Below is a contributed post by a long time Takedown user.
As a parent volunteer that manages our use of Takedown, including making sure that all matches are scored and stats are correct, I had thought a short tripod or something that could be used during duals from the scoring table would be helpful but had never taken the time to find a solution. Then I saw the blog post titled 'Table Top Stand is Way Too Easy' and decided to go look again for something that we could use.
I was looking for something that was more designed for panning than the tabletop stand from the blog post. I discovered the Orion Tritech II-M Stabilized Monopod (available on Amazon and other retailers). This monopod was a great find! It's budget-friendly and offers multiple configuration options. I presented this product to our boosters and asked them to purchase one so that we could test it out.
We received the monopod just before our next home dual. I tested the tabletop mode at that dual and it worked great. I still needed to keep one hand on the legs when panning but I suspect that over time that may change as the head loosens up a little more.
That was followed by a tournament where I used the monopod configuration to score matches and still get stability which is much easier at tournaments than using a tripod which we were using in many cases prior.
We haven’t used it in the stabilized monopod configuration yet, but I can see cases where that might be useful as well. For instance, in a dual tournament where we may not be seated at the scorers table, the stability will be better than the straight monopod option. The stabilizing legs can also be left folded making the function that of a normal monopod as well.
In conclusion the Orion Tritech II-M Stabilized Monopod has proven in the short time that we have had it to be a great asset for our team, offering a cost-effective and versatile solution. If you are looking for a cost-effective tabletop scoring option, I would recommend taking a look at this monopod.
C. Shenberger, Parent Volunteer
Midview High School (Ohio)
If you have an experience you’d like to share with the Takedown community, let us know. It’s helpful for others to hear tips and tricks from the folks who are on the ground and using Takedown in the trenches.