Carbon Fiber

I have a cat siting gig in May, right here in the neighborhood,

It was supposed to be Daya's job, but she cancelled.

I knew about it because it was on the calendar and then it wasn't, and I asked.

She has cat-sat for this person before a couple of times.

He lives 4 blocks away.

I said to her, if you can't do it I probably can, it's so close and I'm around.

She asked, he said YES PLEASE....

And it's a nice bit of unexpected extra dollars so I decided to upgrade my tripod, which I have been wanting to do for a few YEARS now.

My trusty old Dolica from 2016 is still ok but is showing signs of wear and age, like the legs are still loose when tightened. And I want something lighter and more compact, especially for travel.

The carrying case I have been using since 2009 is held together with tape and I dont know how much longer it's going to hold up.....

I went with a Sirui carbon fiber travel video tripod, because it can take over 20lbs.

It was also on spring sale!

It weighs 2lbs, half of what my Dolica weighs.

Although the ball head that comes with the Sirui seems ok, I swapped it out for the one I am currently using.

I like my old one better. It covers more surface area on the box, and the quick release has a ring to unscrew instead of having to get a screwdriver.

ALSO... I want to do more all day hiking and painting, so I made a hybrid paint-hike pack.

The hike last saturday was fine but even with reduced gear I need to streamline for days like that.  

And for hiking you need hiking stuff like first aid gear, water, etc.

So I made a hybrid day pack.  I have the basic hiking essentials, room for food, and a minimal but functional paint set up.  My Belly River box fits but it also takes up most of the space.  That's ok.

It's a 22L pack with a 3 liter water bladder.

I have been testing the pack and it'll work nicely.  

It's not the lightest day pack because of the painting stuff but it's fine, it's still lighter than what I am used to. (The water is actually the heavy part)

Here it is, fully packed:

Just in case......