how do you deal with tripod on snow and ice

erotavlas · Jan 15, 2012

using my tripod today was a challenge, i had a hard time finding a stable position, the feet kept slipping whenever i touched my camera to change settings. i thought the whole setup was going to topple over at one point. it was below -10 C and i was on snow and ice, there was no earth or ground available for friction. my tripod is gitzo gt1541T so it doesnt have the removable feet. is there anything i can do to improve stability?

Joel_W · Jan 15, 2012

I have a so so run of the mill, less then $150 tripod, but it does have adjustable pads with a spike that comes in handy in wet ground, snow, and ice. Although, to be perfectly honest with you, -10C sounds like it's way to cold for these old bones to be outside in.

MLeeK · Jan 15, 2012

Mine has rubber feet with a spike that is adjustable. I can turn the spike in or out depending if I need it or the rubber feet.

WesternGuy · Jan 15, 2012

A couple of things come to mind - hang some weight from the centre post so that the tripod doesn't move, or throw some weight on one or more of the legs where they meet the ground to keep them from moving. I would also shop around in my camera stores to see if I could find something that fits over the existing feet that maybe had spikes in it.

Alternatively, you can build something yourself - I would get some short lengths of ABS pipe, what ever diameter will fit snugly over the bottom of your tripod legs, you probably only need pieces about 10 cm long. Get a cap for each piece, drive a small nail or screw through the end of the cap so that it sticks out the top of the cap, put some glue on it to keep it in place and fit the cap over one end of each peice of pipe, cut the nail or screw to say 2 or 3 cm long and then stick the end of each tripod leg into the pipe and voila, you have something that will stick into the snow and ice. Haven't worked out how you keep these pieces of pipe on the end of the tripod legs, but I am sure that there is a solution for that too. My 0.02¢ FWIW.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

Afterthought: If you make the pipe pieces about 30 to 50 cm long, then you may be able to use some velcro tape, or gaffers tape to stick the legs onto the tripod legs as an interim solution - don't know - just a thought.

erotavlas · Jan 15, 2012

WesternGuy said:
A couple of things come to mind - hang some weight from the centre post so that the tripod doesn't move, or throw some weight on one or more of the legs where they meet the ground to keep them from moving. I would also shop around in my camera stores to see if I could find something that fits over the existing feet that maybe had spikes in it.

Alternatively, you can build something yourself - I would get some short lengths of ABS pipe, what ever diameter will fit snugly over the bottom of your tripod legs, you probably only need pieces about 10 cm long. Get a cap for each piece, drive a small nail or screw through the end of the cap so that it sticks out the top of the cap, put some glue on it to keep it in place and fit the cap over one end of each peice of pipe, cut the nail or screw to say 2 or 3 cm long and then stick the end of each tripod leg into the pipe and voila, you have something that will stick into the snow and ice. Haven't worked out how you keep these pieces of pipe on the end of the tripod legs, but I am sure that there is a solution for that too. My 0.02¢ FWIW.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

Afterthought: If you make the pipe pieces about 30 to 50 cm long, then you may be able to use some velcro tape, or gaffers tape to stick the legs onto the tripod legs as an interim solution - don't know - just a thought.

Thanks, thats a good idea, I may try to find something that's already prebuilt, some sort of rubber cap that will fit over the feet, and I can attach something rough on the bottom with velcro to that. But I'll check my local camera store first, I saw some snow shoes they have for various tripods that might work, had no idea such a thing existed.