A Strong, Sturdy, and Tall Monopod
Review by Dave Williams
Just like the 3 Legged Thing Punks range, Trent, a monopod geared for sports photography and videography, has had an overhaul. There’s a time and a place for a good, sturdy monopod, and the Trent 2.0 does a great all-around job, including for bird and wildlife photography, or any other situation where you need to support heavy, cumbersome lenses.
Trent 2.0 extends to a height of 6.5′ (2 m), which may seem excessive; however, I do see great potential for bird and aviation photography with that height. Putting it through its paces with wildlife shots and giving it some serious load, both straight down and at angles, it’s clear that Trent 2.0 is very capable when it comes to supporting weight. It’s rated to carry more than 40 times its own weight, which works out as a maximum rated load of 66 lbs (30 kg) compared to its weight of 1.6 lbs (0.72 kg). When you’re done with Trent 2.0, it collapses to a length of 23.77″ (604 mm).
The four sections of the monopod extend and collapse easily with the ergonomic and redesigned twist grips that tighten and loosen the mechanisms. The twist grips are made of knurled rubber pads, and the leg sections are made from aircraft-grade magnesium alloy just like the rest of the Punks 2.0 range.
An interesting twist on this monopod, showing the thought that’s gone into it, is the inclusion of dual threads at both ends. At the top there’s a spring-loaded, combination screw thread: a 3/8″–16 thread screw retracts to reveal a 1/4″–20 thread that’s encased inside it. At the bottom end, instead of a spring-loaded mechanism, there’s an adaptor to convert between the two threads, using the tools provided with the monopod. The thread at the bottom end allows you to attach the foot accessories in the 3 Legged Thing range, or the Docz stabilizer.
Overall, this is a great consumer monopod, coming in very close to the specs of the pro model in the
3 Legged Thing lineup. There’s some serious strength, and the build quality is nothing short of topnotch. Trent 2.0 has taken the place as the number-one monopod in my gear arsenal. ■