To be fair, I've run the umbrella joint only a few times, in a pinch, and it did make me a bit nervous but it worked. My preference is to use 2x superclamps and a joining stud. You can swivel the 2nd super clamp and hold the pole in its jaws. Super sturdy and you can use a regular stand or extension pole.
I mostly use the the umbrella joint in the same way tgakidis does.