So I'm leaving for this hiking trip through the Swiss Alps in literally ten days and I just realized my current tripod is a total tank and there is zero chance I'm hauling that thing up a mountain. I've been shooting with my Lumix S5II and I love it but I really need a solid travel tripod that actually fits in a carry-on without taking up half the space.

I did some digging online and everyone keeps pointing towards the Peak Design Travel Tripod but honestly the price tag is making me sweat. $600 for the carbon one? I cant justify that right now. I also saw people recommending the Manfrotto BeFree series but then I read a bunch of reviews saying the twist locks on the legs tend to fail after a few months of heavy use or they get jammed with grit which sounds like a nightmare for hiking. I'm also worried about the stability because the S5II isn't exactly a tiny point and shoot especially when I have my 70-300mm lens on there and it gets really front-heavy.

I need something that hits these points:

• weight needs to be under 3 lbs or my shoulders are gonna give out
• has to fold down small enough to fit inside an Osprey 40L pack
• budget is strictly under $300 because I already spent too much on glass
• tall enough so I'm not hunching over like a gremlin (I'm 6 foot)
• needs to handle the weight of a full frame Lumix without the head sagging

I'm mostly doing landscape stuff and some long exposures of waterfalls so it has to be steady even if there's a breeze. Is there some hidden gem I'm missing? Maybe something from Benro or Sirui that people actually trust with their gear? I'm getting really stressed about the timeline here because if I dont order something by tomorrow it probably wont get here before my flight. Does anyone have a specific model they use with their Lumix setup that doesn't feel like a toy?