A home made studio light stand using the Slik U-212 tripod with the head replaced by a Dot Line umbrella adapter, a Wein hotshoe adapter with a 15' sync cord. The umbrella is a 45" Photogenics Eclipse with white satin inside, removeable black cover outside (for shoot-through use). The flash is an old Vivitar 5600 - no E-TTL but it's pretty powerful. Batteries used are Energizer 2500mAh NiMh AAs.
I use it for portraits, macros, product shots and because it all folds up and stores in a single tripod bag - it's highly portable for even outdoor use.
Provides a wonderfully soft, wrap around light at low cost and utilizes some older equipment, extending its life.