I think it's all about the price/weight ratio :) If you want something light and sturdy it will quickly get expensive, but something heavy is a pain to carry... that's still what I would go for as a stable tripod is really essential in many situations!

Well, I use this one - it's a Sirui AM-025K-CN carbon fiber tripod.

Here's what one of the legs looks like up close:

When it's fully extended it's 52" tall, so a little shorter than eye-height, mostly. It works well for landscapes when backpacking. Here it is in its shortest configuration, just sitting on my ottoman:

I wanted something portable, with an Arca-swiss plate head, as I use Arca plates on all of my gear. Since I go backpacking with my cameras, I needed lightweight, but sturdy enough to hold my full-frame 6D with 70-200 f/2.8L lens. I now use an R5 with the RF 70-200 lens.

I did weigh it, and with the head, the tripod by itself is 903.2g or 1.99lbs.

I weighed my R5 body with new 70-200 lens, and it's exactly 1827g or 4.03lbs.

I bought the tripod back in 2019, and it fits my use case well. It is NOT as sturdy in the wind as a much heavier aluminum tripod. I do have one that is rock solid in all conditions, and is slightly taller, but I find that I never really use it anymore, with image stabilization being so much better these days. I prefer the light weight and portability of smaller, collapsible tripods.

I really liked the Peak Design carbon fiber travel tripod, but it weighs a little more at 2.81lbs, and costs over $600 new. I'm happy to pay for quality, but for backpacking, weight is more of a consideration for me right now. The Sirui is only $149, so the bang for the buck worked better for me.

Cheers.