I've thought about getting some painter stilts to gain about 2' upwards to record video above standing crowds. Would stilts be the prefered way of achieving this? I'm not that short (5'9"-ish), but people like to wear big hats down here (myself included). And I'd prefer something that could avoid yet another thing to carry. With stilts I figure that I could wear them from car to location if need be, maybe even get there faster with a longer stride. Just a thought. Most of my stuff is outdoors. And hanging the spider brace off of the clutch on the boom arm gets old quick. Especially around noon-ish with the sun in that bad place.
A step stool might be a little more stable, but I'm generally carrying mic stand in one hand and camera stuff in the other. And I want to keep it one person, one trip and fairly light. And I'm already with field recorder man purse and a second one to boot for extras (drinks, batteries and media cards). Surprisingly light considering, at least once I dumped 25'(x2) XLR cable for 15'(x2). And I'm not a featherweight so I need something commercially rated for 250lbs+.