How're they hangin'...

... I mean your Pocket Wizards.

Last week I was paging through a Strobist discussion on flickr and ran across this post by Oglethorpe.
Read the thread here

In short, Oglethorpe wanted to know what the little pieces of velcro were for that are packaged with the Wizards. As most may guess, you use them to secure the gadget to the light stand. As most of you also know, velcro works great...sometimes. I believe 99% of strobist just hang them by the lanyard and let them bang into the stand each time you move it.

His question, and the responses he received, inspired this little bracket. It's simple to build if you are in to DIY and all of the components can be found at the hardware store... well, I should let you know the chances of finding ALL the parts at ONE store is pretty slim.. you may have to make a couple of stops.

These are the parts you will need to find.
1 - stainless socket cap screw 1/4-20 x 1/2"
2 - neoprene o-rings 1/4" ID
1 - snap ring 1/4"
1 - press-on round knob for the cap screw, but you could use a wing.

Oh, and the bracket itself? I laser cut some .125 sheet steel to fit the width and radius of the flash swivel from Midwest Photo Exchange. The fit is perfect and looks OEM. I chose to cut a star pattern but a square hole would work just as well. This will fit the shoulder bolt on the flash swivel and prevent the bracket from slipping if you have it in the horizontal position.

Bending is pretty straight forward. I used a 3in1 to get good clean bends, but you could use a vise in a pinch. The O-rings prevent you from over tightening the screw and the snap ring captures the screw so you don't have to chase it around the bottom of your bag. If you choose to paint this, I recommend Rust-oleum Textured in black. It matches the textured finish on the flash swivel perfectly.

More pics here.

If you're a DIYer, spend a little time in the garage and make yourself 2 or 3 of these little guys. If you don't have the time, tools or patience to do this yourself, you can purchase a set of 3 from me. One exception you will see that will be different from the DIY build is that I will powder coat instead of paint. Paint will not hold up in the long run.

I'm going to fabricate a hundred or so of these and see if there is any interest. I'll judge the success of this by the number of people that click the BUY button in the next couple of days.

If you are interested you can purchase a set of 3 (three) brackets by clicking on the "BUY" button. Price will be $24.00 plus flat rate shipping of $4.70 for a total of $28.70. I'm going to limit this to U.S. buyers for now and we'll see how it goes from there.

If you have any questions, give me a shout:
ziv@bendcable.com