Just ran into a tripod made by SunPak on B&H site, it looks identical in most details to 1170RM. Is Sony tripod made by Sunpack then?

http://ak.buy.com/db_assets/prod_lrg_images/480/90134480.jpg

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=ProductDetail&A=showItemLargeImage&Q=&sku=376824&is=REG

Although this one is open, it also looks identical.
http://tinyurl.com/36la4r
It is the Libec M20 for $179

http://www.buy.com/prod/sunpak-620-810-video-pro-m-2-tripod-with-fluid-head/q/loc/111/205604030.html

or someone just knocked off the design...

I am staring at the Libec in front of me and can not see a difference at all--but the differences may not be obvious until you mount a camera on it. The Libec is a cheap pod--it has a pretty cruddy fluid head that doesn't pan smoothly, but it was great to start with because of the low price.

well, you are right about the head, I'm sure it's different on sunpak as well.
I love my 1170 tripod, it pans and tilts flawlessly and smooth. I just thought that it'd be not too bad to have a back up.