Outdoorsmans BTX Balance Rail

In the past I've just attached the larger than life spotting scope combo right to the pan head. After using the BTX combo with adapter that my friend had, it was a no brainer, it just makes sense. The whole thing balances so much better and really just is easier to work with by having the adapter. I am just bummed I didn't get it earlier.

Worked out well. Glad I got the 115 objective case the BTX , balance rail are really tight in there.

This is great! It's much lighter and provides much better support than the balance rail which Swarovski make. The Swarovski one is way too heavy and over-engineered. I use this one with a 4.5 inch lens plate from ProMediaGear, attached underneath. This gives the whole thing more rigidity - and the safety stops on the lens plate prevent the telescope from accidentally falling out of the tripod head, if you loosen the clamp. I wish there was version of this rail which was built to fit with the Swarovski stay-on-case attached. But I’m going to try using a mounting screw into the telescope which is a bit longer than the one provided. That should allow some extra space for the stay-on case. And I wish this rail had a lower profile. It seems to be about 0.75 inches higher than it needs to be. A lower profile would get the weight of the telescope closer to the tilting pivot point on the tripod head. This should increase the tilt range you get, before gravity takes over and the telescope tries to flop forwards or backwards. But overall, I’m very happy with this product and I highly recommend it.

Love it a lot simpler than Swarovskis

Moved the BTX with 85 mm lens to a better spot and reduces the chance of tipping over