In a word, this is a BEAST. I thought it would be fun to place it side by side with my other 75" tripod (the Victiv AT25) and you can see not only how much larger it really is, but also how much sturdier. Everything important is metal -- most importantly the spreader / stabilizer connections that always seem to be the first thing to snap.

To be clear, this is not something you are likely to select as your first choice on a hiking trip because it is big and bulky and heavy. But if you are expecting some wind or want to be absolutely sure that your camera isn't going to shake during your long exposure shots or you just have a really heavy zoom lens, this is your tripod.

The legs did not fully extend smoothly all the way and needed a bit of pulling to fully seat them. And that's about it for my design complaints. Everything else just runs smoothly. The pan bar and instructions are hidden inside a compartment inside the bag, but the whole operation is pretty much intuitive and self-explanatory. Panning and tilting is smooth and locks into place or, in the case of tilting, if you choose not to lock into place, it will self-correct back (to a certain extent). It's got room for additional attachments (lights or mic, for example).

For the price, if you are looking for a sturdy tripod that will last you a long time, you really can't go wrong with this beast.