OK, so I had typed up an entire review & as soon as I tried to insert a product link, it pasted the link & erased my ENTIRE review (WOW AMAZON!)... Don't really feel like typing the entire thing again from scratch, but i'll try my best....First, lets get the petty stuff out of the way... The tripod appeared to be USED when I thought I was buying a brand-new item... Not sure how this happened, maybe it was a return or something, but definitely had several signs of use... Couple little scrapes on the tops of the legs, couple gashes on the rubber feet at the bottom of the tripod... Little signs of use, plus the manual seems to give step-by-step instructions on assembly, which convinced me that this tripod is supposed to ship unassembled (I received it fully assembled)... So that was yet another sign that I somehow ended up with a tripod that seems to have been used before... Put a bad taste in my mouth initially, as it should, & for this reason, I took off one star on this rating... Nevetheless, I decided to refrain from making a final judgement until after I completely set it up.Now lets get to the good stuff... First off, this item shipped FAST... I'm in Phoenix & paid about $17 to ship via 3-5 day (which, from experience, is via UPS ground)... I guess I didn't think about the fact that Amazon has a warehouse out here which meant I might get the item rather quickly. In any event, I ordered it on a Wednesday morning & it was delivered on that next Thursday evening (shipped in ONE DAY :-)... I probably could have just stuck with the free "super saver" shipping, but even with this being shipped directly from Amazon, you have no way to tell which warehouse holds your particular item (& i'm sure Amazon has MANY warehouses :-)...Now lets talk about this tripod... For starters it is VERY solid/sturdy, & you can tell that it is well-built immediately upon pulling it out of the bag. The pan/tilt head is smooth as butter (especially as far as the panning) & in my opinion, works as well as some that cost several times as much... One thing I wish was different was the fact that the insert point for the right "handle bar" seems to block the "tilt-lock" lever as you try to tighten it... Not something to remove a star over, & it still seems to get tight enough to keep the camera steady... But you know it could be tighter & I think this could become an issue in cases where you wanted to mount a slider &/or heavier camera on the tripod (for example)... Hopefully I will discover a workaround &/or a "fix" for this over the next few days, but it's not the end of the world.I like "good" surprises & as I continue on to the end of this review, I would like to make note of a couple of them that I found significant. The first "good" surprise was that the max height of this tripod is actually 55" as opposed to 54.5" (55" at the top of the quick release plate)... I was a little worried that it would not be tall enough as i'm 5'6 [66"] without shoes on & wanted to be able to get eye-level/horizontally level shots of standing subjects my height & shorter (from only a foot or so away, if desired)... Well, when I factored in the additional height from my own Sima quick release (This seems lightly used, the stand feet look worn. So that should have been made known in the description and the price adjusted for proper transparency.Here's the background:I am a filmmaker and commercial director who shoots over 50 projects per year. From TV commercials and music videos, to independent films and television programming. That said, I travel a ton and need a solid tripod that can withstand the punishment of the road or air travel, and can also support the weight of my heavy DSLR rig (with rails, cage, battery, 2 monitors, mattebox, long lenses, and additional mounted accessories weighing in at a little over 20lbs). I have several high end heavy duty tripods in my studio, however, due to their cost, I always get nervous about taking them out on the road. So, I set out to find a product that could handle the wear and tear, as well as the weight, and still function as good as the day I bought it. In addition, I wanted to find one that was very affordable in the event that it didn't last, it wouldnt be a great loss.After spending a week checking out all of the products in the price point, and reading a million reviews, I finally landed on the Ravelli AVTP Pro with Fluid Drag Head. I was impressed by all of the positive reviews and by the features, especially considering the price! I ordered and took advantage of the free shipping, which led my item to arrive in only 3 days here in Ohio.Opening the packaging, I was immediately impressed by the solid, rather heavy-duty bag that it included. Upon setup, I could immediately tell that this tripod was a road warrior. The construction is solid and I love the weight. It is obvious that these sticks could probably easily support twice the weight that they are rated at with no problem. Next I setup my rig and put it through a test to see how smooth the head actually function. I was more than impressed. The left-right panning was smooth as all tensions without and 'sticky' spots. When it comes to the 'up-down' movement, even at the loosest tension, the movement was a little stiff, however, it was still smooth even with more tension added. All in all, this tripod performs on the level with items 3 or 4 times the cost of the Ravelli AVT Pro.My only complaint aside from the slightly stiff up-down motions was the little 'stick on labels' on the tripods leg locks. The labels indicate which direction to turn to lock and unlock the leg releases. Right out of the box during setup, the little stickers started falling off while unlocking the legs for the first time. Fortunately, they easily stuck back on to where they belonged, however, within the first 20 minutes of use, 3 of the stickers fell off and had to be re-applied. I have a feeling that within a month or two, none of those stickers will remain n the tripod. Of course, it's hardly a big deal, as those stickers arent even necessary in the first place, however, it's just one of those little things that kind of bum you out. The only other thing that may be bothersome to some is the weight. For me, the heavier the tripod the better. I need a set of sticks that can handle the weight and is built to last. This thing definitely feels like a tank. But, if you are the run and gun kind of shooter who likes to strap a tripod to your backpack, or carry it under your arm from location to location, you will certainly get worn out quickly. It's heavy, there is no question, but in my opinion...weight equals strength. If you want something light, than this tripod is not for you. If you don't mind the weight, however, and are looking for a durable set of sticks, this is the tripod for you!Lastly, the free additions included with the tripod were pretty awesome. First of all, they give you an additional tripod mount, so you can very quickly switch between 2 cameras. Or, have an extra laying around in case you lose one in your travels. Definitely a nice addition!Secondly, I was very impressed by the free mini tripod included. Much like the AVT Pro, the mini tripod is packaged inside a decently durable bag, and is built fairly solid. To my surprise, the mini tripod stood almost as high as the AVT pro (about 1 ft shorter). For a mini tripod, that was pretty impressive. Obviously, it's not something you would want to put your DSLR on, as the weight maximum on the mini tripod should probably be around 2 pounds. For my uses, it makes a perfect tripod for mounting one of my GoPros. It would also be useful for any tripod mounted accessories like a field monitor or etc. Can't beat it for a free item!In total, I rate this product a solid 9/10! The construction is solid, the included packaging is excellent for a bag, and the fluid drag head is smooth in all positions and tensions. This tripod can definitely handle almost any size camera package, and looks like it can stand the test of time. A true road warrior in my opinion. Plus, for the price....you can't beat it! I highly recommend to anyone looking for an affordable tripod that can stand the weight and has a great fluid movement. Plus, the added bonus of the additional mount and free mini tripod make it that much sweeter!I bought this last April to use as my main tripod for video work. I is an excellent tripod, heavy and very sturdy. I have other tripods which are Manfrotto and these are not quite as easy to use and sturdy as the Ravelli. I was delighted with the purchase and it has worked well. The tripod is heavy but that is what a wanted for studio work The tripod does hold the camera well and does not allow any unwanted movement.Good PointsVery Heavy. Sturdy Legs. Two arms on the head. Until I had two I never realised how useful two are. Really good fluid head.Pointy feet to stick in the soil. A rock solid fluid head that is adjustableProblems.The 75mm ball mount needs to be tightened up really tight otherwise a heavy camera can slip. This ball mount allows rather too much slippage unless it is really tightHere follows what happened when the tripod brokeAfter 9 months of use of about, a day a week, the slider fixing screw, which I did not over tighten, sheared off which meant the head needs to be replaced as well. This piece of metal was really thin.I suppose I will have to replace the ball head and the video head. This will cost me more than the tripod. I expected a longer life than 9 months use.I wrote to the Manufacturer. Here is their response.Thank you for contacting us and for purchasing our tripod. We would like to extend our apologies for the issues faced at this point in time with our professional tripod an d we would love to offer you with a solution. We would love to go ahead and send you the replacement base plate for your tripod but we are not allowed to ship parts to the UK because of the extremely high shipping cost since we only have an account with UPS.I then received a very supportive and helpful email from the Distributor. asking for all the details. I obliged and told my story of woe. I received and acknowledgement from them.The next morning a replacement tripod arrived out of the blue. I was very surprised and delighted. I now have a fully working tripod, that is able to support my heaviest lenses.This was six star service from the distributor.Brilliant Thanks so much.This Tripod was great for about 5 months, then it broke just outside of returnability. The latch on the sliding mount became weak (this was a back up tripod so wasn't even used heavily over these 5 months, maybe around 20 uses?) it then SNAPPED OFF, I believe it is made of aluminium, so now there is no way to tighten the sliding mount disk into place rendering this product useless. Not to mention the adhesive of the grip, on the mount is also very weak and fell off while shooting an evening shoot without notice. So I would highly recommend buying a separate head if you do choose to purchase this product. I am very disappointed. [See pictures below] The legs of the product itself are strong and sturdy, but now need to buy a new head to mount on... You're better off spending a little more cash and buying something else. Such a shame. 1 STAR.EDIT: The guys at Ravelli arguably have some of the BEST customer service on Amazon, not only did they send out a replacement for this (free of charge) but they also refunded me for my purchase, on top of this, they have taken notes on feedback i've given to them on how to improve the design (height change, and fixture change on head of the mount to make it more durable/usable) I am currently using the replacement tripod on some shoots to hold my B roll and it does a stellar job, it hasn't broken yet... we shall see how well it goes come mid 2019 :)I didn't buy this to use as a Video/photographic tripod but that's another story. What I will say is this, with 11Kgs, sat on top it's smooth to pan and tilt tracking a target and rock steady. I manufactured a plate to mount to the Quick Release Plate and bought a further 3/8" locking screw to fix my plate securely, this is easily sorted thanks to the slot used to enable changing the 3/8" for a 1/4 20 (both supplied).All the knobs and locks work well and fall easily to hand even on a pitch black night.It's easily adjusted for use sitting or standing, getting the height adjusted is not quite as easy as a tripod fitted with an adjustable center column but then you would lose the rigidity this offers. If that sort of accuracy fits your need then get a Manfrotto. You pays your money and takes your choice!It's survived several outings so far with no problems despite me dropping it in a ditch and knocking it against a few trees plus several hours in a couple of heavy rainstorms.Okay, it's a little weighty and bulky but that's no bad thing, it aids stability in my book.The one small gripe I have with this bit of kit and believe me it's a very minor gripe, is the quality of the bag. I'm not sure it's up to the sort of abuse it's going to get from me. However, that said, it's easily replaced with something a little more robust.If I were to buy the product made for what I use this for I would have to shell out 3 times the amount this cost.All things considered for a 100 quid or so you can't go wrong.I was looking for a very solid set of legs to mount various sliders on, and as a 'spare'. At this price, I thought "why not"? In fact, what turned up was far, far better than I ever expected. The legs are very well made indeed. Without hesitation, they compare well to many at up to 10X the price. The head is pretty decent. Not the best head I've ever used, but certainly perfectly adequate for my purposes and again, vastly better than expected. It is certainly solid and well made, but slightly stiff. The supplied bag is also very adequate. Honestly, to get a set of legs and head for this price that is so solidly put together is simply an incredible deal. As a backup system or second tripod for use with alternate mounts and rigs, it is hard to beat! Looks built to last, and I'm very happy with it.Seems to be a very sturdy tripod and a big step up from my basic/light/cheap tripod I've used for photography. I'm not actually using it for video work, but a quick test has me thinking the smoothness of the pan and tilt could be better. It's smooth, and may improve over time with use, but out of the box it does lack a little. The real issue for me though is any possible support I may want later on. Some reviews (of probably older versions) show this tripod coming with two quick release plates. Mine had one. That's OK, but contacting the seller for an extra, they tell me that they can only deliver to addresses in the United States. As the release plate is a proprietary design (they say), this is not good at all, and Amazon should sell them. What this also means is that any other replacement parts are going to be awkward to get as well. So the back up and support for this tripod is not there. It may be that the head is some generic Chinese design that just gets re-branded to company names, but I don't know. If the release plate is lost or gets broken, I'm probably looking at having to get a new complete head, and hope that the bowl design of the tripod is a standard one.