Haven't read through this whole thread but I'll throw in..
My favorite go-to ratchets are my long-handled flex-head 1/2" and 3/8" Craftsman pieces. Mind you they are OLD. I bought the 1/2" in the late 80's, for pulling bumper bolts off 1960-1966 trucks at the boneyard, with no access to power tools. Just ol' 1/2" Craftsman and PB Blaster. Good original chrome bumpers for those trucks were tough to find and I wasn't going to let them get away from me, seized bolts or not. That ratchet served me well for literal decades before I finally broke a tooth in the mechanism. Took a little hunting but I did find a rebuild kit. Bought a few of them, did it myself, because this was after Sears was already going down the drain. What sucks is the rebuild kits are generally Chinesium these days. Every now and then you can find some old stock ones, but it's been a while, so that may no longer be true.
Anyway the flex joint in those Craftsmans are "just right" so they don't move too easily. Nice detent in the positions holds them in place without being too floppy. Floppy is a major nuisance as I've experienced with other brands. Oh, and I do have a stubby 3/8" SnapOn flex handle which is pretty awesome, also an older model.
Richard