ContourRoam 4 Xmas

[MikeRMontagne 0]

I received a ContourRoam, that comes with a couple of choices of 3M double sided adhesive foam tape mounting attachment's
Is the 360 degree helmet mount and method of attachment usable?
I'm thinking of drilling a single counter sunk hole through the center of the 6 star adhesive mount, and securing it to/though the top of my helmet with
an aircraft grade stainless steel counter sunk screw, washer and self locking nut.
Any feedback, suggestion's, pro's/ con's, would be appreciated.

Be Brave, embrace the fear,
even if your not, pretend to be.
No one can tell the difference

[Pacific 0]

You lost me in the second paragraph. I used the sticky [profile] mount that came with the Contour. Works perfectly on the flat surfaces of my Rawa helmet. Decided to use the curved 360 mount for my motorcycle. Mounted to a clean surface, both mounts handle 180+ mph.

[DSE 5]

Quote

I received a ContourRoam, that comes with a couple of choices of 3M double sided adhesive foam tape mounting attachment's
Is the 360 degree helmet mount and method of attachment usable?
I'm thinking of drilling a single counter sunk hole through the center of the 6 star adhesive mount, and securing it to/though the top of my helmet with
an aircraft grade stainless steel counter sunk screw, washer and self locking nut.
Any feedback, suggestion's, pro's/ con's, would be appreciated.

Does your helmet have a cutaway system?

[MikeRMontagne 0]

In amongst the 360 swivle mount parts there's a star shaped piece which is the base part that the clamping mechanism closes on to. It comes with the 3M adhesive already attached to it, and my concern is that the tape alone isn't enough to secure the swivle mount and camera in free fall.
So I thought that adding a single screw, through the center, might add to the integrity of the assembly.

Be Brave, embrace the fear,
even if your not, pretend to be.
No one can tell the difference

[MikeRMontagne 0]

Nope

Be Brave, embrace the fear,
even if your not, pretend to be.
No one can tell the difference

[jakee 1,489]

Quote

In amongst the 360 swivle mount parts there's a star shaped piece which is the base part that the clamping mechanism closes on to. It comes with the 3M adhesive already attached to it, and my concern is that the tape alone isn't enough to secure the swivle mount and camera in free fall.

Y'know almost every skydiving or BASE movie you've watched in the last 4 years?

Works well enough for them.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[DSE 5]

Quote

In amongst the 360 swivle mount parts there's a star shaped piece which is the base part that the clamping mechanism closes on to. It comes with the 3M adhesive already attached to it, and my concern is that the tape alone isn't enough to secure the swivle mount and camera in free fall.
So I thought that adding a single screw, through the center, might add to the integrity of the assembly.

And if a line wraps the assembly, and you have no helmet cutaway, you'll probably wish the sticky tape was all you'd used. It's been demonstrated that sticky tape is plenty strong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsEI_6cErbM

Cameras are cool, until they create problems. Adding a screw may well compound another problem.

[MikeRMontagne 0]

Thank you very much Douglas for taking the time to reply, as well as adding the video, I really appreciate
your help!
My concern as you might understand would be loosing my wife Christmas gift(!)
There is a very fine teather cord with the swivel mount, any thought's or recomendation's about it?

Be Brave, embrace the fear,
even if your not, pretend to be.
No one can tell the difference

[MikeRMontagne 0]

Thank you Jack, I wasn't aware of that.

Be Brave, embrace the fear,
even if your not, pretend to be.
No one can tell the difference

[jumpsalot-2 3]

Quote

Thank you very much Douglas for taking the time to reply, as well as adding the video, I really appreciate
your help!
My concern as you might understand would be loosing my wife Christmas gift(!)
There is a very fine teather cord with the swivel mount, any thought's or recomendation's about it?

Quote

Once the 3M tape sets for 24 hrs or so, it won't come off, even when you wish it would when a pilot chute bridle is wrapped around a camera. It won't be too hard to find your camera because it will still be attached to your helmet, which will be on the ground somewhere. As stated above, get a chin cup cut away system, and hope you never need to use it.

Life is short ... jump often.

[skinnay 0]

At 61 jumps I would recommend holding off on the camera setup..

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

Quote

Thank you very much Douglas for taking the time to reply, as well as adding the video, I really appreciate
your help!
My concern as you might understand would be loosing my wife Christmas gift(!)
There is a very fine teather cord with the swivel mount, any thought's or recomendation's about it?

You really might want to reconsider your priorities.

Have you read the two "stickies" in the Photog & Vid forum?

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Get the metal mounting bracket from Trunk at Hypoxic. I would never consider using any of the stupid adhesive mounts the thing comes with. Also, when you do mount it, make damn sure you add a piece of bungee tied in a loop to the front of the bracket to slip over the camera. Riser strikes will shoot the camera off the bracket like a bullet! I've lost two cameras that way and some of my co-workers have lost more. I wear mine on the left side of my helmet. They make left side mounting pivots for Cookie G2 and G3 helmets as well which most of my co-workers use. You can top mount is and rotate the lens 90 degrees, but I would NOT use the stock sticky-tape thing and, instead, use one of Trunk's brackets. They are cheap.

chuck

[DSE 5]

Quote

At 61 jumps I would recommend holding off on the camera setup..

This bears repeating...
You've already discovered you might not know what you don't yet know.

I've gotten lazy in updating the camera incidents thread, but there are quite a few yet to go up.
IMO, jumping any camera setup without a means of jettisoning the helmet is too risky. Learn to fly first.
Reading the Small Camera Incidents thread is highly recommended.

[MikeRMontagne 0]

A picture is worth a thousand words.
I opted to use a 1/8th" pop rivet with the steel core removed.
As can be seen by the attached photo's the swivel mounts locking latch doubles as a mean's to jettison the camera and mount, and aswell there is a teather which only required drilling a 3/32nd" hole.

Be Brave, embrace the fear,
even if your not, pretend to be.
No one can tell the difference

[smooth 0]

You're right, a picture IS worth a thousand words!!! With that said, your setup looks SCARY!!

[MikeRMontagne 0]

How so, please explain.

Be Brave, embrace the fear,
even if your not, pretend to be.
No one can tell the difference

[DSE 5]

i'd recommend you show your setup to the S&TA or an experienced cameraflyer on the dz before jumping it.

[MikeRMontagne 0]

Will do, thank you Douglas.

Be Brave, embrace the fear,
even if your not, pretend to be.
No one can tell the difference

[MikeRMontagne 0]

Here's food for thought, after jettisoning ones helmet and camera assembly, why not have a pilot chute(possibly spring loaded akin to resever's)that's stowed inside the top of the helmet.
The helmet strap could possibly be a mini version od a 3 ring system, with a line similar to an RSL to the closing loop of the spring loaded pilot.
So when the helmet is "cut away", the the pilot pop's out from within the top side of the helmet and it and the camera gear have slow Safe (for those on the ground below) decent.
Now it's up to the helmet R&D, and C.A.D. people to
take on this project. I'll be happy to have the first one for free.

Be Brave, embrace the fear,
even if your not, pretend to be.
No one can tell the difference

[skyjumpenfool 2]

Quote

Here's food for thought, after jettisoning ones helmet and camera assembly, why not have a pilot chute(possibly spring loaded akin to resever's)that's stowed inside the top of the helmet.

Have you ever seen a pilot chute out in the airplane? Now imagine your helmet PC getting out accidentally? Any way...

When I started jumping camera, I spent a lot of time talking to several video flyers. One had over 10K tandem video jumps and 30 years jumping camera. He gave me some advice that I'd like to pass along...

"It's really hard to cutaway a camera helmet with a broken neck!!! Make your setup as close to snag free (there is no such thing as snag free) as you can."

With that in mind, I'd seek out some really experienced local camera flyers in your neighborhood. Show them your setup and listen to what they have to say. If you're a USPA member, read the SIM. Like DSE said above, read the stickies in the camera forum.

Birdshit & Fools Productions

"Son, only two things fall from the sky."

[labrys 0]

Quote

Here's food for thought, after jettisoning ones helmet and camera assembly, why not have a pilot chute(possibly spring loaded akin to resever's)that's stowed inside the top of the helmet.

Look. If you're in a situation where your camera / helmet setup have contributed to a problem, you want to be able to solve that problem in the cleanest, safest way possible. A camera mount that will break off cleanly and / or a helmet with an effective cutaway system are the best choice.

Adding ridiculously complex things like a spring loaded pilot chute to a camera helmet that add risk to every jump just so that you can save a few hundred bucks during a life or death malfunction is a really silly idea. Please sit down and think on that for a while.

What will your wife be more upset about? Losing a camera and a piece of headgear or losing you?

There's a reason that reserves are packed in freebags. Think it through, okay?

Owned by Remi #?

[MikeRMontagne 0]

It was ment as Food for thought, and as I wrote, it`s something for the Helmet manufacturer`s R&D people to consider.
My ultimate concern is everyones safety, including that unsuspecting sole on the ground with a terminal velocity head gear assembly headed towards them.

Be Brave, embrace the fear,
even if your not, pretend to be.
No one can tell the difference

[labrys 0]

Quote

My concern as you might understand would be loosing my wife Christmas gift(!)

Quote

My ultimate concern is everyones safety, including that unsuspecting sole on the ground with a terminal velocity head gear assembly headed towards them.

Not so long ago, your ultimate concern appeared to be losing a few dollars worth of glass and plastic that really don't stand as much of a chance of hurting anyone on the ground.

I've walked more than a couple of bean / cornfields recovering cameras and helmets that were lost in freefall. They don't hit the ground all that hard.

Please stop putting a few dollars worth of gear above real safety issues.

Owned by Remi #?

[Skwrl 56]

Quote

Now it's up to the helmet R&D, and C.A.D. people to
take on this project. I'll be happy to have the first one for free.

People have thought about this before and not done it, for very good reason.

My camera (when I'm jumping with my fancy toys) set up costs about $2,800, not including the cost of the helmet. And while I'd hate to lose it, I will jettison it in a metric heartbeat if it is a choice between losing it and risking an entanglement. Adding a spring loaded pilot chute (or even a non-spring loaded one) increases the possibility that it will be entangled with the pilot chute, main, deployment bag, freebag and/or reserve. Kudos to you for coming up with a creative idea, but it's not one I'd recommend anyone adopting. It would likely make a very bad day worse.

My other comments would be

- get a helmet with a cutaway
- learn how that cutaway system works
- think about how different types of malfunctions will change your emergency procedures

What do I mean by that last one? Well, if you've been trained to "look red, pull red, look silver, pull silver" for your EPs and you have an entanglement with your helmet, doing your normal EP will possibly snap your neck, like what almost happened with this jerk: https://vimeo.com/37998866

More generally, wait until you've got more jumps and have had a chance to talk to more people about it...

Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography

Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork