I have a Slik 614CF carbon fibre tripod. I like it very much as it is extremely lightweight and compact.

After my recent trip, I observed that my tripod has now suffered plenty of scratches and bruises to its legs, mainly due to my carelessness in the field.

So after my trip, I decided to assemble a project to:

1. protect the tripod legs.
2. add a shoulder strap to the tripod for easy transportation.

The main criteria of this project is cost effectiveness as I wanted to spend a minimum amount of money.

So after giving some thoughts to the project, I came up with the following ingredients:

1. A tripod. (this is rather obvious)
2. 2 no. neck straps similar to those used for identification tags - free for me as I used the ones given to me free during red bull air race 2008
3. 1 no ring (as in those rings found in key chains) - free for me as I salvaged from my existing keychains
4. 1 no shoulder strap (you can use any strap; I bought 1 set for A$9.50)
5. 3 rolls of hand grip wraps for badminton rackets (or similar) - I bought them for A$8.50.
6. Some needles and thread - free for me as my wife has them in the house.

Rather than going into details of how I did it and all, here are some pictures, which I hope can speak louder than words.

The top assembly


The bottom assembly.


Tripod legs are now protected, somewhat.


Another view of the tripod legs


Tripod and shoulder strap

[raider]

Thanks fellas for all the tips. Mike, your donut advice make me laugh! hahahahhaha

Peter, I will take one of your drill please.

I will try out the wooden dowel thingy.....I will report back on their suitability

[adammm]

If you can't find someone with a drill to bribe with the donuts, you could just use one of the holes from the donuts and stick it in the center column.

I myself do not own a drill, but still managed to get holes in two of my tripods just by seizing the opportunity when I was doing something with a drill belonging to someone else.

[raider]

Hi everyone,

Here is the final part to the tripod DIY thread.

Here are some photos to get started:

1. Stainless steel eye bolt.

I bought these Zenith stainless steel (grade 316) eye bolts from Bunnings Warehouse. The size I choose is 4.5 x 38mm. Each eye bolt comes with its own washer and nut as a complete assembly. I can't remember the cost now but I know it is highly affordable.

2. Hiking clip

Again, I bought these off Bunnings.

3. First unscrew the plastic thingy (I dunno what is this call, so let's just call it the "stopper") from the centre column, make a hole in it (I still do not have a drill, so I improvised using a screw to first make a small hole and then widening the hole by using a pen knife).

I think the hole should not be too big. It should be just big enough so that the eye bolt can be pushed through. Now fasten the eye bolt with the washer and nut. Clip the hiking clip to the eye bolt and we are done!


This is how the eye bolt will look like on the tripod:


Group photos of the Slik 614CF and Slik Sprint Pro


I am using the Slik 614CF tripod and wifey is using the Slik Sprint Pro 3-way tripod. Incidentally, the "stopper" for both tripods are exactly the same size, so when I visited Bunnings, I bought 2 sets of the eye bolts and hiking clips.

The tripod on the left is the Sprint Pro and the bag that is hanging off it is the Lowepro Versapack. The tripod on the right is my trusty 614CF and my bag is the Lowepro Fastpack 200.

We are really pleased with the mod. While the mod won't make us a better photographer, I must say the benefit of attaching a heavier weight to the tripod during windy days do give us some confidence that the tripod will not topple over that easily.

I hope this thread is useful to anyone :-)

Cheers
Raider

[Pentaxie]

Thanks for the tips raider.

When are you coming back to KL again? Maybe we can have a cuppa and chat a little - (your friend lenscape from PhotoMalaysia).

Cheers.

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Last edited by Pentaxie; 04-08-2010 at 12:14 AM. Reason: typo error

[bdparker]

I know th is is an old thread, but I only stumbled across it last week and it gave me an idea.
My tripod carry bag is torn and I wanted a quicker way to carry my tripod and this was the answer i was looking for.

I used a solid Stainless-steel 4mm 28mmid ring and folded metal band for the head and a 5mm SS eye bolt with a 5m m SS snap hook for the bottom and a velcor cable tie to hold the legs together.

[chromo]

Here's another method.

Stick it in your belt.