Impact BHE-102 Heavy-Duty Flex Arm for Super Clamp

[Updated Preface]I would not buy this product. It looked quite sturdy and a good tool for my needs until I tested it for a week and adjusted it perhaps 15-20 times. It could have been a lemon but it certainly did not look like it. The goose neck was very solid and stiff. I bought it to for its obvious use to hold objects away from tripod, laterally - not in the unusual configuration shown in its Amazon product shot. This review is based on my studio use as just described. If others use it hold things close to its mounting point without any long lateral extension, then I am sure it can hold more than I was able to in my situation. So, please keep this all in mind as you read the rest of this review. I did not test, do not know, and cannot attest, if the Manfrotto version of this arm which looks virtually identical from the product shots, is any better.[End updated preface]This piece is WAY too heavy for what it does and, because of that, does so poorly. Add the necessary clamp at its end to hold anything or a small gadget like a small flash or cell phone and it will be at its bending point.Being a spiraled metal snake, it will loosen over time since it loosened for me in just 1 week of testing. I gave it 2 stars because it does work in an extremely narrow usage context like holding very light objects like 2' x 3' sheets of paper used as a background of a small product shot or a very light flash.However, considering it's weight, I liken it's use to a heavy military tank that tips over on the smallest of inclines.Like its product photo suggests, it is nothing more than a heavy spiraled metal tube such as used for extending a mic upwards at a moderate angle or the neck of a goose neck table lamp holding just a light bulb and light shade. Either of those usage situations does not match its likely use in a studio where it needs to be extended more horizontally to hold a small object or some sheets of backdrop paper away from the tripod or pole to which it is mounted.Don't forget that you need to add to its end, the weight of an object and/or a clamp to hold something. Just the weight of a Manfrotto spring clamp is enough to bring it near it's maximum holding power. Forget a heavy super clamp which weighs a LOT.It also loosens a bit after 10-20 adjustments. I was only able to use it with a spring clamp to hold 2' x 3' sheets of background paper after 1 week.If you bend it as shown in the product photo it might hold a tad more but that isn't a useful position and a waste of the heavy metal.To imagine it's weight, think if a 2' long iron pipe about 3/8 inch across and you have a good notion of its weight.It's a nice idea and a good way to reuse goose neck lamp snakes from an old warehouse but is far too heavy and can barely support its own naked weight. If you want to hold something outwards, get an articulated arm or a small boom.For small product backgrounds, I just tape paper to the back of a vertical surface like a chair, wall, door, tripod or light stand. Though inelegant, it's far more effective than using this.My sentiment for this product changed in 1 week from ftom, "Wow, that's one solid (and heavy) gadget that should support any small to medium sized props" to "Man, what a bad design. So heavy and so useless for its intended purposes" I returned it as defective shortly after since it clearly cannot perform the task it is purported to do.I have no doubt that some previous purchasers might have received units whose spiral was harder to bend or that they didn't flex it as much as I did before writing their review.You can throw the dice and hope to get an unusually stiff unit but I cannot afford any item that doesn't do exactly and reliably what I acquired it for.

I appreciate the strength of this product. I'm using it with the Manfrotto 035RL Super Clamp to hold my iPad. I have it inserted into a Manfrotto 035RL Super Clamp.

Great flex arm! I use this all the time and so far it hasn't lost its strength from all the bending.

Nice extension, super stiff, I mount a work light on this and it has no problem with the weight.

excellent build quality and design. Extremely rugged.