Survey Tripod

This is the foot of a survey tripod. In supporting a survey device,, theodolite, total station, RTK base station the requirement is the same;; to retain the instrument with absolute stability. If the vertical cross hair was sighting on the left side of a slender nail head at 200 metres range and the instrument was turned to point at the right side of the nail then this would register as a turned angle of about 1 second. It would make a mockery of attempts ai precise surveying if the instrument was not  mounted on a solid and well adjusted tripod. In setting up the tripod each point is pushed in to the soil under the weight of a foot on the little lug pictured.
Knowing how substantial a survey tripod is I am bemused at the flimsy nature of some very expensive camera tripods. Very few have spikes that can be pushed in to soil and none (as far as I know) have lugs to assist with the weight of a foot.
A heavy duty survey tripod is reassuringly heavy and carrying it just a few hundred metres, usually in combination with a boxed instrument, sees the operator relieved at the end of the  short haul.
I think many keen landscape/ astro photographers  would be delighted with stability afforded if not the outright weight.