Camera Safety

[normiss 620]

You're saying life isn't worth $1100.


Mine is.

[parachutist 1]

chemist

So anybody have any words of wisdom regarding whether cost of GoPro helmet can effect cutaway decision? I'm getting a new helmet that I'll use as a GoPro once I'm at 200 jumps, Cookie fuel with the bells and whistles $400, plus a $350 audible in there, and attach a $300 go pro to the top maybe another $50 for the SD card. That's $1100 loss right there! I could see loosing altitude fast in a tangle thinking "maybe if I try a little longer to untangle I won't have to cutaway a cold hard grand of cash!"

Many of us have had similar thoughts at some point, worrying about $ that may be lost in a forest if you need to cut away your helmet some day.

The deal is: You set up your helmet in a way that gives you a low chance of entanglement with yourself or others. ie: not a standard GoPro mount sticking up on a stalk. Put time into planning of your helmet: eliminate gaps and other snag-likely anomalies. Then during the skydive you behave in a way that reduces your chances of snagging cameras (in freefall being aware of your camera and the proximity of others; during deployment head pulled down, centered, away from your risers and lines). These two actions, Careful preparation and careful execution will greatly reduce the chance that you'll get into a tangled mess. Your chances of losing that $1100 will then be pretty darn low. If you do ever need that cutaway system you'll be glad you bought it, and the 1100 will seem not such a high price you paid to save your neck, IMO

[monkycndo 0]

chemist

So anybody have any words of wisdom regarding whether cost of GoPro helmet can effect cutaway decision? I'm getting a new helmet that I'll use as a GoPro once I'm at 200 jumps, Cookie fuel with the bells and whistles $400, plus a $350 audible in there, and attach a $300 go pro to the top maybe another $50 for the SD card. That's $1100 loss right there! I could see loosing altitude fast in a tangle thinking "maybe if I try a little longer to untangle I won't have to cutaway a cold hard grand of cash!"

Dude, you are going about it all wrong. What you need to get is one of those long unicorn mounts that allows you to film your own face during the jump. It satisfies the "LOOK AT ME, I'M SO COOL" factor that all new jumpers desire. A side benefit is the long extension is fantastically snaggerific and the lines from your canopy will catch and hold tight so the helmet will be found when the cut away main is located. The only minor down side is it might snap your neck. But hey, at least the money you spent on the camera/helmet wasn't wasted since it was easy for someone else to find all your gear in just one spot.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[nigel99 143]

chemist

So anybody have any words of wisdom regarding whether cost of GoPro helmet can effect cutaway decision? I'm getting a new helmet that I'll use as a GoPro once I'm at 200 jumps, Cookie fuel with the bells and whistles $400, plus a $350 audible in there, and attach a $300 go pro to the top maybe another $50 for the SD card. That's $1100 loss right there! I could see loosing altitude fast in a tangle thinking "maybe if I try a little longer to untangle I won't have to cutaway a cold hard grand of cash!"

Well your biggest problem is not having a second camera to catch the deployment...

On a serious note, I have a 2k composites helmet, solo 2 audible and a gopro 1 that I bought for $50. I don't make money from footage, and facebook video's that 5 people are going to watch, doesn't warrant a large investment.

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[dragon2 0]

chemist

So anybody have any words of wisdom regarding whether cost of GoPro helmet can effect cutaway decision? I'm getting a new helmet that I'll use as a GoPro once I'm at 200 jumps, Cookie fuel with the bells and whistles $400, plus a $350 audible in there, and attach a $300 go pro to the top maybe another $50 for the SD card. That's $1100 loss right there! I could see loosing altitude fast in a tangle thinking "maybe if I try a little longer to untangle I won't have to cutaway a cold hard grand of cash!"

Only jump camera with stuff you can afford to lose.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[Arvoitus 1]

NWFlyer

***What law gives them the right to confiscate people's gear? I'd imagine that in as sue happy place as US people would be more careful with that kind of stuff.

Here's how it could go:

DZ: You can't jump that camera setup here.

MadSkillz: Why?

DZ: It's against our posted rules because [whatever the reason is].

MadSkillz: Fuck you I'm going to jump it anyway.

DZ: No, actually, you're not. You can either hand it over to me and jump something that meets our rules, or you can choose not to jump at all here.

MadSkillz: You can't confiscate my gear - it's my personal property!

DZ: Then, like I said, you're welcome not to jump at all. But you're not jumping here with that setup. Our DZ, our rules.

Where's the lawsuit, exactly? What law did the DZ break? The law keeping MadSkillz down?

I guess I misunderstood what DSE meant, but what you describe isn't a confiscation. What you describe is an ultimatum, 'if you want to jump here then you need to do it by our rules', which is okay.

I thought that someones gear was actually confiscated. Like say they jumped against the rules and the DZO, post-jump, took their camera gear for instance.

Your rights end where my feelings begin.

[Squeak 17]

chemist

So anybody have any words of wisdom regarding whether cost of GoPro helmet can effect cutaway decision? I'm getting a new helmet that I'll use as a GoPro once I'm at 200 jumps, Cookie fuel with the bells and whistles $400, plus a $350 audible in there, and attach a $300 go pro to the top maybe another $50 for the SD card. That's $1100 loss right there! I could see loosing altitude fast in a tangle thinking "maybe if I try a little longer to untangle I won't have to cutaway a cold hard grand of cash!"

Dude, seriously dont get a camera, you are never in the footage and your thinking is already out of whack.
I have 2 Cookie helmets a G3 and an M1, the M1 has a Low profile GoPro mount on it, the G3 has no mount (it's NOT a Camera helmet).
I only ever where my camera when asked to film someone (to help improve technique).
Far to many people are jumping cameras when they have no real use or need to.

Why would you add further complications to an already risky sport, with no real reason.

Filming my mates, and our fun is pretty lame as far as reasons go.
You'll likely look at the footage once or twice and then forget all about it.

Meanwhile you have invested $1000+ on the setup that you may well think twice about throwing away if your life depends on it.

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?

[nigel99 143]

Squeak

***So anybody have any words of wisdom regarding whether cost of GoPro helmet can effect cutaway decision? I'm getting a new helmet that I'll use as a GoPro once I'm at 200 jumps, Cookie fuel with the bells and whistles $400, plus a $350 audible in there, and attach a $300 go pro to the top maybe another $50 for the SD card. That's $1100 loss right there! I could see loosing altitude fast in a tangle thinking "maybe if I try a little longer to untangle I won't have to cutaway a cold hard grand of cash!"

Dude, seriously dont get a camera, you are never in the footage and your thinking is already out of whack.
I have 2 Cookie helmets a G3 and an M1, the M1 has a Low profile GoPro mount on it, the G3 has no mount (it's NOT a Camera helmet).
I only ever where my camera when asked to film someone (to help improve technique).
Far to many people are jumping cameras when they have no real use or need to.

Why would you add further complications to an already risky sport, with no real reason.

Filming my mates, and our fun is pretty lame as far as reasons go.
You'll likely look at the footage once or twice and then forget all about it.

Meanwhile you have invested $1000+ on the setup that you may well think twice about throwing away if your life depends on it.

Spot on.

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[ouch 0]

I agree wholeheartedly.

Also, if you're worried about losing camera gear, as opposed to risk and consequences, you should probably just buy a $50 main canopy.

Spend any more than that and you might second guess your need to use it.

[DivingWombat 0]

******
I have 2 Cookie helmets a G3 and an M1, the M1 has a Low profile GoPro mount on it, the G3 has no mount (it's NOT a Camera helmet).
------------------------------------------
Thats why cookie itself manufactures different mounts to fit cameras to a G3 ;)

But I agree mainly on your post. It's not worth risking your neck for a silly camera and helmet!

[nigel99 143]

DivingWombat

******
I have 2 Cookie helmets a G3 and an M1, the M1 has a Low profile GoPro mount on it, the G3 has no mount (it's NOT a Camera helmet).
------------------------------------------
Thats why cookie itself manufactures different mounts to fit cameras to a G3 ;)

But I agree mainly on your post. It's not worth risking your neck for a silly camera and helmet!

Even if Cookie themselves make mounts to fit the G3, there are some of us who think cameras and snags on a full face helmet is an unnecessary risk.

Squeak raised an excellent point, the vast majority of people regularly jumping camera aren't actually getting footage of any value. Maybe instead of focusing on the dangers of cameras, it would be better to show how pointless they are?

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[Squeak 17]

DivingWombat

I have 2 Cookie helmets a G3 and an M1, the M1 has a Low profile GoPro mount on it, the G3 has no mount (it's NOT a Camera helmet).
------------------------------------------
Thats why cookie itself manufactures different mounts to fit cameras to a G3 ;)

But I agree mainly on your post. It's not worth risking your neck for a silly camera and helmet!

Cookie makes mounts for the G3 because people are putting cameras on them anyway and he wants to try and make them a little safer.
Not because he thinks that they are a camera platform.

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?

[Mach1dmb 0]

What is considered the safest camera setup? Are wrist mounts less hazardous than helmet mounts?

[dragon2 0]

Mach1dmb

What is considered the safest camera setup? Are wrist mounts less hazardous than helmet mounts?

The safest camera mount is on the head (not wrist) of a suitably experienced/aware skydiver, topmounted flush on a camera helmet with cutaway system. A select few cameras are very suitable for flush sidemounting, notably the sony action cameras, that would be a good camera setup as well. Most important are the aware skydiver part, and the cutaway part.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[chemist 0]

normiss

You're saying life isn't worth $1100.


Mine is.

of course it's not. The point is that not cutting helmet away does not = accident 100%. Therefore, all I'm saying is an expensive camera helmet might make someone slightly less likely to cutaway due to thinking that they could control the situation, you might still cutaway no matter what. Of course in a bridle entangalment you cut that shit away no matter how much it cost, but in another situation where accident is not as sure of thing it's not as simple as my life is worth more than $1100 it doesn't work that way the point is it creates a little bit greater probablility to decide not to cut away in certain situations where you think you could control it and its not as dangerous of a predicament.

BUT to expand on the brindle entangelment point, I have been pondering this for some time, does a brindle entangalment neccesarily going to snap your neck right off? Isn't the bridle short relative to stow line so if it was caught on the camera the bag would be in tow with enough of the lines stowed that the canopy could not leave the D-Bag? This would be interesting to test maybe somehow in a wind tunnel? Plus with the new cookie fuels I have been looking at it very carefully and it seems like even if it did hook around the go pro nicely AND deployed the canopy it comes down to 2 little pieces of plastic that it is held on by the waterproof case OR the piece of plastic that slides it on the actual mount I feel like either one of those 2 sources of plastic required to crack to remove the camera will crack WAYYYY before enough force is generated to snap a neck . I know tests have been done on that 3M tape used in the old days that it can take enormous amounts of force before those come off, but the new cookie fuel ones allow the gopro to be ripped off in what seem to be minimal amounts of force. Does the fact that the force pulls the camera directly UP make it harder to break the waterproof case connection to mount? Ok this was a long post but I am just trying to wrap my head around this, no pun intended!

[DSE 3]

chemist

.

BUT to expand on the brindle entangelment point, I have been pondering this for some time, does a brindle entangalment neccesarily going to snap your neck right off? Isn't the bridle short relative to stow line so if it was caught on the camera the bag would be in tow with enough of the lines stowed that the canopy could not leave the D-Bag? This would be interesting to test maybe somehow in a wind tunnel? Plus with the new cookie fuels I have been looking at it very carefully and it seems like even if it did hook around the go pro nicely AND deployed the canopy it comes down to 2 little pieces of plastic that it is held on by the waterproof case OR the piece of plastic that slides it on the actual mount I feel like either one of those 2 sources of plastic required to crack to remove the camera will crack WAYYYY before enough force is generated to snap a neck . I know tests have been done on that 3M tape used in the old days that it can take enormous amounts of force before those come off, but the new cookie fuel ones allow the gopro to be ripped off in what seem to be minimal amounts of force. Does the fact that the force pulls the camera directly UP make it harder to break the waterproof case connection to mount? Ok this was a long post but I am just trying to wrap my head around this, no pun intended!

First off, it's a "bridle" and not a "brindle" (nor a bridal).
Next, the concern has never been about snapping ones neck. Nor is it logical nor safe to assume the plastic on a mount will break with the pull forces generated by a pilot chute. Breaking one off with no leverage in an enganglement isn't something you'd want to gamble on either.
Jumping a helmet system with a camera on it, without a means of cutting the helmet away is foolish in my view.
BTW, if you think VHB tape is easy to rip off, please by all means, hang yourself from a hanging harness and rip it off. Get video.

[virgin-burner 1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsEI_6cErbM

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