A sturdy tripod is as essential for birding as a reliable spotting scope or a pair of binoculars with excellent resolution. You also need a tripod with a sufficient range so that its extendable height is appropriate for your eye level.
How tall of a tripod you need for a spotting scope depends on the latter’s type and angle, your height or eye level, where you are, and what you intend to view or how. A tripod with a fully extended height of 61 inches, excluding its head, is sufficient for a spotting scope.
Factors Affecting How Tall a Tripod You Need for Spotting Scopes
Your height and the type of spotting scope are the most important factors that influence how tall a tripod you need.
The second set of elements that shall affect the tripod height for spotting scopes includes the following:
- Location or elevation
- What you’re watching
- Where you must scan
A Tripod’s Max Height Can Be 10 Inches to 12 Inches Shorter Than You
If you have an angled spotting scope, whether 30° or 45°, you will bend your head and look down to see through the ocular lens of the spotting scope mounted on the tripod.
Thus, an extended tripod should be shorter than your eye level.
Generally, human eyes are around 4 to 6 inches below the top of the head.
If you are 6 feet tall, your eye level is probably at the height of 66 to 68 inches from the floor.
A spotting scope or its eye cup can be at the height of 64 to 66 inches, as you will lower your head and eyes a bit.
Now, if the spotting scope’s eye cup is at 64 to 66 inches, the tripod height should be around 10 inches shorter, or 54 to 56 inches.
This space of 10 inches or so is for the tripod head and the spotting scope, both of which may have a height of around 5 inches each.
Consider the example of this Gosky Tripod for Spotting Scopes (available on Amazon). This portable tripod is suitable for spotting scopes and other tools, such as:
- Binoculars
- Camcorders
- Cameras
The tripod is 61 inches tall in its fully extended position.
However, its spotting scope mounting plate is at a height of 66 inches when you include the tripod head.
Your spotting scope will likely add around 4 to 6 inches to this height.
Therefore, you get an eye level of 70 to 72 inches with a fully extended 61-inch Gosky tripod.
Such an eye level for spotting scopes is sufficient for people as tall as 7 feet.
If you are 6 feet tall, you can set the Gosky at a height of 54 or 56 inches, up to 16 inches shorter than you.
But the maximum extendable height of a tripod without accounting for its head should be 10 to 12 inches shorter than a person for spotting scopes, not up to 16 inches or more.
Birders can always lower a tripod but not exceed its maximum height if it’s necessary for a spotting scope.
The Effect of a Spotting Scope’s Type or Angle on a Tripod’s Height
Suppose you have a straight spotting scope, which has a 180° angle like a pair of binoculars.
You need such a spotting scope to be at your eye level, so a 6 feet tall person needs the max total height to be around 66 to 68 inches, including the spotting scope and tripod head.
A 61-inch tripod is sufficient for a straight spotting scope.
The maximum net height of 70 to 72 inches will also work for most people taller than 6 feet, except for some 7 feet giants.
The Impact of Elevation, Location, or Terrain on Tripod Height
A tripod with an extendable height that’s 10 to 12 inches shorter than you has a few practical advantages.
Birders aren’t always on flat terrain or scanning across the plains, so any elevation will likely demand an appropriate adjustment.
If you have to use an angled spotting scope to look up, whether at cliffs or trees, you’ll need to raise the eye cup height to your eye level, much like you would use a straight spotting scope.
Otherwise, you will bend more with a tilted scope than what’s comfortable or practical.
Hence, a 61-inch Gosky tripod is handy in several birding circumstances.
The tripod has a level indicator as well, so you can steady your spotting scope if you are on uneven ground.
Calculate the Total Height of a Tripod With a Spotting Scope
You must always calculate the total height of a tripod with a spotting scope, so the measurement must include the following:
- Tripod height without the head, or
- Tripod height with the head
- Spotting scope size and angle
Determine the desired or ideal height after accounting for your preferred eye level while using a spotting scope.
Don’t forget the extra inches your shoes will add to the required height, and bear in mind the demands of different elevations or terrains, thus viewing angles.
If you wish to swap the spotting scope for binoculars on the same tripod, the latter arrangement should have a total height up to your eye level.
In this case, the tripod head will still be relevant, but the height of the mounted binoculars will replace the size of a spotting scope.
The other crucial distinction is the difference between a full-size tripod with the required extendable height and compact or mini variants that may be included in the box with a spotting scope.
For instance, the Bushnell 784030 Advanced Tripod on Amazon is one of the sturdiest 61-inch models for its price.
But the one in the box of a Bushnell Trophy Xtreme Spotting Scope (also on Amazon) is a compact tripod.
The Bushnell Trophy Xtreme is one of the finest spotting scopes in the price range, but you will probably need a separate 61-inch Bushnell or Gosky tripod for your angled or straight spotting scopes.