Hi fellas
I'm gonna get a bipod to help with some stakeout jobs when I need the pole extended to 6ft.
I've never used one before and was wondering what you guys are using yours for, what I should be looking for when buying one and does any one use the 3 legged versions (a three leg bipod style).
Thanks, John
Uh, the only use I have relates to being steady.?ÿ No need on topos and other times when close is good enough.
as long as it fits my pole a bi pod is a bi pod. You'll spend three times as long plumbing up the three legged holders. Two lathe approx. 90 degrees apart will work as a bi pod if you don't have your bi pod handy also.
I recommend that you go ahead and make your purchase. You will soon wonder how you got along without it.
I use a bipod for nearly all my staking out and for boundary & control ties. I've strapped 5/8" iron rods to the legs to give them some weight and reduce blow-overs. Which is a problem when you leave them unattended.?ÿ So I'm not impressed with super light weight carbon fiber versions. The bipod comes off when I'm doing topo, mostly.
The tripod-bipod is for GPS base stations, backsights, and other longer term uses. It is another way to deal with the blow-over problem. It's much more fussy to plumb up. So it is not really suitable for point to point uses.?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ
Had a helper 25 years ago who showed up on his second day with two lath in hand.?ÿ He was more of a stickler than I was because he had spent most of his life as a carpenter doing fine work.
You had me confused.?ÿ Thought you were Trimble Man from Paducah.
I like the new Seco/Trimble bipods with the no crush head. ?ÿThey have a curved clamp rather than the older flat plastic pad. This gives them more surface area against the rod so they take less clamping force to stay in place and reduce the likelihood of crushing your expensive carbon fiber rod. ?ÿ
The thumb release tripods are handy if you want to set up a backsight and leave it unattended. ?ÿI set them up like a normal bipod then extend the third leg once I??m plumb. ?ÿSink the third leg then re-plumb if necessary, then tighten the thumb screw on the third leg. ?ÿIt??s almost as quick as a bipod and much more stable.
I use bipods on all control, pins, and other shots where hundredths matter.
I have been using a robot for nearly 20 years now and I have used a bipod for a large majority of that time.
I have grown so accustomed to it that I just don't work without it.
Most of the time a bipod is used to prop your prism pole up between use.
I like a three legged pod because it is very stable and can be setup over an object without touching the object, sorta like the pole is in midair over your large pipe monument for example.
They are better in windy days and along the side of highways where large trucks and other vehicles carry a jetstream of wind with them.
All my pods are Seco brand with two buttons and a set screw.
Shouldn't take three times longer. Leave the nut on the third leg loose until you're done then tighten it, a fraction of a second.
I've been using those 1in round thick feltlike furniture leg pads to stick on that pole clamp on bipods since I got my first one.
Bipod uses over the years:
-setting bars w/ GPS
-spare rod for FS checks
-two of them, similar/same heights, to use for resections on OG infills (less likely to mess up the heights and one could just flip the data in CAD if the order was messed up)