I travel a lot for work and need a quick and easy to use tripod that packs light. This tripod fits the bill and accomplishes all I need. I was first looking at a similar benro tripod that folded inverted like this and had a monopod, but noticed this one being lighter, less expensive and still does the same stuff. Used it on one shoot so far and am very happy. I especially love how quick I can switch it into monopod mode, and how smoothly it packs back into tripod mode.My main concern when I first purchased was if I could remove the ballhead quick release plate. I have a few manfrotto tripods and plates already and was happy to see I could pull the ballhead off and replace it with a standard head unit. VERY happy with this because now everything is compatible for me. As for weight, yes it is very lightweight. That is the design purpose of the tripod, rather than be a stable tripod (which is much heavier). So it may blow or wiggly in wind, especially if you have a camera strap on the camera that blows in the wind. That said, there is a tiny spring loaded retractable hook on the extendable so you can hang some addition weights if you're into that kind of thing.