I have had good experiences with this tripod.The combined weight is ~770g, making it suitable for lightweight backpacking. The tripod seems well built considering the weight, no issues with rust and the ball head is pretty solid.Obviously at this weight & price, there are some compromises. The tripod won't handle heavy cameras (no issues with a 1kg APS-C).The ball-head does not do pan (although, I have found the Carbon Fibre poles can be rotated slightly to give a bit of panorama capacity).The biggest disadvantage is the lack of a hook, meaning in windy conditions some elastic cord is needed to give the tripod ballast and anchor it to the ground. Missing the hook is the strangest omission in what is otherwise a great design.