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Help Please - New Tripod Required (1 Viewer)

Hi John -
Before i moved over to a Rick Young Outdoors harness, i had an order for my birding stuff, which was Czech army bread bag over the shoulder, Scopac/scope then binoculars (definitely in that order!). Every trip i said 'bag-scope-bins' to myself before setting off. The carrying bag on the Scopac can be removed, so you just have a lighter set of shoulder straps.
Of course, when i went to the harness, the order changed. Now 'bag-bins-scope' which is a new trick for an old dog!
On another note - my knees were awful following two stupid accidents when i was younger. I started doing Tai Chi, and carried on to this day. After the first couple of months, my knees were more flexible and stronger, and i've never had a problem since. Pilates is related and can do similar good in strengthening the ligaments around the knee. Classes are often only an hour mostly - might be worth considering?
The advantage of the Scopac system is that the weight goes to the shoulders and down the central column of your back, rather than causing you to adapt your gait to balance an uneven load, which i've seen happen a lot with those who carry their scopes side-saddle.
 
Hi John -
Before i moved over to a Rick Young Outdoors harness, i had an order for my birding stuff, which was Czech army bread bag over the shoulder, Scopac/scope then binoculars (definitely in that order!). Every trip i said 'bag-scope-bins' to myself before setting off. The carrying bag on the Scopac can be removed, so you just have a lighter set of shoulder straps.
Of course, when i went to the harness, the order changed. Now 'bag-bins-scope' which is a new trick for an old dog!
On another note - my knees were awful following two stupid accidents when i was younger. I started doing Tai Chi, and carried on to this day. After the first couple of months, my knees were more flexible and stronger, and i've never had a problem since. Pilates is related and can do similar good in strengthening the ligaments around the knee. Classes are often only an hour mostly - might be worth considering?
The advantage of the Scopac system is that the weight goes to the shoulders and down the central column of your back, rather than causing you to adapt your gait to balance an uneven load, which i've seen happen a lot with those who carry their scopes side-saddle.

Excellent advice Paddy. We have been taking weekly pilates classes for about 5 years now and they have been a terrific help. We are lucky in that our coach is a great physiotherapist and gives advice during the class and adapts the pilates exercises to to our individual needs.

Lee
 
One thing these ancient Chinese internal arts (and those based on them) give you is an awareness of weight distribution and posture. Birding - with its hours of concentration and often fairly unnatural positions - is a classic case of an occupation that can prevent recovery/rehabilitation or can actually cause problems.
An awareness that you might be spending hours with the upper back bent staring into an angled scope, or walking with all the weight on one leg is something many could do with.
A friend had pinched a nerve without knowing by constantly carrying his extended tripod over his shoulder. The symptoms were almost those of a stroke, with tingling all down one side, and causing a trip to A and E.
Worth bearing in mind, and perhaps worthy of a thread sometime....
Hope the improvement continues Lee!
 
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