I picked this list of useful monopod links from the Nikon D70 forum from dpreview.com . I never even thought about the monopod dowel cracking when using it for my VX2000.

http://www.outdooreyes.com/photo5.php3
http://www.sportsshooter.com/news_story.html?id=392
http://www.nicholsonprints.com/Articles/monopods.htm
http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/monopod.html