Be careful with cheap carbon fiber. I've seen legs snap, so I would suggest the aluminum Benro Mach3 TMA27A Aluminum Tripod instead. It survived my river fall and handles heavy rigs for cheap.

Like someone mentioned, the Benro is usually the standard recommendation, but unfortunately I had a really frustrating time with their twist locks after a week in the PNW. I thought I rinsed them well enough but the salt and grit still managed to get inside and the legs started grinding like crazy... just super disappointing when you're out in the field. Since you're heading to the Redwoods where it's definitely gonna be damp and muddy, I'd actually suggest looking at the Vanguard Alta Pro 2+ 263AT Aluminum Tripod. I've been using their stuff for a while and the build quality feels more reliable for heavy kits like your 7D. The locks have a much better seal in my experience. If you want something actually built for the elements tho, check out the Sirui W-2004 Waterproof Aluminum Tripod. It has these specialized gaskets specifically to keep water and mud out of the leg sections. It's a bit of a tank, but it wont fail you when things get messy.

I saw this earlier and had to jump in because I am absolutely obsessed with the physics of payload capacities and vibration frequencies! Your 7D setup is such a tank, I love that camera. I remember this one time my buddy tried to save a few bucks on a trip to the Pacific Northwest with his old setup. We were out by the cliffs and he was so stoked because he had calculated the exact center of gravity for his rig, but then the wind shear hit... it was absolute chaos! He had all these specs written down on his phone:

• Maximum load ratings versus actual static weight ratios
• The tensile strength of the leg joints under lateral pressure
• Torsional rigidity numbers that were honestly impressive for a budget kit It was such an amazing learning experience watching the whole thing vibrate like a tuning fork even though the math said it should have been stable. I remember we spent like three hours trying to hang his camera bag from the center column hook just to change the resonant frequency of the legs, but the wind just kept catching the bag like a sail! We ended up having to use our shoelaces to guy-wire the whole thing to some driftwood. It was a fantastic disaster and totally changed how I look at gear specs. Honestly, seeing the way the metal fatigue set in on those cheap bolts was a total masterclass in material science... ngl it was kind of beautiful in a nerdy way even though we missed the shot! Good luck with the Redwoods trip tho, its gonna be an incredible location for testing whatever you end up with!

Building on the earlier suggestion, sticking to a beefier metal build is definitely the way to go for a setup as heavy as yours. I made the mistake of going for a super light setup a few years back just to save weight on hikes, but it was a total disaster once I got into the elements. I was shooting some long exposures near a waterfall and the mist combined with the wind made the thin legs vibrate like crazy. My camera actually started drifting mid-exposure because the head couldnt handle the torque of my zoom lens. Since then, I've learned a few things:

• Extra weight is actually your friend when the wind picks up
• Aluminum is way easier to hose down after getting it muddy or sandy
• Always buy for the weight you might add later, not just what you have now Ngl, I much prefer the peace of mind I get from my current heavy setup over saving a pound or two in my bag. You really dont want to be second-guessing your gear when youre standing in the middle of the Redwoods... it just ruins the whole experience.