The heathen bipod system.
To understand the heathen bipod system you have to open your mind to the idea of weight (Or lack thereof) as a design feature. If you buy the heathen expecting a replacement for a standard folding bipod system you will be disappointed. The heathen is specifically designed to offer the stability of a standard bipod without the weight penalty. It's a truly beautiful thing once you understand it's use.
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To use the heathen you insert the two detachable legs into the corresponding perpendicular holes in the rail-mounted base. The legs are held in place with integral plastic detents. This works great until it doesn't. (More on this later) The legs store in two additional holes in the rail-mounted base that keep the legs tucked up tight to the rail. Also included are several rubber bands that you can use to keep the foot end of the legs tight to the rail. The feet have hollow protrusions that allow the feet to be attached to each other if you plan to store them as a single unit. (They can be thrown into a pocket or stuffed into a column of mole webbing and will stay together) The protrusions have the added benefit of giving the rubber band something to grab onto. The rail-mounted base also serves as a hand stop and barricade stop with some gnarly teeth on the front that bite well into barricades.
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The whole process of freeing the legs and getting them set is anything but quick even with practice. It's not complicated by any stretch of the imagination but it does take some dexterity and clear access to the muzzle end of the gun. I found the easiest way to accomplish the task was to put the gun in high port and roll it inboard to see the bottom of the mount. Pull the legs out of their stowed position and insert them into the bottom holes. Once the legs are in place the bipod functions just like any other bipod you're used to.
After you're done with it you pull the legs out of their holes and you'reback to square one. You can either stow the legs back in their storage holes or pop them together and throw them in a pocket or pouch. However if you plan to use the bipod again I strongly suggest keeping the legs in their deployed position. Save yourself some trouble and just move with it that way.
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Now for the downside... I recently used the Heathen for a 3 day DMR class. By the end of day 2 the legs were no longer retained in their deployed position holes. It started slowly but eventually got to a point where the legs would fall out every time the weight of the rifle wasn't holding them in. On the third day, after putting tape on the legs, I actually lost one of the bipod legs during a movement course.
After the course I contacted Heathen and they immediately asked if I had been loading the bipod. I informed them that I always load the bipod and that I am not particularly gentle about it. I was informed that the nature of the retention system doesn't hold up well to being heavily loaded. (The forward force of pushing into the rifle with your shoulder to help control recoil and bipod bounce) The tension created seems to tweak the internal plastic detents causing them to loosen over time. Heathen was not shy about the issue and stated it has been documented. Their suggestion was to limit the amount of force used when loading the bipod and let the weight of the rifle keep the bipod planted. Heathen had a whole new bipod system in my hands within two days. I was very impressed with the way the situation was handled especially given the damage being my fault.
This leads into the other issue, stability. The Heathen bipod does not feel particularly stable when compared to traditional bipods. At first I found this very disconcerting and was constantly worried I was going to bend one of the legs or have the whole thing pop off the rail. The legs are very wide at the base so I wasn't worried about it tipping over but I did notice a lot of flex and twist in the legs. After a short time using the bipod I actually came to appreciate this bit of flex. There is no tilt or swivel to the Heathen but I found that by flexing the legs slightly I was able to get a decent amount of swivel while maintaining stability.
Aside from the retention issue I had no other failures despite a very abusive training environment.
Now for the summary. If you are looking for the perfect patrol rifle bipod your search is over. I can very confidently say that the Heathen bipod has struck that perfect balance of versatility, weight and cost. Sure it isn't as stable as an accu-tac and no it's not as bombproof as one either but it's also only a few ounces and $60 (Their good guy pricing is worth getting signed up for cats). In the days of variable magnification optics, 1,500 lumen weapon lights and MFAL's on every dudes rifle you will appreciate the versatility and respect the weight savings. We are asking more from our weapon systems now then ever before and the Heathen delivers the performance you've been looking for. Plus it doesn't look as stupid as a grip-pod....