Dumb questions about light stands

[bigfatbadger]

When I get paid (in three days! Hoorah!) I intend to order an SB600 and start to learn how to use flash a lot better than just pointing it straight at people and watching as they run away.

Sorry, rambling. Anyway, I've been reading a lot of Strobist and want to start doing some photos like those, with off camera flash. Mr Strobist reccomends getting a light stand and umbrella, but doesn't go into the kind of EXTRMELEY BASIC DETAIL that I require. So I've generated some more questions and was hoping someone could answer them for me?

1. If I buy a manfrotto 001 nano stand, do I need anything else to mount a sb600 onto it? Like a head or something? (I told you these were basic).
2. If I then want to tilt it (say into an umbrella) do I need a super expensive head? Or whatever it's called?
3. Does anyone know of any other cheaper lighting stands and accessories. I'm in the UK and most people seem to point me towards Adorama or B&H, which clearly will boost the cost of shipping
4. Are all light stands equal? Should I avoid the expensive Manfrootie and get something else?
5. How tall does a light stand need to be? Some of those mothers go up to 9 foot! Do I need a light stand that's nearly the height of a basketball net?
6. Are these really dense questions?

Thanks in advance!
Jon

 

[Big Mike]

Did you read through all of Lighting 101 on Strobist? Here is the page where he shows you what you need to attached the flash and umbrella to the stand.

As for the other questions...I don't know. A good quality stand will be more stable and hopefully more robust. 9' would be good for a studio but would be big & heavy to carry around.

There are no dense questions