue.

It isn't just the tripod that is an issue, its also about how securely a tripod is connected to the ground. Setting a lightweight tripod on carpet for instance gives one a real bouncy situation.

The last time i had a problem with a fuzzy picture from a long distance DA 300 shot, i found that just tying my camera bag under the tripod solved the problem and took my fuzzy shot into the pixel peeping range - amazine turnaround. course i also was sure to push each leg into the ground as far as i could get it.

Adding weight to a vibrating tripod does 3 things, pushes the tripod against the ground, gives the tripod more wind resistance, and changes the natural vibration frequency of the tripod to a lower frequency which is generally a good thing.

I'd say, pick a solution that is the easiest and fastest to do, adding weight looks very good to me at the moment. I'm actually adding a loop of line permanently tied to the tripod juncture, so it can be deployed quickly to tie up my camera bag underneath.

Phil

It is really very simple. Only two thing matters in a tripod; Mass and mass coupling (as you really have pointed out above).
Damping of vibration only have relevanve if you want to isolate the camera from vibrations from the ground up (as others have pointed out).