Universal, snag resistant GoPro mount.

[LeeroyJenkins 2]

What do you guys think? It is for the 3+ housing and shortest mount.

http://i.imgur.com/aS62lq6.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/R3rHjoq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5GDolyA.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/gCYxjS2.jpg

[chuckakers 370]

If the angle upon contact with a line was right, this would be a snag hazard. If a line got snatched into that gap it would not be easily cleared.

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[LeeroyJenkins 2]

Good catch! I just measured the gap and it is less than a mm in the middle and just over a mm at the edge. Do you think it is still to large?

[councilman24 36]

Once you wrap a bridle around this knob it seems to.me to be anything but snag resistant. Go around 90 degrees or more and pull sideways and you've hung your coat up on a hook or grabbed the drawer handle. Not all snags are just a line going by a surface. Not all forces are vertical to the mount. Your arm is snag resistant until you wrap a bridle all the way around it. Am I missing something?

And yes the gap is too big for a bridle and maybe a line.

Invert the cone so the small part is at the top.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[Hellis 0]

chuckakers

If the angle upon contact with a line was right, this would be a snag hazard. If a line got snatched into that gap it would not be easily cleared.

Keep in mind, the gap is "that" large on a flat surface.
On a helmet with a rounded shape I bet that gap is a bit larger.




Something seems odd with the 'mount'.
You have the narrow part at the bottom and the wide at the top.
Would not a wide bottom and narrow top be better to clear a line/webbing

[LeeroyJenkins 2]

Could one of you two explain a little more so I can make sure I am understanding you?

[councilman24 36]

Take a bridle, wrap it around 360 degrees, and pull. Does it slide off? Or do you pick up the helmet? The entire mount is one big snag point. It may not snag a line or a bridle going by tight and only on one side but neither will your arm. Yet bridles and lines have been wrapping around arms since parachute parachutes were invented. Look at the other threads for more information. You'll see a vertical sided shield. IF it has no gaps it would not hold a bridle or line around it.

I suggest you wait until you have more experience before trying to invent safety products for skydiving.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[LeeroyJenkins 2]

I should have clarified. Could you explain what you mean by having the wider part at the bottom and narrow part on top? All I want to achieve is a mount that is snag resistant compared to the basic GoPros people have on their heads.

A vertical sided mount like the Cookie roller mount is more snag resistant. The issue with those is that the mount has to match the curvature of the helmet and is generally bolted to it. With this mount you can easily remove the camera and attach it to other locations while still maintaining some level of snag resistance.

[Hellis 0]

LeeroyJenkins

I should have clarified. Could you explain what you mean by having the wider part at the bottom and narrow part on top? All I want to achieve is a mount that is snag resistant compared to the basic GoPros people have on their heads.

A vertical sided mount like the Cookie roller mount is more snag resistant. The issue with those is that the mount has to match the curvature of the helmet and is generally bolted to it. With this mount you can easily remove the camera and attach it to other locations while still maintaining some level of snag resistance.

What I meant about wider at the bottom than top is that you want the line to pass above the camera.
You do this by helping the line with a smooth surface.

You can help the line even more by setting the mount at an angle.
If you look at the camera as if it was filming you, you want the line to go up and over the camera and you (generally) do this my having a wider base then top oof the mount so that the line slides up and over the camera.

Your however has the angle the other way and could force the line down towards the narrow base of the mount and in under the gap.


What I meant about the gap beeing larger on the helmet than on a flat surface is:
If you have a ball and place a piece of wood on it the wood/ball contact is only going to be a smal area, right?
What your mount does is the same but on a smaler scale.
The mount (your part) has a flat surface (the left and right "leg" are horisontally aligned) and when you place that on a rounded surface the left and right "leg" will be further from the helmet which has a rounded surface than the table you took the photos at.
I can't explain it better than this without drawing a picture but I'm at work typing from my phone.

[councilman24 36]

Do the test I described and maybe you'll understand. If not go read the thread about a 3D printed shield. I'm done.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[LeeroyJenkins 2]

No, no you're explanation was very good. The reason this mount is not able to be wider at the bottom than the top is because that would eliminate it from being universal and easily detachable. If it were wider at the base it would have to be contoured to the helmet. Making it helmet specific.

Thanks for the feedback. Will redesign and post an update.

[Hellis 0]

LeeroyJenkins

No, no you're explanation was very good. The reason this mount is not able to be wider at the bottom than the top is because that would eliminate it from being universal and easily detachable. If it were wider at the base it would have to be contoured to the helmet. Making it helmet specific.

Thanks for the feedback. Will redesign and post an update.

Yup.
And that is why there is few universal mounts that are perfect fit and anti snag.

I like Square1's mount with 3M duallock to attach it to the helmet.
If there is any gap the 3M duallock will "fix" it.

[LeeroyJenkins 2]

I'm happy with anything more snag resistant than the naked mount. I'm going change the dimensions to help eliminate the gap Chuck pointed out. It will be as flush to the curved adhesive mount as I can get it.

[LeeroyJenkins 2]

Made it a little better. What do you think.

http://i.imgur.com/50NXe4o.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/yTvL9iY.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/LCJx68W.jpg

[chuckakers 370]

LeeroyJenkins

Good catch! I just measured the gap and it is less than a mm in the middle and just over a mm at the edge. Do you think it is still to large?

I think the thin lines we use today could get through there under tension like during a deployment.

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[LeeroyJenkins 2]

Do you think the same for the redesign?

[ShortStack 0]

LeeroyJenkins

Made it a little better. What do you think.

There is still a major way that a line or bridle could wrap around that camera. And since it is on top of the head, it would be near impossible for the jumper to figure out how to get it un-done.
[inline GPM1.jpg]

I think the trapezoid mount is upside down. Flip it over so that the sides are smooth and tapering coming from the helmet to the camera. This is why rig container closing flaps are tapered, because it's a shape that allows things to slide off when they wrap around it.
[inline GPM2.jpg]

[LeeroyJenkins 2]

That was a good post. Unfortunately if you invert the trapezoid you have to contour the mount to the helmet and you can no longer use the GoPro sticky mounts. Essentially eliminating the two reasons I designated it. Anyway if you experienced folks think it won't work I'll just go with the normal GoPro mounting.

[councilman24 36]

We didn't say you should use a 'normal' mount. Just that yours doesn't do much to solve the problem. Get an available low snag mount that fits your helmet. After you have a whole lot more experience. If you can't see why yours is bad you don't have enough gear awareness to jump a camera.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[Hellis 0]

ShortStack

***Made it a little better. What do you think.

There is still a major way that a line or bridle could wrap around that camera. And since it is on top of the head, it would be near impossible for the jumper to figure out how to get it un-done.


I think the trapezoid mount is upside down. Flip it over so that the sides are smooth and tapering coming from the helmet to the camera. This is why rig container closing flaps are tapered, because it's a shape that allows things to slide off when they wrap around it.


This is what I tried to explain earlier.

OP: what is your goal?
Is it to massproduce for everyone or make mounts for your friends or just yourself?

If it's the first, I say don't.

The other two: why not make it good?
If it means you need to measure the curve of a helmet and print it with that perfect fit, so what?
It will make your coustomers happy.
And once you have done a few designs you might have got so good at redesigning the curve that it's easy to do?
Or there is not that many helmet types and some even have the same shape(?).

[LeeroyJenkins 2]

My goal is to make a shield for myself. I want it to reduce the chance of the camera getting snagged without having to semi-permanently attach it to my helmet.

I tested the mounts. The first one got snagged where chuck pointed out. The second one was much better than the first. Both of them were way better than the standard GoPro mount. I'm pretty happy with it, especially because it only took about an hour and the printing was free. I was hoping the people with more experience could tell me if they thought it looked unsafe.

[parachutist 1]

One way to make it universally snag-free... Imagining a few razor blades embedded around the outside perimeter, vertical orientation. Snags would be dealt with swiftly. Kevlar gloves required tho

[mathrick 2]

LeeroyJenkins

My goal is to make a shield for myself. I want it to reduce the chance of the camera getting snagged without having to semi-permanently attach it to my helmet.

And what is the value in that? You didn't say "easily removable", you said "universal", so that you can do what, swap it between each of your 70 helmets, all with different curvatures? That it took you so long to see the problem and that you still show signs of not actually getting what the core issues are points towards a different, but extremely universal solution: don't jump with a camera. On any helmet. You are not ready for it.

"Skydivers are highly emotional people. They get all excited about their magical black box full of mysterious life saving forces."

[LeeroyJenkins 2]

I understand completely, I've also been reminded why I never post on this site. Thanks to the people who critiqued my design for its intended purpose.

[Pobrause 6]

I think it was great that you posted your idea and made this discussion possible.
After all you now know, that your design is flawed in its core and not significantly better than the original mount.

Mathrick is right, though. You've shown a lack of understanding on how different types of snags can and will occur.
Just because you can't cope with well meaned and substantiated sarcasm doesn't mean he is wrong and dz.com is bad in general.

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To absent friends