The NeoPod Ultralight Hunting Bipod comes with hinges. The gun should recoil freely backwards straight into your shoulder. You should be able to tell from the recoil whether you’ve made a good shot or not. If you own an Atlas, you’ll know what we mean. To make this happen, do not push forward with excessive force. Just preload the bipod by taking up the slack between the bipod, the gun and yourself and squeeze off the shot.
The NeoPod is not designed for a hard forward push. The main reason for this is that the NeoPod is supposed to be used in a hunting situation, not on a smooth and level range. Out hunting one leg of the bipod might be on a rock, the other on moss. Push with force and the recoil will make the leg on the moss will slip first, moving your shot in that direction. See link to shooting tips at the end of this post.
The NeoPod has not been designed for reverse mounting because you’ll apply forces outside the design envelope. A sudden catastrophic failure due to delamination of the carbon fibres in the composite may be the end result. This may occur a long time after the actual delamination took place, just as with fly rods and carbon fibre ski poles.
A sudden catastrophic failure due to delamination applies as well to squeezing the legs together or pulling them apart. Again, this is not part of the design envelope.
Roots, branches and rocks are there to stay. Don’t fight them, ease the bipod free if snagged.
Here’s how to employ the legs:
For shooting tips, follow this link: Shooting technique with the NeoPod