Hedgie Photography

Monoskipole

No pretty pictures here, sorry, but I wanted to share a helpful hint for skiing photographers out there. Carrying an SLR and a tripod into a ski resort isn’t always a big deal, but when you’re going deep into the backcountry you want to shave off every ounce you can. Even the lightest monopods weigh quite a bit, and they’re basically the same thing as a ski pole. While I’ve heard that ski poles with camera mounts exist, I’ve never seen one, and I quite like my Goode carbon-fiber poles, and don’t want to give them up. I’ve also seen some particularly bad examples of homemade ski pole monopods, and I knew I could do better than that. Here’s how I did it:

Go to the hardware store and buy a stainless steel headless hex bolt, 1/2 inch long, 1/4 inch wide with a 20 thread count. My local Ace Hardware charged me 55 cents for one. Bolt Depot sells them for 35 cents here, but you’ll pay ten dollars shipping.

Many ski poles, including my Goodes, have a screw at the top holding the wrist strap on. Some models may have the screw securing other bits of plastic as well, in which case you may need to glue them together. Remove the screw — you shouldn’t be using a wrist strap in the backcountry anyway; it’s far too dangerous. The hole the screw leaves behind is too small for your bolt, but that’s no problem.

Holding the bolt with a pair of pliers, or whatever you have handy, hold it over a flame until it gets really hot. Then, using the pliers, press it firmly into the hold left by the screw, until only 3-4 threads stick out of the top of the pole. It’s very important that you not leave too much bolt sticking out — overtightening a camera on a mount can damage the camera. Let the pole sit for about ten minutes to cool.

In my case, there was a gap around the top of the bolt where the screw head had been. I filled it with a fast-acting glue, although I suppose anything that bonds well to plastic would work. The ability to bond to metal would undoubtedly increase durability as well.

The end result? See below. An unobtrusive camera mount, adding virtually no weight to my backcountry setup, with a total cost of 55 cents. The camera mounts quickly and easily, and once mounted, is extremely stable. My lightweight G9 and this monopod make for an outstanding backcountry kit.

Edit: In response to queries, I use a rounded nut endpiece to prevent cutting and snagging when the camera is not attached to the pole. Sorry for the omission!