I recently had a chance to try out some of Manfrotto's Off Road series of camera products. As a professional photographer who works in the field I'm always looking for something lighter, stronger, smaller, and more simple to use, and I liked what I saw in the Manfrotto Off Road Tripod and Walking Sticks.

OFF ROAD TRIPOD

The tripod I tested was a dark red, which I initially appreciate since it's harder to leave on a rock somewhere, and it's very lightweight at just under a pound and a half. It's very small too: 22 inches folded, but  rises up to a full 40 inches in four sections. It's topped off with a small ball head with an integrated leveling bubble: pretty thoughtful. It's rated to hold a 1.5-pound camera, so don't try and put your Nikon D4s on it, it just won't hold (I tried it). So it's more for the prosumer cameras like Canons T3 series, which I also tried and it worked great on my trip down the Yampa River, especially for video.

I do wish that there was some sort of quick release on the tripod head instead of the traditional screw stud, but that's minor. The aluminum tubing (made in Italy, along with pretty much every ski pole in the world) is anodized black, with three metal tips and optional rubber caps. There are STOP marks on the tubes, but they don't automatically stop at full length, and I ended up pulling the tubes apart a number of times before I was trained. I'm sure that would add to the weight and I'll gladly swap lightweight for that. Manfrotto guarantees the tripod for 10 years and retails under $150.

OFF ROAD WALKING STICKS WITH CAMERA MOUNT

I'm not a big walking stick fan, but that might be changing as I get a bit older. They're pretty darn handy going downhill, down-climbing slot canyons, and grunting up a slope. I tried these sticks out a number of times, and even across a late spring snowfield with the basket accessory. They extend to 52 inches from a folded height of 24 inches, and weigh less than a pound (really important!).  They are available, like the tripod, in red, green and blue variations.

Of course the reason I wanted to test these is that one of these sticks has an integrated tripod mount on it. It's a simple spin stud attachment, but no ball head (just move the stick). A plastic cap protects the top until it's time to shoot something, too. Where this really came in handy was when my 11-year-old son and I were hiking the Wasatch Mountains and he was using his new Hero4 sports camera. He was able to mount the camera to the top of the stick, and use it for selfies, and reaching down a cliff for a nicer vantage.

The sticks are super lightweight aluminum, just like the OFF ROAD tripod again, with included rubber tips to cover the metal points, as well as the already mentioned baskets.  And, again, I wouldn't mount a big professional camera on this, but smaller cameras work just great. One thing that would be nice but probably counterproductive for Manfrotto: I wish both sticks had the tripod mount, so I can use one and not have to wrestle it away from my son.