I ordered this unit for two reasons: 1) I encountered packing difficulties (for carry-on) while packing for my recent trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone. due to the short connection time) that I couldn't take my regular monopod with me, and 2) I saw Sirui being used successfully by several other people. It's not as light and expensive as my original monopod, but it's almost a third shorter! It has good touch and excellent finishes. It is easily adjustable and in the test tests proved to be exactly what I needed! I think it's a "win-win" purchase!