Yet Another Light Stand Question

OK, here's the newest of my requirements for a light stand.

I work without an assistant a good deal of the time so I don't have anyone to hold a reflector or a translucent panel. If I want to use one I hold it with a Photoflex LiteDisc holder that is mounted to a light stand. This always works fine in the studio but never works outside because once a reflector or panel is setup it becomes a sail and the slightest wind wants to move it. The movement happens in two places.

The light stand riser rotates in its column regardless of how much I tighten or overtighten the hardware and if those risers aren't rotating then it's the actual holder mounted to the top of the stand.

I know that I could solve the problem by using two light stands but for smaller reflectors and panels that's a lot more gear to carry since each light stand will also require additional sandbags.

So what is the solution?

Perhaps a better quality light stand will hold rock solid and not allow the riser to move when tightened down, but what about a light stand with square tubing? They do it on the legs of some stands for greater strength so why not use it on the columns and risers?

There must be some grip or boom hardware that can be mounted to a stand and also be rock solid without the wind spinning it round, but if you've ever shot outside in a breeze, it can be relentless when it comes to lightstands, modifiers, etc.

There are some lightweight made in China stands with a central guide channel which subsequent sections ride in. I'm probably not describing this well, but in essence, the tubes will not rotate because of the guide channel. I have several of these stands which costed me less than US20 each, and are great for holding reflectors, flags and such. If you want photos Robert, let me know.

As for the actual holder, I would see if I can drill a small 1.5mm hole through the central portion of both the holder and stand section/err, portion that it's attached to, and insert a simple steel clip, much like a hand-grenade safety pin so the entire thing can't rotate.

Not the most elegant of solutions, but ultra cheap and doesn't require me carrying additional hardware.

hi robert, instead of buying and carrying more gear is there anyway you could use a simple tent peg a guide string to hold your sail in place?

Bullclips, rope and tent pegs for both the stand and sail!

BRILLIANT suggestion FJ!

Dream Merchant wrote in post #9936643
There are some lightweight made in China stands with a central guide channel which subsequent sections ride in. I'm probably not describing this well, but in essence, the tubes will not rotate because of the guide channel. I have several of these stands which costed me less than US20 each, and are great for holding reflectors, flags and such. If you want photos Robert, let me know.

As for the actual holder, I would see if I can drill a small 1.5mm hole through the central portion of both the holder and stand section/err, portion that it's attached to, and insert a simple steel clip, much like a hand-grenade safety pin so the entire thing can't rotate.

Not the most elegant of solutions, but ultra cheap and doesn't require me carrying additional hardware.

Thanks. Do you have a link to the light stands you have?
That may very well be a good solution.

FJ LOVE wrote in post #9936646
hi robert, instead of buying and carrying more gear is there anyway you could use a simple tent peg a guide string to hold your sail in place?

Dream Merchant wrote in post #9936693
Bullclips, rope and tent pegs for both the stand and sail!

BRILLIANT suggestion FJ!

It is an excellent suggestion and one I had thought of but it could present problems in terms of composition and framing if the rope is hanging vertically and would be in frame or force me to work around it.

What if you clip an 'A' shaped rope configuration the the back of the reflector and peg that to the ground?

I bought my stands from this place (Singapore), but you could check if any suppliers near you have the MIC stands with a central guide channel. http://store.tagotech.​com …8c8c20cf154256b​813a588e4d

Edit to add pix:

while i realized it might not be the best solution it's not often you ask for ideas and i figured it was my only chance to offer

FJ LOVE wrote in post #9936894
while i realized it might not be the best solution it's not often you ask for ideas and i figured it was my only chance to offer

I'm glad you made the suggestion. I do appreciate it but since I've obviously given this much thought I can visualize the potential problems ahead of time.

Well, I'm posting to this thread again because I was out shooting on another windy day and my stand was rotating. I now know that there's just no way to fight it no matter how hard I tighten down the hardware.

I really need to find a solution that either has a channel, groove or square tubing to prevent rotation.

The problem extends to anything I have on the stand that can be moved by wind. I know I could have used my 22" beauty dish but I wanted a much larger light source.

If anyone has any ideas or links I would appreciate it.

Well if your on a budget you can just drill a hole and insert a bolt or pin. Might take a few depending on how many sections your stand has.

Jimmer411 wrote in post #9982885
Well if your on a budget you can just drill a hole and insert a bolt or pin. Might take a few depending on how many sections your stand has.

I'm not on a budget but drilling a hole and using a pin in the riser won't do anything. The riser rotates inside the section below so you would need to drill a hole every inch or so in each riser that sits inside the riser below. Not only would that be a pain in the ass but it would also compromise the strength and integrity of the risers and stand. If you drilled one hole then that limits you to that one height.

Here is possibly a simple (and perhaps too clunky of an) idea. Poke a hole at the top and at the very bottom of the light stand and run a very thin cable through both. Make sure the cable is very long so that you can coil it many, many times around the light stand. If you coil it in the right direction, it will "self-tighten" and not let the top rotate further. If the wind was blowing the other direction, you would have to re-coil the cable the opposite direction to keep the top from rotating. As you raise it, you would have to use fewer wraps of the coil, and as you brought it down, you would need more to take up the slack in the cable.

This may all be more trouble than it it worth, but it seems to be a workable, adaptable solution.

What I would do is to bring a full size grand piano (not a wimpy baby grand) and set it up next to the stand.
Affix the stand and the modifier to the piano with some lag bolts.
You might have better luck actually tilting the grand piano forward so the keys are touching the ground. That way, you can put several lag bolts through the whole setup to the top of the grand piano.

I'm not saying this is the easiest solution, but it'll work.