Heh, I lost a small tripod a couple of years back during a bike ride along a forest service trail. I posted an inquiry on my neighborhood web site and one of my neighbors said they found it about 6 miles back on the road I had traveled. So barring a trip to Mozambique, posting on a local to the area web site might help, if it wasn’t too long ago.
I saw a video article on how they make Canon telephoto lenses. I thought the article was very informative. When assembling the lens, they pretty much plop the individual elements into their place holders within the lens barrel. The lens barrel bears 99% of the responsibility for correct placement and alignment of the lenses. The other 1% comes from the lens elements being the correct size. Due to this, it is pretty clear that unless there is a significant trauma to the lens barrel, it will probably survive.
Still, my bread definitely landed butter side up this time, or at least it seems so. I still have to ttttest…..