Taming long strobe arms out of the water:

The orange dots are fastex buckles.

• what you'll need:
  • Three 3/4" fastex buckles
  • 3 to 4 feet (1 meter) of 2mm dacron accessory cord
  • matches or a lighter to seal the ends of the cord
• assembly instructions:
  • loosely tie the male half of a fastex buckle to the bottom of each inside arm segment
  • loosely tie the female half of a fastex buckle to the bottom of each outside arm segment
  • loosely tie the remaining fastex buckle to the top of each inside arm segment (use a different color 2mm accessory cord for the top connection; it will make it easier to setup your arms in the future)
• Questions you might have:
  • Why use three buckles when one at the top looks like it would work?
    Answer: the outside arm segments could still swing if you grab anywhere except the top corner of the triangle.
  • Why not use only the two lower buckles?
    Answer: the third buckle at the top locks the arms and camera tray in to a rigid triangle so it won't move no matter what point you grab it on.
  • Why are the male halves of the fastex buckles tied to the bottom of the inside arm segments?
    Answer: to release a fastex buckle you squeeze the sides and pull; if the female segment was tied to the bottom of the inside arm segment, you would need both hands to do that (one to release the buckle the other to pull the outside arm segment away)

Fastex buckle
-red = male
-black = female
-green arrows = where to squeeze to release the buckle