Frio Hold Versatile Locking Cold Shoe Mount - Durable Dual Lock, Secure with Easy Snip and Clip Cold Shoe - Ideal Cold Shoe for Devices and Gadgets.

Let's admit it, I'm writing a review for a cold shoe. Doesn't get more boring than that, but wait a minute, this thing is pretty amazing! I bought this because I wanted something sturdy to attach my Canon Speedlite to a light stand and connect a Pocket Wizard. Here's what I liked about this cold shoe.It's a heavy plastic. Built to last. Small form factor. Because it's plastic, you're not going to have any electrical interference issues. I know, that's technically the definition of a cold shoe, but there are other cold shoes that I've had problems with in the past.The flash slides easily onto the cold shoe. The gap where the flash slides into the coldshoe is not too tight and this is great because it locks into place from behind the flash through a clever, yet simple tab design. To release the flash, you can quickly depress the tab and slide the flash off the coldshoe. What I like about this is the fact that day in, day out there is a lot of pressure being placed on the Speedlite mount. It's easy to damage the flash mount and this coldshoe is very well designed and simply works perfectly and easily without putting unnecessary pressure on your flash mount.It comes with 2 threads (1/4-20 standard tripod, light stand thread and a 3/8 thread) If you want the larger 3/8, you simply take a screwdriver or coin, such as a dime and unscrew the 1/4-20 from the inside of the 3/8. Just don't lose it!Now that I've actually had one in my hands and have used it, I'm very impressed and will be adding a handful of these to my lighting kit.

I've tried a few cold shoes for remote flash use and so far, I like these the most. Here's why I think they're better than other options:1 - They LOCK. This feature already narrows down the competition significantly. The lock is secure and is easy to manipulate once you get used to it.2 - One single piece. No thumb screws to lose. The threads are a separate molded-in piece of metal, but it's not coming out. The only thing you might possibly lose is the indcluded 3/8" to 1/4" adapter. Hopefully you don't mix light stands or umblrella adapters of different thread sizes. As long as you stick with one size, you won't have to worry about this.3 - Plastic doesn't conduct electricity. Simple, no shorting the terminals on your flash and no need for tape. Other locking cold shoes are metal and could potentially short your terminals. Shorting won't cause damage but it will cause your flashes to not work correctly.4 - Saved my SB-900 from a broken foot. This ties in with the previous point about it's plastic constrution. I had an expensive flash on a stand with an umbrella outdoors. Despite the use of a sand bag on the stand, a strong gust of wind sent the light stand to the ground. The Frio shoe broke around the metal foot of my flash in the fall. Granted, I could no longer use the shoe (I had a spare) but I'd rather replace a cheap cold shoe than an expensive flash. Other clamping style cold shoes may have broken or otherwise damaged my flash.Other reviews say this can't fit the top Canon flash so, be aware of that prior to purchase. My SB-900 uses a slightly larger foot than other Nikon flashes but it still fits the Frio just fine.The only thing on my wishlist is that they make a multi-flash version. A centrally positioned thread with a Frio on each side, horizontally opposed, would be great for umbrellas. Enlight, if you're listening, I promise I'll buy one!

A great addition to my kit. It's allowed me to reduce the gear I travel with. Both my Nikon SB600 and Nikon SB700 lock in securely. I've been able to get by with just a standard tripod and a Gorilla pod for travel, leaving light stands behind. My only issue is that my Frito arrived without the 1/4-3/8 adapter. This was quickly fixed with the purchase of a few adapters from my local camera store.

I bought these last year hoping to charge more batteries at once. They only seemed to work the first couple times I used them, now they just won't seem to charge, I leave them charging overnight and in the morning the charging bars haven't made any progress at all, they just keep blinking and do nothing. Super disappointed. Wish they had some kind of warranty and I could get my money back, now they will just take up room in a landfill. Don't buy these.

After going through a few other cheap adapters to get my speedlites on a light stand, I finally broke down and bought the Frio's. I was hesitant to buy them until they were given great reviews by several people at a Syl Arena photography lighting class I attended, and I got to play with them first hand. I was surprised at how well they're actually built. High quality plastic, with a METAL insert for screwing onto a light stand. No more stripped out threads on those cheap plastic Speedlite stands! I'm using two them on a dual flash adapter (a long piece of aluminum with a thumb screw on each end for the Frio's, and a threaded hole in the middle for attaching to a light stand.) Long story short, these simply just make life easier if you're plopping multiple speedlites on light stands. They're strong, set up fast, and your expensive Speedlite is securely locked in until you're ready to remove it. If I had it to do over again, I'd stop messing with all of those cheap Speedlite adapters and just get these from the start. You'll end up saving money bc you'll probably eventually end up with these anyways. Yep, they're that good.