Various walking staff and like devices are known in the art. These include the devices described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,679,267 for a Combined Walking Stick and Tripod; U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,372 for an Articulated Walking Cane; U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,786 for a Pistol Rest; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,766 for a Geary Convertible Crutch System.
While these devices make a contribution to the art of walking staffs and tripods, they are disadvantageous for several reasons including, but not limited to, being too bulky, heavy or complicated, or not being sufficiently stable, strong, lightweight or compactible.
For example, each of the devices shown in the '267, '786 and '766 patents disclose some degree of telescoping, for height adjustment or compacting for storage. The amount of telescoping, however, is limited and thus fails to reduce the overall length to a more desirable length, for example, to conveniently fit inside luggage or under a seat or other location where people that are travelling would want to stow the device.
Various disassembleable shaft structures are known and include lightweight items such as tent poles and the like. These structures, while being desirably lightweight, tend to have insufficient structural integrity for use in the present invention.
With respect to other disadvantageous aspects of prior art staffs, the tripod device of the '786 patent is disadvantageous in that the size of the tripod is small relative to the height of its staff, providing limited stability. The tripod configuration of the '786 patent also utilizes lateral supports (for the tripod legs) which add undesirably to the weight and bulk of the device. Additional weight and bulk are disadvantageous in a walking staff, particularly near the tip because a user must precisely place the tip between stones, roots and other obstacles (using primarily the strength of their hand and forearm). In addition, the lateral supports (and related components) increase the complexity of the tripod mechanism and thus, the incidence of mechanical failure, e.g., lateral supports and related components are vulnerable to being bent, broken or otherwise failing. Furthermore, given the multiple parts and their interrelation, field repair is difficult if not impossible.
Prior art staffs and like devices also fail to provide an adaptable mechanism for the rapid, secure and releasable mounting of a camera, spotting scope, gun rest, or other item.