There are extension cords available for packs and heads, and have been for many years. With a 5-monolight setup, you need five AC current plug-ins and five AC power cords. With a pack and head system, you need one AC outlet to plug in the generator, and then most generatoirs will power 3,4,or 6 light units, from that one single generator,depending on the brand and model of pack. I find the whole 'tripping on cords' argument to be amusing, especially in light of the "no extension cords" statement. As far as people who are stoned and drunk tripping on cords...wow...tape cords down whenever possible if you are actually shooting stoned and drunk people or better yet, don't even bother with people who are stoned and drunk at the time of their photo shoots. I fail to see any net advantage in cords in monolight versus pack-and-head setups; it seems that each light type requires one cord per light head; monolights require one AC power cord per light, running from an AC outlet point to the monolight itself. Pack and head systems can power up to six light units from ONE AC power cord that runs from an AC outlet to the power pack, and then a cord runs from the pack to each head in use. The entire 'issue' about cords seems largely imaginary to me.
Monolights that weigh 5.9 pounds each, like WL 1600's do, are fantastic at tipping over unless stands are stout, and used well. Lightweight pack and head heads, which weigh significantly less than a high-power monolight, are less-likely to be tipped over since there's more stand weight as ballast and less weight from the light at the top. However, there are ways to prevent people from tipping over a light stand, like: 1) use a roller base stand or :2) cord-clip the cord to the center column of the stand low,near the floor level. Then, if a person trips or pulls on the cord, the "pull" comes at the bottom of the stand! A professional knows that safety comes from working methods and precautions, like taping cords down, and using sandbags along with **quality** light stands and knowing how to keep cords secured at the bottom of the stands, where they belong, not hanging free and in the way of both subjects and the camera view. If you buy turtle base stands like Avengers or Matthews, you will have far,far fewer stands tipping over than with cheaper, folding aluminum-only stands that cost $40 each. Same with roller-foot stands...they almost never,ever tip over indoors--they roll along the ground! A roller-base stand WITH the cable clipped to the bottom of the column,near the floor, is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to tip over. Even if a drunk guitarist grabs a heavy based rolling stand at the top of the stand,it will roll,and he will pass out face-down while the light continues shining. It is false economy to put a $500 light on top of a $39 Bogen lightstand that weights 4 pounds. Drunk,stoned 'musicians' (Hendrix? Morrison?) deserve high-quality light stands be used around them. (grin).
Recycle times on the WL 1600 are 2.0 seconds. The economy D402 I mentioned recycles in 1.7 seconds,no matter how many flash units it has connected. The pro-level Black Line 405 recycles in just 1.3 seconds,and is a nice location pack. As far as a system for using with portable sine wave inverters, the WL 1600s are automatically fan-cooled when they get hot, which will cut your sine wave's capacity quite a bit. For location shooting, a convection-cooled head (meaning one with no fan needed for cooling) is a benefit. As far as carrying this stuff, you want a wheeled handtruck type of system if you are going to do much location work--it just makes life easier.
Wheeled carts and wheeled backpacks have advanced hugely within the past 5 years. THere are now many more 'roller solutions' than there were just a few years ago.
Consider how long you want the lights to last. Is this a stepping-stone system or one that will not be used heavily? Does the system you are considering have all the features you will want "someday"? Will there be a "someday"? Will you eventually want a light that offers a 35 degree to 90 degree beam spread like a Speedotron 202 Variable Focusing head, or will simpler light heads with simple reflectors be enough?
I will give you one bit of advice,and that is to buy just one WL monolight and see how it actually performs for you, in your own particular shooting situations. You might find, as many people do, that you have more power than needed under many,many circumstances,and that you are very frequently dropping the power level down quite low, making Full Power not very useful many times. I think many people tend to over-estimate the needed flash power for people work. I would rather have five,or six lights of 200 W-S than just three 400's.
One place I would speak to about lights are the folks at Calumet Photographic; Calumet sells more lighting equipment to more studio and location shooters than probably any retailer or e-tailer in the USA, including
B&H or
Adorama. Calumet has people who really KNOW lighting on staff,and can give you advice about things you don't even know you want to know about,and they handle more brands of lighting equipment than any other retailer in the USA as well. For instance--do you really want to buy new lighting equipment??? I prefer used--the savings are absolutely huge and you can afford backups galore that way and save money.
Like c.cloudwalker says...you need to sit down and decide a number of things. For example--cost versus weight. And modifiers you really need. If I were buying new today, I would also look at
Adorama's low-price FlashPoint 320 monolights at $99 each,and buy six of them, as opposed to buying just two $489. I think the power level of the lower-cost lights would be more in line with my needs,most of the time,and would rather have more,lower-power lights than fewer,bigger ones. Everybody's needs are different however, and that's why there are 25 or so lighting manufacturers.
). I use mine with a vagabond for on location work with no problem. Its definitely a lot to carry with all my lenses and second body etc. I have a matthews boom and rolling stand and would NEVER bring it on location unless someone was paying me to do so...
