It’s rare that I manage to break the gadget I’m reviewing. Growing up in my father’s machine shop I was taught early on the value of respecting one’s tools and that’s an attitude I carried over to my computers and gadgets, but once I took on the role of a reviewer I learned the value of tackling new products in the same way that most consumers do; simply ripping open the packaging, tossing aside the manual, and trying to figure out its use by tapping, twisting, and pushing buttons. It’s a process I’ve dubbed the “Monkey Test” and if a product can’t survive it, it doesn’t have much of a chance on the mass market.

The Optex SteadePod failed the monkey test in seconds. The novel camera accessory is intended to replace the traditional tripod. The idea is that you screw the pocket-sized box into the bottom camera mount of your digital camera or camcorder and then pull out a coil of stainless steel cable from within, just like a tape measure.

A plastic footpad on the end of the cable is meant to be stepped on or hooked into a piece of your clothing and once the cable is tightened to create a line of tension between your camera and the anchored end of the cable, the forces at play are meant to keep it stable enough for level shots, even under low lighting conditions or fancy pictures involving long zooms or long exposures.

What broke immediately is the lock and ratchet system used to extend, retract, and tighten the cable. It’s a confusing switch with three positions. You are supposed to first set it to “Extend” before pulling the cable out, then to “Adjust/Retract” to change the length of the cable, and finally “Locked” to hold the cable tight in position.

Not having read the instructions first, I made the mistake of pulling the cable out while it was in the “locked” position and now it will no longer lock.

Having worked out a fix for this, I’m still unconvinced the SteadePod does the job. A traditional tripod works by resisting the force you the photographer apply by leaning into on against the camera itself. It supports the camera from below and is steady enough that you can walk away and just leave it there.

The SteadePod uses the reverse theory. You’re supposed to lift the camera or lean upwards against it, with your force countered by the tension of the cable pulling down. Not only is this an unnatural way to hold the camera, but the thin cable doesn’t provide a wide enough point of contact to prevent the camera from pivoting between the two forces.

Manufactured by Cameron Products in Ontario, California, their marketing tells the story of a photojournalist who invented the SteadePod when he became frustrated with trying to use a regular tripod in tight places. It certainly feels like a temporary fix that you’d come up with in the field to get out of a tight spot, but that doesn’t make it a worthwhile product to buy, even at $30.

With the number of digital cameras that now depend on LCD screens as their viewfinder, keeping a shot steady when you’re no longer holding the camera to your face is certainly a problem, but the with rise of both optical and software-based image stabilization in today’s cameras and the number of tiny and pocket-sized traditional tri-pods that are available, the SteadePod is too ungainly of a fix to offer much value.