Well I went for the Smith-Victor stand, which is fine except for the fact that it is not 8 feet. At full extension it is only 7.5 feet. This is interesting because S-V makes a 7.5 foot stand.
http://www.smithvictor.com/products/detail.asp?prodid=548&id=25&pid=5&s1=Supports&s2=Light+Stands&nm=RAVEN+RS75Mine has a sticker that says Raven RS8 on it, however, and its folded length matches that of the 8 foot stand. So I wonder how tall the 7.5 foot stand is?
I'd really like to have at least 8 full feet, so now I am now spending way too much time trying to figure out which stand to exchange it for, going so far as to generate an Excel table with all the stats for various stands and trying to figure the optimal blend of height, folded size, weight, price, and other features. I would go with the S-V 10' stand, but its footprint is much larger than the "8-foot."
I think i'll go with the Lowel Omni 9' stand. I'll let you know how I like it.
blind