600EX-RT hot shoe connection concern

When connecting any of my 600ex-rt's to my 5D3 hot shoe I have no problem, it's when taking it off camera I have a concern. I have tried connecting to my Manfrotto hot shoe adapters on my light stands, the Joby Gorillapod hot shoe adapter and even the hot shoe adapter on my brackets for my soft boxes. It seems the lever does not close as easy as it does on the 5D3, I have to put some force on it to lock and I am worrying about it breaking.
Is this normal or is there specific hot show adapters needed for these 600's?

Well I can't help you with that but I can share an experience with you. I have the same gear regarding cam and flash. After going RT I wanted to fire my flashes remotely but the L-358 frequency is different. Only way so far is to tote my STE3 along. Since I only have to claws I decided to modify a mini stand. I purchased a generic one and found the same thing you did. I was mostly concerned about damaging the rubber seal. I eventually modified the mini stand that came with the flash to size and just ordered a couple of replacements from Canon.

Hope you can find a solution. Flash Zebra is a great place and may have some advise.

http://flashzebra.com/​products.shtml

my mod

A while back I read a post where someone stated the flash stand included with the 580 wouldn't work with the 600. I think the locking pin was larger on the 600?

Koz21 wrote in post #15708065
When connecting any of my 600ex-rt's to my 5D3 hot shoe I have no problem, it's when taking it off camera I have a concern. I have tried connecting to my Manfrotto hot shoe adapters on my light stands, the Joby Gorillapod hot shoe adapter and even the hot shoe adapter on my brackets for my soft boxes. It seems the lever does not close as easy as it does on the 5D3, I have to put some force on it to lock and I am worrying about it breaking.
Is this normal or is there specific hot show adapters needed for these 600's?

You don't have to lock the flash into the cold shoe using the level on the flash. Just use the thumb screw that comes with the cold shoe to lock the flash foot to the shoe.

its the rubber sealing. You can remove the rubber sealing for a better fit.

Ahhh. I never thought of that. I prefer to leave it on so I'm OK with the path I took. That should help the OP.

Thanks everyone for your input, it is very much appreciated. Last night I had taken off the rubber seal and yes it did help somewhat but it was hard to tell if it was the seal or the supposedly larger pin causing the problem? I am looking for some top quality metal cold shoe adapters with the side screw lock, anyone have any particular brands they like over the other? DP, I did follow the link you provided to flashzebra and seen some mounts there.