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Camouflage
Tripod Cover and Leg Pads
(Revisions and additions made February, 2009)
(Click
any image for a larger view)
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| Homemade
water-repellent camouflage cover on a Bogen 3011N (aluminum
finish) |
Camouflage
covered leg pads on a Manfrotto 055 NAT/3221G "Green
Tracker" |
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| Both
tripods collapsed with padded head covers installed |
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This
is a tale of two tripods -
(1) a Bogen 3011N (aluminum finish) and
(2) a Manfrotto 055 NAT/3221G "Green Tracker".
Note that the first tripod
is the standard aluminum finish. I originally purchased it years ago for video
work.
The problem with using a shiny aluminum finish tripod for wildlife photography
is
pretty obvious - it's hardly what you would call "unobtrusive" against the leafy
green of nature. I did not have the "green" Manfrotto 055NAT at that
time, so I needed to do something about camoflaging the shiny aluminum legs.
FULL-LENGTH CAMO COVER FOR A TRIPOD:
I had some water-repellent camo
material left over from making a rain cover for the camera/lens and myself, and there
was just enough left to make the tripod cover. In essence, the tripod cover is basically
a pair of "three-legged camo pants", if you can imagine what that's like. This pair
of three-legged pants fits over the upper sections of the tripod. For the lower two
sections I made three individual tubular slip-on covers (one for each leg). I'm not
going to go into specific sewing and cutting instructions for this project, nor will
there be any measured patterns, etc. That would be silly since your tripod most likely
would be different. The purpose of this article is to tell you what I made, and generally
how it was made, so you can adapt my ideas to make your tripod cover.
In
essence, the tripod cover is simply
a pair of "three-legged camo pants" |
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The two photos at right show
the top of the Bogen tripod with the camo
cover velcro strap closed, and with it open. This is basically the "belt" which
holds the pants "waist" closed. In the far
right photo you can see the legs are rolled down a bit, showing the foam
padding used on all three upper leg sections.
This foam padding is really tubular
foam pipe insulation made for copper water pipes, available at any hardware
or plumbing supply (this also now comes in a black rubber style which feels more
cushiony). It's much softer on your shoulder than the metal tripod leg when you carry
the tripod over the shoulder. As you can see by the photo, the foam comes pre-slit
part-way through. Just cut it to length, slit it all the way with a knife, and slip
it over each upper leg section. Be sure you buy the size with an inside diameter
just a little smaller than the tripod leg diameter, so the slit will be slightly
spread apart when installed. If the foam's inside diameter is too big, then obviously
it will slip on the leg and not be snug. You want a snug fit. Tape each end and the
middle of the foam with a thin
strip of duct tape (one inch wide is sufficient) to squeeze it snuggly onto
the tripod.
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| Intersection
of upper leg section and middle leg section. Note slit
in upper cover which hooks over the "T" knob, as does
the lower cover section. |
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To put on or take off the upper "pants",
just pull the tripod legs close together, open the velcro strap, and slip them on
or off like pants. The only thing to keep in mind when making these is that the leg
covering diameter must allow it to slip over not only the padding (if you
use it), but also the knobs or levers for locking the leg extensions, kind of like
making pants you can slip on while wearing your shoes. You may have to allow for
a split, slit or cutout in the leg so your leg-locking knobs or levers will operate
easily with the cover on. Since my Bogen has "T" knobs that screw in and out, I made slits
for the knobs to come through. Because the slit is looped over the knob,
it also keeps the leg covers from sliding up or down.
The center
post cover (shown at left pulled part-way down so the velcro strip shows)
velcro's inside the upper leg cover "pants" so it won't fall down, but still allows
the post to move up and down freely. Be sure this cover "sock" for the center post
is not too snug, so the center post will slide up and down inside it easily, otherwise
it will bunch up and bind it when you try to pull up or crank up the post. The bottom
end of this "sock" can be seamed shut or left open as you wish. The pattern
diagram shows in general terms how this and the rest of the cover is patterned
and assembled.
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The
three individual leg covers for the bottom/middle tripod leg sections are separate
from the "pants", so the whole thing can more easily be put on or removed.
Each bottom cover piece is the same. The upper photo at right shows how the covers
accordion when the leg sections are retracted to their shortest length.
The right photo shows one bottom
section extended. The pattern
diagram at left shows how the top and bottom of the lower
cover is seamed into a tube, while most of the middle is hemmed
but left open. This open area is closed with velcro once the cover
is put on, but it allows the fabric to bunch and accordion when
the legs are retracted. If the leg covers were seamed into a tube
all the way from end to end they would not accordion well, and
would bind when retracting the section.
The two left photos show the lower
leg with the cover closed by the velcro strips, and with it open.
Compare this with the pattern diagram and you should be able to visualize how this
works. In the lower right corner of both photos you can see the "T" knob.
I put a slit for this knob on the lower cover sections on the side opposite the open
side, since my knobs are on the outside of the leg. This puts the "open" side
of the cover to the inside of the legs.
The last detail is to tie a piece
of nylon camo cord around the bottom of each cover. This is seen in the "leg
extended" photo in the previous paragraph. Even though the cover is
tapered to the small end of the leg, it still had to go on over the rubber butt end
of the leg (or over a rubber tip and spike on some tripods),. This means it has to
be loose enough that it ends up sliding up the leg when extending the bottom section.
By wrapping a piece of cord around the end of the cover and tying it, the cover stays
put at the bottom. It's an easy thing to untie the cord on those few occasions when
you might want to remove the cover.
I also made a padded camo tripod
head cover, but this is unnecessary for camoflaging the head, since it has the camera
on it when taking photos. It is, however, useful to protect the tripod head in transport
and storage. I won't go into details on this, except to say it's basically a double-walled
tubular bag, with 2 thicknesses of 3/4" foam padding (1-1/2 inches) between the inside
and outside wall. You can use a drawstring, or velcro, or snaps, etc., to tighten
the bag opening when installed over the head to keep it from falling off. The head
cover for both tripods can be seen in this photo
at the top of the page.
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CAMO COVERED
LEG PADDING FOR A TRIPOD:
I thought the 055NAT had
leg
pads on the top sections, but when I got it I found out there was no "padding" to
these pads at all. It was just thin hard-rubber that didn't make carrying the
tripod over the shoulder any more comfortable than bare metal legs. So I found
myself in
another "camo project", making leg pads. The finished
padded covers are seen in the photo at right. I only put two pads on
the tripod, since all three sides can't rest on my shoulder at once. Essentially,
I only
needed two legs padded.
I had foam padding left over
from the first project, but the silver-gray foam wasn't exactly "camo". The logical
solution was to make camo material covers for the foam padding. This is a simple
project, so simple that I don't see any need for a diagram. There are two ways to
go about this. One way is to secure the padding to the legs with tape, just as in
the previous project, and then make single thickness covers that wrap around it.
The other way, (the path I took) is to make covers that the foam padding is sewn
into, which then wraps around the leg and velcro's snuggly. This makes it easy to
remove the covers and padding without dealing with tape. This is the method I will
explain.
First I cut out four rectangles
of camo material a bit larger than necessary to cover the padding when wrapped around
the leg. The material for the two pieces for the "inside" next to the legs does not
need to be camo, nor does it need to be as sturdy as the outer material. The cut
material should have enough extra for hems all the way around, plus extra overlap
down the long sides for the velcro to lap over and connect.
The best way to fit the material
is to lay the tripod horizontally, then drape the inner material piece over a tripod
leg. Then "snap" the slit foam pad over this piece on the leg. Next, drape
the outer material piece over the padding, but be sure to put this material on
with the "outside" of the pattern facing down next to the padding. This will
essentially make the padding cover inside out. Then pin the inner and outer material
pieces together snuggly along one end and down both long sides of the slit. Leave
one end open so you can slide the padding out. Be sure you have about 1-1/2 to 2-1/2
inches extra along one side for the velcro overlap. The inner material will have
less diameter than the outside piece, obviously, so don't let this throw you off.
Pull out the padding, then hem along the pinned end and the pinned side that does
NOT have the velcro overlap flap. On that side, hem around the outer edge of where
the flap will be, but leave the pins in on that side while you sew to make it
easier to handle and see where the flap should be. The photos at right show the upper
part of the velcro flap on mine is wider than the lower part because the tripod led
has the rubber coating on the upper area. This makes it a greater diameter that you
should account for when fitting and sewing the flap. Remember, you will be turning
this inside out, and if you sew along the flap side where it's pinned, the flap itself
cannot turn inside out and you'll end up taking those stitches out and redoing it.
Now take out the pins and turn
the cover right side out. Reinsert the padding and snap it over the leg. Now re-pin
along the overlapping flap side next to the padding slit. Remove the padding from
the leg, slide the foam out and sew the edge along the pins. You can sew the "hooks" part
of the velcro to the flap now, then insert the padding again and test fit. See where
the velcro overlaps the padding when squeezed snuggly tight. Now you will know where
to sew the "loop" part of the velcro. It is easiest to stitch the loop velcro on
by hand with the padding still inserted. Then fold over the hem on the open end and
stitch it up as well, sealing the padding inside. Install the pad on the leg and
it's almost done. One note here - Don't skimp on the velcro. Putting a few
spaced tabs of velcro will not hold the edges closed and tight. Cover most or all
the edge with velcro. You want this to be very snug and well fitted.
This photo at left shows the
last detail to attend to- snugging
up the ends of the cover to fit closely to the leg for a good finished
look. As seen in the photo, this hem is bunched
up in three or four places spaced around the cover ends, and then sewn together
so the end fits snuggly against the leg. This gives it a nice finish.
I also made a padded
tripod head cover, just as I did for the 3011N. But I didn't stop there.
I had more ideas.The 055NAT tripod came with a heavy duty strap, but it was too short
for a shoulder strap, and too wide and uncomfortable for a hand strap. It wasn't
much good for anything other than getting in the way so I removed the strap from
the heavy metal loop it was on. The loop now serves as an anchor ring to attach other
things.
Additionally, I wanted the tripod
feet to be padded like the head for protection in tranport (mostly protection from
the feet hitting and damaging other stuff, or me). For this I made a padded "cup" (shown
at right) that covers the tripod feet and keeps the legs together in transport. I
added an adjustable strap with a snap buckle to hold the cup onto the legs (shown
from two angles at right). The cup also serves
another purpose as well. I can buckle the cup strap to the metal anchor ring
I mentioned above to have a handy place to put small items while I'm sitting behind
the tripod (birding field guide, sunglasses, log book, lens caps, bag of snacks -you
name it).
You might want to also look at
this information on other camera supports, including basic
beanbags, the Butterfly Beanbag, and the Flying
Saucer Ball Head.
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