Just this year I started using Stoney Point's detached bipod for varmit shooting. I love it. Why did I wait so long? Here's my review, lifted from THR.
I picked up the Stoney Point Expedition model (?) on my way out to shoot Whistle Pigs (ground squirrels.) These things are much smaller that Prairie Dogs. Between the size of hamster/gerbils and rats. So the kill zone is maybe 1"by 2". Small things. Its tough making hits out beyond 100 yard, particularly without a bipod! I was hunting rolling prairie. I typically work an area, then walk over the next ridge and work the next area.
First of all, its nice and light. Lighter than a Harris bipod.
I like the way the legs adjust on the Stony Point. You turn a leg 1/2 turn to free it or lock it. There are 3 legs per side on the Stoney Point Expedition. It adjusts from 23" to 64" or something like that. Basically, from sitting size through kneeling to standing. I tried all 3 positions.
When I walked to the next ridge, I used the pod in standing position as a walking stick. Nice. Then, when I first crested a ridge, I would take a couple of the closest shots in standing postion. Closest being 100 yards or under. Then adjust to kneeling or sitting postion for farther shots. Sitting postion was the most steady, but kneeling was very similar. Being able to shoot from something higher than prone is important, because the grass is up and the best way to see the critters is to get some height.
Because the pod is not attached to the gun, its easy to shift positions for targets of opportunity. You can pan & tilt to a great degree. And if you need to hit a target downhill, you can quickly reduce height just by rocking back or scootching back an few inches. Because I'm working a valley and ridge, targets vary in height considerably. I don't think a conventional attached bipod would be as good for quickly changing from a valley shot to a ridge shot. If you scan a target more than, say, 45 degress from where you're pointing, its quick to pick up the pod and move it.
So, is it as steady as an attached bipod? I dunno, I haven't tried an attached. But its certainly steady enough to improve my aim dramatically. Without the pod, I rarely made hits beyond about 120 yards. With the pod, I made hits out to 200, and didn't miss much under 150. Remember the kill zone we're talking about 1" X2". I think that is close to the accuracy limit of my rifle, which is just under MOA.
I liked the ability to use it as a walking stick. And I liked the ability to shoot from standing to sitting. And it is light. And steady enough for me. And, of course, you could use it with any rifle without having to attach the swivel stud. You can even use it with handguns and cameras.
The only downside is that, with 3 legs and 2 adjusters per side, it does take a 20-30 seconds to go all the way from standing height to sitting height. And once in a while, I would grab the lower leg and twist and the upper leg would twist. So adjusting he lower legs can be a 2-hand job. That's not an issue for fine adjustments, because you're only adjusting one leg. It only applies when going from one extreme to the other. I can live with then in exchange for having that much range to work with.
So, at this point, I have no desire to change to an attached bipod.