QuadPod shooting sticks

The Quadpod from Hammond Country Sporting Goods is marked up as Viper Flex and differs from many accepted designs in that a wider cradle is used on the front paired head, rather than just the v-shaped prongs that often adorn both front and rear. This assists the drawback of the quad stick’ed standing shot, the forend of the gun can now slide laterally across a 115mm shelf to allow tracking of the game in question, often critical in the last moments as the trigger is starting to get squeezed.

ARE ‘U’ UP TO IT?

It is always better to set up these sticks prior to stalking as they take a little bit of tweaking to suit you. There are paired push button studs here, rather than locking collars and when squeezed together, a slight twist of the legs takes them out of alignment with the holes and allows their easy transit up and down the outer tube before twisting back to lock up. One side of the sticks is numbered and this makes it easy to stow them at 1095mm for transportation before extending up to a maximum 1810mm for use, just remember your number.

The aluminium tubes used are 18.3mm in diameter in the upper sections with all joints neatly pop riveted in place. The rear ‘V’ and front, wider ‘U’ supports are machined from a polymer and incorporate a slim rubber rib to prevent slippage. Both are bolted in place onto machined aluminium studs. At the foot of the sticks, similar studs pivot on a foot TIG welded to the front leg which uses a stop instead of cord strings to retain the sticks gap. When folded, two clips hold everything together and prevent all 4 aluminium sections rattling noisily.

 

THE DIRTY DOZEN

I found the sticks really stable in use, even with night vision equipped rifles that can feel top heavy. I particularly like the extra stability the wider front support gave when spying through binoculars and I settled on position 12 as an acceptable compromise for my 5’11’’ height. The rubber grippers in both sections held the gun well and the mechanical stop at the base of the legs proved more solid than I expected with less bounce than you can get with a rope brace. This was especially noticeable when you ‘steer’ the sticks by drawing one of the legs back towards you with a foot to alter your aimpoint. They were mechanically quiet in use but did whistle a bit in strong winds (vortex induced vibration), being bare anodised metal, they did get very cold too and I have seen people wrap the legs spirally in insulation tape to cure both ills at once (it disrupts the airflow vortex like a tall metal chimneys rib). Quadpod sticks for shooting really are the favourite toy in my armoury these days, I used to shoot grudgingly from paired sticks but since accepting the Quadpod, I have restructured my hunts towards their capabilities, rather than considering them a back-up.

 

FOR

Repetitive adjustability Lateral tracking of the gun Extremely stable

 

AGAINST

Cold to touch and wind noise

 

VERDICT

Extreme levels of stability from elevated shooting positions Good – well worth a look!

PRICE: £169
CONTACT: Hammond Country Sporting Goods, 07765 465174 www.hammondsporting.co.uk