Your understanding and application of a tripod can make or break you. Most people treat a tripod like an accessory, just a fancy way to hold a spotting scope. And sure, if you’re glassing a hillside or tracking a slow mover, almost any tripod with a decent ball head will get the job done. But the second you mount your rifle to that tripod, everything changes. Now, you’re not just looking, you’re shooting. That means your tripod is no longer a luxury. It’s a lifeline. And if you don’t understand how it works, how to use it under pressure, or what quality truly means, you’re setting yourself up to fail.
IN MY LONG-RANGE COURSE, THE TRIPOD ISN’T OPTIONAL
On Day One, we start in the prone position. It's familiar, comfortable, and gives students a foundation to build on. But that’s it. After that, we live on the tripod. Outside of barricade work, where the tripod supports the rear, we spend the next three days standing, kneeling, sitting, adjusting, and working the rifle from a tripod. Precision shooting in real-world positions. No sandbags, no flat mats, no soft rests. Just you, your rifle, and a tripod. And here’s what that teaches people real fast: You can’t fake quality when you’re asking your tripod to do more than hold optics.
THE $150 TRIPOD LIE
Everyone has a reason to buy a $150 tripod. Usually, that reason is money. I bring a couple of them to class. Not because I like them, but because I want students to learn what not to do.
You’ll see flex in the legs the moment the recoil hits.
You’ll watch heads come loose.
You’ll fight with clamps that need to be threaded shut like a C-clamp from the garage.
You’ll burn 30 seconds just getting your rifle mounted, while everyone else is already engaging targets.
At the range, you might not notice. In a class, when you’re the guy holding everyone up, you notice real quick. And when someone next to you is stacking hits from standing with a $1,200 tripod and a solid mount, the lightbulb goes on.
SHOOTING PAPER, NOT JUST STEEL
It’s easy to think you're doing fine because you hit a big piece of steel from a standing position. But try printing a group on paper from your tripod. That’s when you’ll see the truth. You’re not just testing your rifle, you’re testing you and the system you're running. I’ve seen guys show up with slick rifles and scopes, but their tripod setup turns them into a liability. Then they watch others perform with less rifle, less optic, but better tripod systems, and the lesson hits home. It’s a precision class, not a “make noise at steel” class. That means your equipment has to hold up, and more importantly, you have to know how to run it.
PRONE ISN’T ALWAYS POSSIBLE
Let’s be honest, we love prone because it’s the easiest. It takes you, the flawed human, mostly out of the equation. Bipod on the ground, bag in the rear, brain on the ballistics. But that’s not real life. Hunting uphill? Hard to get prone. Shooting downhill through brush? Nope. Urban combat with debris, walls, and rooftops? Forget it. Even on a clean hillside, rocks, grass, mud, angle, and terrain will almost always make prone a rare luxury. But my tripod? I can shoot from it anywhere. I know it. I trust it. I’ve trained with it.
FINAL WORD: THE TRIPOD IS PART OF THE WEAPON SYSTEM, NOT AN ACCESSORY
Rapid deployment. Mounting the rifle in seconds. Adapting to terrain. Staying stable under stress. Transitioning between targets. Running it on autopilot because you’ve practiced so much, the motion is second nature. That’s what a tripod can do. But only if you’ve trained with it like it matters—because it does. I don’t just show up with a rifle; I show up with two tools that I know are mastered: my rifle and my tripod. I’ve run them through courses, field hunts, military applications, and stressful environments. I don’t wonder if they’ll hold up; I know they will. Don’t let your tripod be your weakest link. Because when prone isn’t an option and barricades are nowhere to be found, your understanding and application of the tripod is what stands between you and success.
