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Nicknero1405

Looking for a good helmet with Gopro mount. Advice?

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As someone being new to this whole sport, I would love to film my own jumps to look back at them. So I have been searching the webs for a possible good helmet that can fit a Gopro mount properly.

I came across the Cookie G3 helmet which both looks awesome, and seems to be good quality. However, I have no idea if this helmet could even fit a Gopro mount. Because if anything, I want it to be on my forehead or at least nearby that. But the visor would be a bad obstacle.

I've seen other helmet that have a thicker visor which has some material above the visor that could possibly fit a Gopro mount, so that it moves along with the visor and won't be in the way. But is this even possible at all?

I would like to hear from experienced users what a proper helmet would be for a Gopro mount. Money is not an issue, although the cheaper the better obviously.
Oh and it doesn't have to be a full-face helmet either. But I thought if I go for a helmet, I might as well make it a full-face one so I don't have to screw around with tight plastic glasses anymore. :P

Cheers in advance!

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as a 24 y/o you should know the search funktion

as someone beeing trained in Teuge you should know who to ask for advise (hint: its not the Internet)
as someone still in student status you should care about a thousand different things first before even thinking about a cam
as someone still in student status the only video that should be of interest to you is outside video of yourself and not your point of view and to get that you know where to go, right?

2 wisdoms that come for free:

1:
Shut up and jump!

2:
Things you rush will either hurt you or your wallet, often both. Especially in aviation.



to answere your question:
Buy a Cookie G3, all the cool kids are doing it, what could possibly be wrong with them? B|:S

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

To absent friends

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Ask any Teuge cameraflyer what to buy (that includes me BTW), and they'll all tell you the same:

1) Check the BVR to see if you qualify
2) Well, most will tell you this: buy a camera helmet with a cutaway system. Hint: most fullface helmets do not have a cutaway option.

Relevant BVR:
Quote

Artikel 510
Beschermende verplichtingen voor bijzondere sprongen
Lid 1. Voor het gebruik van een camera-uitrusting (foto en/of video) gelden de volgende eisen:
-Schriftelijke toestemming van de instructeur, én
-voor vrije val sprongen: B-brevet en tweehonderd (200) formatiesprongen en een juist ingestelde
en gedurende de sprong hoorbare audiohoogtemeter, of
-voor CF-sprongen (niet in een CF formatie): B-brevet en tien (10) CF-sprongen
-voor CF-sprongen (in een CF formatie): B-brevet en honderd (100) CF sprongen
-voor tandemsprongen met handcam: driehonderd (300) tandemsprongen en een juist
ingestelde en gedurende de sprong hoorbare audiohoogtemeter
-voor AO sprongen met ronde hoofdparachute: minimaal vijfentwintig (25) sprongen met
een ronde hoofdparachute.



Translation:
To jump camera in The Netherlands you need written permission of your instructor plus one of the following:
-for freefall jumps: B-license + 200 formation jumps + beeper
-for outside CF jumps: B-license + 10 CF jumps
-for inside CF jumps: B-license + 100 CF jumps
-for tandem handcam: 300 tandemjumps + beeper
-for staticline round canopy: 25 round canopy jumps

ciel bleu,
Saskia

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Pobrause

as a 24 y/o you should know the search funktion
Searching for 5 year old threads isn't going to help my question at all. Things evolve, and stuff that might have been good a long time ago would be a bad idea today. So that's why I chose to write a new thread for more up to date information.

as someone beeing trained in Teuge you should know who to ask for advise (hint: its not the Internet)
About what to do and what not to do, you would be right. But the least someone could do it ask for opinions on certain gear. It has nothing to do with whatever point you're trying to make.

as someone still in student status you should care about a thousand different things first before even thinking about a cam
Because a cam would suddenly make me forget those thousand different things? :S

as someone still in student status the only video that should be of interest to you is outside video of yourself and not your point of view and to get that you know where to go, right?
External camera footage is both expensive, simply not worth it and it won't video your canopy ride down to landing. So yes, people can be interested in viewing their canopy control and making a cool video from it to show to friends and family. Right?

2 wisdoms that come for free:

1:
Shut up and jump!
Completely relative and useful... *cough*

2:
Things you rush will either hurt you or your wallet, often both. Especially in aviation.



to answere your question:
Buy a Cookie G3, all the cool kids are doing it, what could possibly be wrong with them? B|:S
Not sure if sarcastic, or just being rude.



Answers in bolt.
You know, there are nicer ways to say you rather couldn't fly a cam up until 200+ jumps.

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Quote

as someone beeing trained in Teuge you should know who to ask for advise (hint: its not the Internet)
About what to do and what not to do, you would be right. But the least someone could do it ask for opinions on certain gear. It has nothing to do with whatever point you're trying to make.



I don't know that his response was rude, but ponder this...
If you ask about gear, it'll almost inevitably spark a question of "why are you looking for....?"

Understanding why a newer skydiver wants "X" will frame a conversation (much of the time) about what is and isn't safe.

Different example; if you asked whether you should be buying an elliptical or non-elliptical canopy...you can bet it will lead into a conversation of "dude, you're not ready for that conversation yet, slow down." Welcome to skydiving. :)

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DSE

Quote

as someone beeing trained in Teuge you should know who to ask for advise (hint: its not the Internet)
About what to do and what not to do, you would be right. But the least someone could do it ask for opinions on certain gear. It has nothing to do with whatever point you're trying to make.



I don't know that his response was rude, but ponder this...
If you ask about gear, it'll almost inevitably spark a question of "why are you looking for....?"

Understanding why a newer skydiver wants "X" will frame a conversation (much of the time) about what is and isn't safe.

Different example; if you asked whether you should be buying an elliptical or non-elliptical canopy...you can bet it will lead into a conversation of "dude, you're not ready for that conversation yet, slow down." Welcome to skydiving. :)


Gotcha.
I get that people seem to question the fact that students are nosing in subjects that might be still out of their reach. But on the other hand, you can't tell over the internet if someone is ready for X or not.
Maybe I was asking about stuff I wanted to do/try out right now. Or maybe I was asking for stuff in advance that I wanted to do/try out in the future? You never know. Instead of everyone saying "You're not ready" you could just give your opinion on the subject as asked, and let the decision if the asker is ready for it or not over to himself, or his local instructors.

I had no idea that flying camera's are even restricted to certain rules you have to achieve first. Otherwise I would have no idea why I shouldn't be flying a camera yet.
Like, everyone says "200+ jumps". But WHY? I'm having trouble finding a logical reason behind this. Why can't you record your own jumps and canopy rides earlier? It would have been awesome to collect a series of videos to see someone's progression when someone is still learning. But I guess that ain't gonna happen.

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http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3894693;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

thats why... and its only a small fraktion of all the possible reasons why jumping with a camera is restricted to a certain level of experience.

Sorry if my answeres were offensive to you. I'm a know-it-all and am easily offended when people show massive lack of knowledge.

My advice: Read! Read everything! Read it again, diskuss what you read with others and more experienced guys and gals. Don't forget jumping! JUMP! And when you think you have read it all and discussed it all then come back and ask new questions =)
-------------------------------------------------------

To absent friends

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http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3894693;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

You've stumbled into the second most talked-about topic on dropzone.com
The URL I posted, I used to update every month or so. Since I've stopped updating it, we've had at least one camera-related death, arguably two.

Flying a camera, even in today's me-centric, camera everywhere generation, carries a very high risk potential, one you're nowhere near equipped to deal with. A common phrase in any high-risk activity is "You don't yet know what you don't know." Might as well get used to the fact that while skydiving is very new, exciting, and centric in your world, you've entered a sport where hundreds of thousands of jumps have created experienced skydivers who have seen a few thousand "Nick's" enter the realm, and sometimes the communications are shortcutted simply to save time. Forgive us for that.

Sometimes, we'll meet a newbie that really, truly believes he/she is "special" and since they either don't understand or don't accept the advice they're given, they do their own thing anyway.

I can think of at least five dead people from this forum that fit the above paragraph. [:/]

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Ouch. I understand the risks that come with it. I thought: "Meh a mount that couldn't cause line entanglement couldn't hurt that much?" but I'm not going to be that "special" guy that can handle everything.
I'll follow up on your advice and stay away from this stuff until I'm experienced enough. ;)
And most importantly, I'll ask my local instructors about this if in the future I think I'm ready for this stuff.

It sucks that I won't be able to video my own jumps for a very long time obviously. But safety first!

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Nicknero1405

Ouch. I understand the risks that come with it. I thought: "Meh a mount that couldn't cause line entanglement couldn't hurt that much?" but I'm not going to be that "special" guy that can handle everything.
I'll follow up on your advice and stay away from this stuff until I'm experienced enough. ;)
And most importantly, I'll ask my local instructors about this if in the future I think I'm ready for this stuff.

It sucks that I won't be able to video my own jumps for a very long time obviously. But safety first!




Good answer. :)
There's a load more interesting stuff to be doing for the first couple of seasons anyway! You're so much better off saving your cash for jumping and other gear. And beer.

As Remi points out, 1st person low-experience footage usually sucks anyway. The trick is to make friends with someone who has over 200 jumps and already flys with a camera, and make it an ambition to get good enough, fast enough to get in on their jumps. Then you get actual footage of you skydiving! ;)


(And for edification, you've got advice from an instructor and extremely experienced and knowledgeable camera flier in this thread, as well as advice from a sub-100 jump wonder who thinks they're the exception. You pick who to listen to... ;))

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You can learn a lot from DSE. Mostly, how to be SAFE around others you are flying with. If he suggests something to you, listen. He actually cares. If you listen closer and more often, you might even learn how to take a proper picture ..... it's not just point and shoot.
Life is short ... jump often.

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Alright, so although this is going to be a slightly different topic, it is still semi-relative. So instead of making a new thread I'll continue posting in this one.

I've decided to invest into some starter gear which will save me costs in the long run. I mean, if I'm going to buy my own gear eventually I might as well do it as soon as possible to save costs on renting it every time right?

I'm looking for:
- jumpsuit. XL size assuming they use the same size dimensions as student gear?
- helmet that might be useful for GoPro mounts. (Meaning I have the helmet now and I could choose to add a GoPro mount to it once I qualify for them in the far far far future) Still not sure if I should go for a full face, or an open helmet.
- second hand alti-meter (Preferred analog since I'm used to them and I suppose they are cheaper than digital?).

Although, I have no idea what I should be looking for. I don't know any brands, or any certain specifications I should look at when choosing my gear. So googling for it wouldn't be much useful.

Or perhaps someone from The Netherlands or nearby has something second handed that he or she wish to sell for a reasonable deal?

Let me know. ;)

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Google, google, google, you will be able to read a lot of good articles. Read your country's skydiving manual (if they have one). The safety tab on this website has many good articles; some are outdated but still have good info. Parachutist has a lot of good articles as well. You really can't go wrong with any of the big brands. Each one has pros and cons but they all make good gear.

I have a Cookie G3 because it in comfortable. I have used a kiss as well, it is a very nice helmet but I personally don't like the lens glare. As mentioned above the cooke fuel is a good helmet and has good camera mounting potential.

For an Altimeter if you want a analog one you can't go wrong with a galaxy. There are plenty of them you can find second hand. I personally have a digital altimeter (viso II) because I like the log book feature.

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DougH

The Cookie Fuel is a great helmet.

I would get one of those, and when you are ready it will take the Cookie GoPro Roller mount.



+1
(though I would recommend the helmet now and the roller mount/camera in a couple hundred jumps... see the other thread for that argument)

Would add the cut-away chin strap option.

Become VERY familiar with the camera operation BEFORE you put it on your head. Then take it for a ride on your bike to be familiar with its operation and feel on your head before putting it in the plane. Practice using the cutaway system... it should be an instinctive EP.

JW
Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

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fcajump


(though I would recommend the helmet now and the roller mount/camera in a couple hundred jumps... see the other thread for that argument)



I hoped I wasn't too confusing about this.
Don't worry, I don't want a GoPro mount right now. I was just looking for a helmet that has the option for a GoPro mount so that in the vast future (Aka after a couple of 100 jumps) I could add a mount without having to buy a new helmet.

--------

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions everyone. The Cookie Fuel does look like a cool helmet, and it's not too ridiculous expensive. Although I'm sure there are cheaper ones out there, I guess this one is of great quality. Meaning it will last for a long time, which again adds to me argument why I should go for this helmet. (So I can keep using it after those couple of 100 jumps)

Now I'm still looking for a good alti-meter and jumpsuit. Maybe someone could tell me the major differences between an analog and digital alti-meters? (Aside from the obvious number display of course.) And what would you guys recommend a good beginners choice?

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elreg

Have a look at a new design by a Frenchman, on skyvisionpara.com. The camera is completely inside the helmet.
I have one since last month, it's brilliant.
It is designed specifically for the GoPro 3 and 4 series.



It's about friggin time some helmet folks built that. Very long overdue.
You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

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