I bought the first of this style of light stand about 15 years ago, and I've got a whole garden of them now. This is basically my on-location stand--light enough in weight, sturdy enough for my on-location equipment, packs compact enough for me to shlep a bunch of them in a stand case. It's not air-cushioned, but it is spring-loaded.
But the most important factor for me is the locking mechanism. It uses an all-metal lock lever identical to the levers of the old-school Manfrotto 3021 tripods (of which I have four). This is a bullet-proof locking mechanism that is tension-adjustable with the same 8mm socket used by the tripod. When it gets a little loose, it takes no more than a half-turn of the wrench and its showroom-tight again. The legs are held on with simple screws available at any hardware store (if I should ever lose one).
Basically, I like this tripod because it starts out tough and it's easy to put back into adjustment or replace parts. And it's cheap enough that even if I left one somewhere, I wouldn't cry.
I'm talking about the model 806 from this ad. The model 806A (in silver and black) is essentially the same locking mechanism as the newer Manfrotto 055 tripod--an upgrade of the 3021, and uses the same wrench for adjustment. It's good, too.
https://www.amazon.com …age_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
