...The compact needed surgery to get to ground level so I employed a hacksaw to the center column below the head. One of my friends who was also an photo enthusiast was somewhat taken back by my new go-to-ground tripod and asked "how could I do that to a Gitzo"? I think my reply was something close to "with not too much effort".
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I performed the same type of surgery to my little aluminum Gitzo 120 which I bought in a pretty "well used" shape 16 years ago at a little over $100 with a Gitzo tilt head (which I have never used). Apart from sawing off the locking part for the center column and mounting the platform directly with a bolt, I added bicycle cork handlebar tape on the upper segment of the legs for comfortable handling in the cold. It also has required some good use of marine epoxy to avoid the upper segment unscrewing from the articulation part (the little set screw did not hold), and red Locktite to prevent the screws holding the legs (articulation part) to the platform to keep coming loose. With these modifications it is holding up very well, and at a weight of 1.5 kg without my BH-40 head. It supports my AF-300mm f/4 with TC-14E on a D200 etc. pretty well with only one segment extended as below. With TC-301 the rig gets a bit on the long side, but stability problems is then just as much caused by the mechanical linkages between converter and lens/body. I think the tetrahedral default spread of these legs which is wider than often seen in other more recent tripods also adds to stability.
I feel the aluminum is quite resilient to impacts - I never pad it in my large backpack during flights. Once a kid sled into one of the outer segment while I was holding the tripod firmly down and the segment was bent pretty badly so the tripod could not be collapsed. I just straightened the segment with my hands, and today I cannot tell which of the segments were bent. I am always interested in what is out there in case it gets damaged or I feel it is not working for my purpose any longer, but both the large diameter CF tripods and the Sachtler DA75 seem to get more bulky with respect to thickness when travelling to fit inside along the side of my regular (non-photo) backpack. For me it is also important that the tripod does not have any knobs extending to the side that get hung up when I stuff it down inside the backpack. (The small yellow knobs for the metal pieces setting the angle of the legs has been removed since the image below was captured.)
A note added about using a tripod in the snow: The fixed angle stops can be a problem here. If the legs are spread all the way to the stop when pushing the tripod down in not so loose snow, it will often bend the legs outward which can both compromise stability and can cause potential damage if putting too much stain on the legs. Thus do not spread legs all the way to the stop before putting it down. (Notice to self: look for a way to keep the locks from engaging during winter use.)
Severe cold (<20°C ) will frequently prevent the tripod to get collapsed again. I have often had to carry it back home extended strapped to my backpack after an aurora shot, and I have heard many similar complaints from CF tripod users in these cold regions.
