Tripods and snow

Does anyone have suggestions of how to adapt a tripod for use in snow? Recently got over two feet of powder and the tripod sinks in and is constantly shifting whenever I try to make any adjustments.

From Guy Tal in the 'Helpful Advice' thread below this one:

"In deep snow, you may want to punch holes in 3 tennis balls and slide them over the tripod feet to keep them from sinking in too deep."

Great tip....thanks, Guy!

Essentially, what you want to do is make snowshoes for the tripod legs. Anything with a bigger footprint will work, such as tennis balls, heavier disposable picnic plates, cups, etc.

Or just wait until the snow melts. No... bad idea

I like the tennis ball idea for dry snow, but doubt it would work in wet snow. It would support the tripod alright, but if it sinks in much I'd expect the compacted snow to strip the balls. Since we get lots of wet snow, you can bet I'll try it though. Gitzo, and I believe Bogen Manfrotto, make accessories for their tripods including adapters for snow or sand more or less like the little baskets on the end of ski poles. That's what I use, and they work great.

I'll be making my own for my Manfrotto 375B. First winter with that heavy sucker. Simple to get some scrap 1/4 or 3/8 inch treated plywood and cut squares 12 inches by 12 inches (or 12-inch diameter circles) and drill a hole in the center of each one big enough to allow the spike at the end of each tripod leg through but small enough so the foot of each leg won't pass through.

Because they're flat, they will lay together and store well in the kit and won't weigh too much. It'll take about 15 minutes to make them and cost me nothing except a bit of electricity to run the tools. That size should hold up the gear in any snow.

I bet they don't need to be anywhere near 12x12 to do the job, Steve. The "baskets" on mine are a little under 4" and they're just fine with a 500 f/4 on a 1349 with Wimberly head. It settles 2 or 3 inches when you set it up, then stays like that unless you lean on the tripod. Then it only settles a little more, and no more with subsequent leans. Say your combo weighs 15 pounds, three 12" pads will only be supporting about 5 pounds per square foot or less an an ounce per square inch. Looked at another way, if you weighed 200 pounds, 5 pounds per square foot translates into "snowshoes" totaling 40 square feet, bigger than a sheet of plywood. A pair of 4' x 5' snowshoes would certainly float you well, but might be kinda clumsy.

Good thoughts, Hank. I went for the overkill not being sure how they'd do in deep soft powder. I reckon after reading this I'll keep them to six inches. Even easier to carry and store that way.

I bet 6" is ample too. We don't get a lot of deep powder (except under crusts, darn it), so I don't have a lot of experience with that. My experience with snowshoes, ski poles and baskets on tripod legs adds up to a few nasty tangles, so I've always been happier with the smallest possible supports for the tripod. Call me clumsy or desert born, but I can usually figure out innovative ways to tangle up all my snow gear.

BTW- When I made my own baskets before buying a set I didn't have spikes on my tripod. I just put a hose clamp a couple of inches up the leg, slid on the plywood with a hole in it, and added another hose clamp below. Never had a problem.

We've already got two feet of powder out in the woods with more falling today. It's not unusual to have three to four feet of powder up here by February, and while it does compact somewhat over time, it's still a lot to get through.

If I made the plywood pads any smaller than six inches, they'll become too easy for me to lose.

Thanks for all the responses, will try the plywood pads first. Simple to make and easy to carry. Greg

Lots of good suggestions. I've used my own home-made snow baskets for years. Have fun with your DIY project!

I like most of the ideas in this thread...but the most foolproof method for using a tripod in the snow can be seen here!

Since nobody mentioned this yet I guess I will.

When you're inserting your tripod into deep snow, don't spread the legs all the way open. The snow will force the legs to spread farther. This can damage the tripod if the legs are fully spread when you start pushing it into the snow.

Cheers,

Awesome thread, some really good suggestions. Scott, your DIY page just rocks! I am going to try it the minute I get a hold of some ski pole baskets.

What I use is one of those fiberglass sledding saucers, with holes drilled in it for the feet of the tripod. Lightweight, nearly unbreakable, and plenty stable. And, if the opportunity presents itself, you can sled on it...

Now THAT is a good idea Jim. I can see using it to lug gear on the walk in, too. Ought to create a nice big hard spot for laying accessories while shooting, too. I'm guessing that if I sat on it for the downhill runs, my tripod might also make a good rudder? I hate the way those things spin sometimes, but sure like the thought of using one as a lugger/snowshoe/accessory tray/downhill transport.

I use the Bogen snowshoes on my Bogen 3021. It's a pretty basic setup, so I imagine they could be used on almost any tripod.

I have actually used three frisbees

I get mostly the very dry snow that's typical when it's below zero. Sometimes it's light & fluffy, sometimes it packed hard by 40 mph winds. If fluffy, I jam the tripod in the snow to mark the holes, then stomp down those three spots with my heavy winter hunting boots. This works and I don't have to carry any extra stuff. If it's the hard packed snow, with tripod legs unspread I will push down into the snow in three spots to make an indentation for the legs to rest in when spread out. That keeps the wind from blowing my tripod sideways.


Kent in SD

I have a set of the SLIK tripod snowshoes. I'm not sure if they are still made, I found mine on ebay. I needed to replace the clamps, but they worked fine for a busy four day photo trip in deep snow.