I have tried the tripod method in my woodshop. I agree with tonylumps about the tripping over it and not getting it right where wanted, or needed.
Where it did come in very handy was after the hurricane Sandy. I had a generator set up that I rationed the use of. I ran it around breakfast time, noon time and dinner time. A total run time of 7 to 9 hours per day. The dinner run was a little longer and i would shut it down around 8pm. My wife is a nite owl and likes to read for a few hours long after i am making ZZZ's. I set up the Syslite on tripod over her favorite chair and she would read on until just about time for the lite to fade out. When i got up in the am, I just hooked up the lite to house current when i started the generator and she was good to go for the evening run again. It worked great.
Tinker