I just bought a handful of cheap metal screw mount hot shoe adapters. I have not yet had a chance to use them. Actually I might say I have been lucky not to have used them yet… While learning about umbrella adapters I just stumbled on a piece piece of practical advice whose timing could not have been better :

“Oh, and before I forget, as soon as you get it, if the shoe mount is made of metal put a piece of electrical tape on the top of it where the flash sits. It could screw up the electronics in the month’s-rent-worth-of-strobe you have sitting up there if you don’t. I’m not kidding about that”.

One more reason to have a large stock of duct tape at home. And one more reason to read Strobist’s blog – if I needed any…