Chin mounted cameras

[unkulunkulu 0]

I was going to ask this question for some time now. I see those chin mounts around and I have some concern about them.
If a line catches on a "top-of-the-helmet" mount, you have a bad day, you better have a helmet cut away system or other efficient means for getting rid of the camera/snag point. But in the time frame between catching a line and cutting away you will experience some forces on your neck/spine. As I see it they will mostly be in vertical direction, pulling up.

But if you have a chin mounted camera, wouldn't it be quite probable for the forces to have a torquing effect on the neck including rotating it sideways which could be much worse? Is it tested somehow?

[Pobrause 6]

Grellfabs' mount and all the different variations I've seen so far are secured only by two rubberbands. Might break or detache before anything worse happens.

but boy, are they ugly...

-------------------------------------------------------

To absent friends

[unkulunkulu 0]

Pobrause

secured only by two rubberbands.

Oh, good to know, missed that.

[IJskonijn 45]

I'd rather not risk my neck on the word "might"...

[DBCOOPER 5]

unkulunkulu

Is it tested somehow?

There's a lot of test pilots out there testing them everyday. Keep you eye on Incidents for the reports.

Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon

If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea.

[raftman 12]

I'm thinking if you let a line snag your chin mount camera you've already fucked up somehow!

[evh 22]

raftman

I'm thinking if you let a line snag your chin mount camera you've already fucked up somehow!

True, but not uncommon. Maybe not your OWN lines, but how about a canopy collisson? And there are plenty of video's on YouTube where an aff-I catches a students bridle with their GoPro. They usually manage to disentangle or release their helmets... not an option if it breaks your neck first....

[sammielu 3]

How much pressure does it take to break rubber bands? I'm not a rigger but I think it's 12lb??? How much pressure can your nexk take without injury?

I'm not a fan of the chin mounts. I'd rather lose a camera that is stickied to the top of my head or use the cutaway on my G3 or camera helmet.

[Lawndarter 3]

sammielu

How much pressure does it take to break rubber bands? I'm not a rigger but I think it's 12lb??? How much pressure can your nexk take without injury?

I'm not a fan of the chin mounts. I'd rather lose a camera that is stickied to the top of my head or use the cutaway on my G3 or camera helmet.

It doesn't need to even break the rubber bands to cut the camera away. The piece that secures it all (which has a loop you can grab to immediately disconnect it) will release fairly easily if the mount is banged too much. The design is pretty ingenious, actually. That and the reason, I suspect, they have two rubber bands stacked is that there is no way to really connect them without damaging the bands a little bit in the process through friction.

[piisfish 140]

sammielu

How much pressure does it take to break rubber bands? I'm not a rigger but I think it's 12lb??? How much pressure can your nexk take without injury?

I'm not a fan of the chin mounts. I'd rather lose a camera that is stickied to the top of my head or use the cutaway on my G3 or camera helmet.

my wild guess would be that you need much more pressure to break a rubber band.
And with tension, sometimes more than 20 lbs

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[Alexg3265 0]

the rubber bands we use for packing are rated at 40lbs

I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

[lyosha 50]

sammielu

How much pressure does it take to break rubber bands? I'm not a rigger but I think it's 12lb??? How much pressure can your nexk take without injury?

I'm not a fan of the chin mounts. I'd rather lose a camera that is stickied to the top of my head or use the cutaway on my G3 or camera helmet.

You are asking the wrong questions.

Rubber bands have very high elasticity. Lets pretend that your bridle wraps around your chinmount and the rubber bands don't rip and the situation is clean aside from that (miracle if you ask me, but lets play pretend). The impact force on your head will be MUCH lower than if you didn't have the rubber bands there and instead had a direct attachment.

Rock climbing ropes are dynamic for a reason. The elasticity greatly "smoothes out" the force transfer (think slider off terminal opening vs. terminal opening with a slider). You actually want the rubber bands there because in the event of an entanglement they'll make you much less injured than otherwise.