A useful option in places where full tripods/monopods aren’t allowed is a flexible mini tripod such as a Gorillapod. It can be wrapped around or braced against chairs, railings, poles, benches, branches, and similar surfaces, which makes it more versatile than a simple bean bag or pocket support.

The main trade-off is precision: supports that rely on friction or flexible positioning can be stable, but they’re often harder to fine-tune for exact framing. That applies not only to Gorillapods, but likely to the Black Pod, Pocket Pod XL, and Omnipod as well.

A good way to improve usability is to add a small ball head. That gives much easier, more precise adjustment after the support is attached or placed, which is especially helpful if you care about exact composition.

So, compared with simple rest-style supports:

• flexible mini tripod: more placement options, can attach to objects
• bean bag / pocket support: simple and compact, but limited by available flat surfaces
• add a ball head: much better framing control