3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod System Review: An Excellent Lightweight Travel Tripod with Modular Design and Genuine Personality

3 Legged Thing is a manufacturer of tripods and related gear. The company started in 2010 in a chicken shed in Stagsden, Bedfordshire, England. From the start, 3 Legged Thing went its own way, adding color, anodized components, and modular design to its products. For this review, I was sent the 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod with the optional AirHed Cine Fluid Head to test.

What is It?

The 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod is a compact, lightweight, leveling-base modular tripod available with or without a choice of cine heads.

It is designed for wildlife and landscape photographers, videographers, and those who desire the flexibility and portability that make it easy to travel to and shoot in all environments.

In the configuration being reviewed here, the 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod is paired with the AirHed Cine-V, which has a 501-style clamp and plate for compatibility with a wide variety of photographic and videographic gear.

What’s in the Box

• 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod (Metallic Slate Gray)
• AirHed Cine Video Head with 501-Style Plate
• Panning arm for right or left-handed operation
• Premium, protective carry bag with a carabiner clip and storage pocket with an extendable carry strap
• Toolz – multitool, hex key, coin key, keyring, carabiner and bottle opener
• Limited 5-Year Manufacturer Warranty

Personality

The first thing you notice about the 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod is the personality of its creators and how it translates into everything they make, from the company name, branding, and packaging to the products themselves.

I have many tripods of varying sizes, weights, capacities, and capabilities, but the best thing I can say for even just a few of them is that they have ingenious designs.

The Jay is downright funky. My review sample came in Metallic Slate Gray, which I love, but the tripod is also available in Matte Black. In the black version, all of the components, except for the legs themselves, which are made of carbon fiber, are black, but in the Metallic Slate Gray version, the accent color is an anodized orange.

This gives the Jay a charm that other tripods don’t have. Too much charm for you? Then, get the much more standard black version.

Build Quality and Features

The 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod and head have very good build quality. The materials feel solid, and the moving parts feel secure yet easy to adjust. The tension of the main pivot point of the three legs is user-adjustable with the included multitool.

Starting at the top of the tripod (when paired with the 501 style fluid head) is the quick-release plate with its camera mounting screw(s). On one side of the plate is the clamp knob, in this case also made of anodized magnesium alloy in bright orange, and on the other side are a series of marks allowing users to note different aligning positions of the plate. A bubble level sits adjacent to the marks with an ¼” – 20 accessory attachment point on the side.

The casing below features pan arm attachment points on the right and left sides, and centered on the casing is the tilt lock with the pan lock directly below it on the head’s base. The head’s base also includes a second bubble level.

The 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod has the leveling head integrated into the top. It features a dual ¼” -20 mount with a 3/8″ 16 adapter sleeve. The leveling base lock, located on the side of the tripod’s top, allows the tripod to be locked down.

The tripod’s underside features the friction adjustment D-ring made of the same anodized orange magnesium alloy. This allows for quick loosening and tightening of the leveling base, and the D-ring can be attached to your strap for carrying or to the bag for ballast.

The rapid latches at the junction point of each leg offer three leg angles the manufacturer considers optimum: 23, 55, and 80 degrees. Adjusting the legs is quick and easy using the rapid latches, even when wearing gloves.

To select a leg angle, press the rapid latch leg catch, move the leg into the desired position, and release the latch. You can also adjust the tension in the legs’ pivot points using the included multitool. The legs themselves are made of carbon fiber and are screwed into the hinges. The legs can be removed and replaced with a variety of available feet or reconfigured for use as a monopod—more on that in the next section.

All of the screw points on the legs, feet, and other tripod components are ¼” – 20 thread and come with a 3/8″ 16 adapter sleeves.

Each leg segment is joined to the next with a clever series of friction locks. The locks have raised O-Pads with a Bubble grip texture for better grip and water dispersal. The locks need only be turned a half turn to loosen enough to extend and retract the legs. The 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod has been engineered with a new style of nylon shims, referred to as “Chicken Lips,” that give the leg locks greater strength, grip, and formidable anti-rotation.

Modular Design

The 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod’s design is modular and allows for a huge number of variations in terms of set-up and usage. As a standard tripod, it can extend to nearly 4′ and can sit on the ground at under 8″ with the fluid head and less than 4″ without it. While that range is very impressive, it is just the start of what the Jay system can do.

The carbon fiber legs can easily be unscrewed and replaced with a variety of available feet. 3 Legged Thing offers a whole line of these feet, including Little Bootz (rubber feet), Big Bootz (big rubber feet), Heelz (stainless steel spikes), Clawz (stainless steel grips), Stilettoz (long stainless-steel spikes), and Vanz (stainless steel spikes with ABS rubber balls). The company also offers Docz, a rugged foot stabilizer for monopods.

The detachable legs can also be used as monopods or boom arms. Jay’s leveling base can be converted to a tabletop tripod or even a foot stabilizer for the monopod by adding optional footwear such as those previously listed.

For this review, I am pairing the 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod with the Vanz Ball & Spike Footwear, whose flexibility further extends the capabilities of the tripod. Regardless of the feet that you choose, the leveling head design will enable users to position the camera exactly how they wish in any terrain.

Portability

With a folded length of just 15.9″ (40.5cm), the 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod is small enough to fit in many camera bags. It is considerably smaller than most tripods, yet it can accommodate cameras and rigs larger in size and weight than many can handle. Its own padded case is about two-thirds the size of most tripods.

Combine that with the (eight layers of 100% pure Japanese pre-preg stealth) carbon fiber and hard anodized aerospace-grade magnesium alloy components, and you have an easy-to-carry, lightweight tripod that can handle most gear.

In my tests, I toted the tripod and my camera bag through forests and across some rocky terrain and found it considerably preferable to my older, heavier tripods.

The AirHed Cine 501

The 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod is available independently or paired with fluid heads, either the Arca-Swiss or 501 style. Whether using a video camera, a DSLR, or a mirrorless camera, the fluid head allows for smooth-flowing motion in every direction.

The mounting plate is anodized magnesium alloy and bright orange in the tested configuration. The attention to detail is impressive, even with the head of the tightening bolt sporting the “Stagsden” town name.

Attaching the plate to the head is just like any other standard 501-style plate; using the plate is equally familiar and comfortable.

3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod & Airhed Cine 501 Specifications

Vanz Ball and Spike Footwear

To make the 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod even more useful, I requested to test it with the optional Vanz ball and spike footwear. Made of stainless steel with removable ABC balls for feet, Vanz looks like equipment that one might take on a climb of Mount Everest. They are compatible with all 1/4″-20 and 3/8″-16 threads with the included sleeves.

As mentioned earlier, with the optional feet, the Jay tripod can be converted to various other configurations, including a very low-level or tabletop tripod for macro photography. With the added height of the Vanz, the tripod can be confidently positioned on muddy or rocky terrain or even shallow water.

What’s in the box:

• (3x) Stainless Steel Vanz with 1/4″-20 threads
• (3x) ABS boots that screw on and off
• (3x) Synthetic Rubber Stagsden Washers
• (3x) 3/8″ adapter sleeves

Should you Buy the 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod?

The 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod is excellent. Its modular design allows it to be reconfigured in several ways, making a few of my current tripods redundant. Its light weight and small size allow it to be easily transported to locations that larger, heavier tripods will rarely see. The AirHed Cine Kit Fluid Head is very capable, and when paired with cameras of the size and weight it is intended to suspend, it works very well.

Can you overload the AirHed Cine Kit Fluid Head with too much weight or extend the rig too far, making it difficult to use? Yes, but you have to try.

I found the 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod System to be a pleasure. It makes shooting more fun, and the color scheme and attention to detail help in this regard.

I have several tripods that feature latch-type releases for the legs, and when wrapping up, I am accustomed to inverting them, flipping the latches, and letting gravity fold the tripod for me. You cannot do this with the rotating twist locks featured on the Jay. Then again, the twist locks keep out water and dirt much better and allow the Jay to be used in environments unsuited for my other tripods.

The 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod is for you if you want a lightweight travel tripod with unmatched flexibility, a brilliant design, and some personality.

The 3 Legged Thing Legends Jay Carbon Fiber Tripod & AirHed Cine Kit Fluid Head sells for $799.99 and is available directly from the manufacturer and other retailers, including B&H Photo and Amazon. The Vanz dual ball and spike footwear (set of 3) cost $69.99 and is available directly from the manufacturer.

Source: Manufacturer supplied review samples

What I Like: Unique modular design; Personality; Small and lightweight; Impressive flexibility; Can accommodate relatively heavy equipment; Excellent build quality

What Needs Improvement: AirHed Cine’s tilt tension could be a bit weak for heavier cameras