 Poster: A snowHead
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I have been thinking about getting a helmet camera, but with the recent events and the debate on helmet use I'm not entirely convinced that something like a GOPRO is not going to puncture the helmet and embed itself into your head if you are unlucky with a crash. I had quite a bad crash last year in which I felt the top of my head (fortunately encased in a helmet) bounce on the snow several times pretty much where the camera would traditionally be mounted.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Posidrive, the mount will break and the camera disappear first. If you caught things just right I could see it getting between the helmet and whatever you're hitting it against but the chances of that happening seem vanishingly small. I've not even seen one anecdotal report of it being an issue.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You could always go for something like a contour HD with side mount as they have a lower profile than the GoPro. The most annoying thing I find with the GoPro is bashing it on lifts.
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Not something I've though about myself but a bullet format camera might ease your worries? Take a look for contour roam2 or drift, both come in a side mount and are MUCH slimmer than the standard teletubby gopro setup.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Dammit too slow 
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| Posidrive wrote: |
| I'm not entirely convinced that something like a GOPRO is not going to puncture the helmet and embed itself into your head if you are unlucky with a crash.. |
...on the plus side, you'd have some cracking footage to show at your funeral
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Hm...I wonder if Michael Schumacher was wearing a GoPro?
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Why would a side mounted camera present less of a problem? They'd be nearer to more delicate areas of the skull for example!
Having a lower profile is going to make zero difference and in the highly unlikely event that the accident the OP mentions actually happened would make the situation worse for potential penetration thanks to the increased pressure due to the reduced contact area.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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A few years ago I went for a couple of weeks in Morocco learning to paraglide.
Midway through the second week when we'd moved to a much higher very rocky ridge the strong wind caught up with my lack of experience.
I got picked up while trying to launch and dumped head first into some of the many sharp rocks, the GoPro popped out of the case straight away closely followed by the mounting shoe snapping.
The rock left a 30mm crease in the helmet and broke part of the GoPro mounting plate but didn't remove any of the 3M sticky pad (bloody strong stuff).
I walked away without any damage to my head, face or neck though some deepish gashes to my hands and knee.
Purley antidotal but I don't think it adds any significant risk.
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I'd guess that neither option (bullet on the side of the helmet or gopro, side, top or front mounted are going to make a huge amount of difference to the effectiveness of the helmet in all but the rarest of incidents. I would however suggest that a bullet camera mounted to the side offers a higher degree (of this extremely small) risk materialising. My reasoning is that the profile of the bullet camera mounted to the side would present more chance of (in a fall onto the side and banging ones noggin) transferring the energy through the mount and into the helmet directly, whereas the gopro which my it's nature and form factor is usually mounted on a small extension arm is more likely to just break. I am taking about a fall directly onto the side in terms of the bullet camera here.
Of course the bullet camera and mount may actually provide more protection as it's another layer and also either camera may actually come off and smash you in the face or may even get caught during a fall and cause you to break your neck.
Not something I would worry about, probably more chance of breaking a rib if you are using the chest mount for the gopro or skewering yourself or someone else if you use a pole mount.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Don't put the camera on your helmet: worst place for it to go IMO.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Camera mounts, even without the camera, are not allowed in ski races.
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...as long as you don't use 2" wood screws to attach it, you should be fine
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Not something I would worry about, probably more chance of breaking a rib if you are using the chest mount for the gopro or skewering yourself or someone else if you use a pole mount.
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^ This, probably
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You know it makes sense.
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| rjs wrote: |
| Camera mounts, even without the camera, are not allowed in ski races. |
I saw plenty of skiers and boarders with the GoPro mounting plate on there helemts in the Ski/Board Cross.
Not sure about Slalom and GS guessing they have tougher regulations.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Posidrive wrote: |
| I'm not entirely convinced that something like a GOPRO is not going to puncture the helmet and embed itself into your head if you are unlucky with a crash. |
Absorbing the impact of small hard objects is one thing that helmets are reasonably good at... that's basically what the safety standards test.
It is more likely to introduce extra rotational forces to your head in a crash, which is not necessarily good news for your neck or your brain.
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Poster: A snowHead
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no
well not directly but the resulting mediocre youtube footage will lead to many comas being induced.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rjs, they seem to be allowed in ski cross, at least there was definitely someone competing with the mount on his helmet the other day.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Quote: |
the resulting mediocre youtube footage will lead to many comas being induced
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I think it has potential to reduce safety. A lot of helmet research seems to now be focusing on shear etc and it seems that you need to let your helmet slide. Anything that can catch and produce torsional forces seems to be a no no. I wouldn't put a kid in a helmet cover for instance.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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^^^ Good point- so even though the camera might come off, the mount won't and could dig into the snow and wrench your neck etc...
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The oft quoted advantage of the GoPro over other cameras is the ability to chest mount it. That would seem to negate any helmet worries. Also check that any helmet warranty isn't invalidated by mounting a camera on it.
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| meh wrote: |
| rjs, they seem to be allowed in ski cross, at least there was definitely someone competing with the mount on his helmet the other day. |
Helmet rules for ski cross are the same as for alpine.
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Thought I'd seen Ted the Shred racing with his go-pro mount still attached, but could have imagined it.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| meh wrote: |
Why would a side mounted camera present less of a problem? They'd be nearer to more delicate areas of the skull for example!
Having a lower profile is going to make zero difference and in the highly unlikely event that the accident the OP mentions actually happened would make the situation worse for potential penetration thanks to the increased pressure due to the reduced contact area. |
The contour roam lays flat against the side of the helmet with a rubber pad between it and the shell. It has rather a large surface area and is also a rounded tube in design so unlikely to penetrate without the type of force that would probably lead to a brain injury no matter what helmet you were wearing.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Or the two worn here:
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Helmet cameras/mounts could damage others, too. A friend had a badly injured knee when an out of control child in a helmet smashed into her as she stood with her 3 year old on the side of a piste in Kitzbuhel. His helmet, as he tucked, was at her knee level - might have been even worse if he'd had one of those things on the top of his helmet. (Vehicle safety requirements preclude all kinds of protuberances which could damage pedestrians).
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pam w, again, much more likely to just knock the camera off.
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You know it makes sense.
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make you look a nob tho'
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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It seems many skiers use action cams as a training aid to view their performance.
The problem I see with cams is not the risk of falling on them, but the insufficient attention and distraction in fussing with these things on the pistes that leads to accidents with other skiers.
I use a Contour cam. I switch it on before I even put the skis on and turn it off after I take the skis off.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Do not hit somwbody with it! 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I think it's impossible for a GoPro camera to puncture your helmet so yes, I consider them to be safe. Actually I just got mine over Christmas through a voucher code I found here and although I'm far from being a professional skier, the GoPro cam is definitely a lot of fun, would highly recommend it. And yes they are made for extreme sports, which means that the safety of the athletes is kept in mind.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Tue 7-01-14 9:59; edited 2 times in total
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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meh, Maybe the two at the back of your picture are just taking it easy in the knowledge that they can ask for the other two to be disqualified.
The rules are on the FIS website, we were told last winter that they would be enforced, seen from the outside I'm not very confident that ski cross TDs are as careful as they should be about safety.
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rjs, I find it hard to believe that those rules (not wearing a camera) are there as they generally are in place for most competetive sports, but I've just had a quick look and I can't find any specific wording to that effect. NB I looked at the FIS general rules, so they may be specific rules posted for each event.
It may be that the rules say something to the effect of 'No personal cameras (video or still) can be worn by an athlete' but the actual mounting plate may not be covered as long as it is considered that there is no additional risk to either the competitor, other competitors, officials or members of the public. I would guess there are also restrictions due to the fact that the recorded footage could be used as a training/performance aid.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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ansta1, The rule that matters here is in section 6.1 "The crash helmets shall have no spoilers nor protruding parts", I have been told by several TDs (French and British) that this will include camera mounts.
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Thanks, I did look at that one, but clearly missed the bit about 'spoilers or protruding parts' when I scanned for helmets. I guess the definition of spoilers or protruding parts does have a small degree of latitude for discussion.
Now could they get away with a pair of goggles with the cameras built in. hmmmmm
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Give it another couple of years and all racers will be required to wear half a dozen cameras each 
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rjs, ansta1, it's probably because Ski Cross comes under Freestyle rather than Alpine and they make no mention of the protruding parts bit in their helmet rules but do specify Ski Cross helmets meet the SG/GS/DH requirements. Whether that means all of section 6 or just 6.2 isn't clear.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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meh, In your picture the leading guy isn't wearing a SG/GS/DH helmet, they wouldn't be allowed to start in a GS race with that.
ansta1, You won't get very far trying to argue definitions with a TD.
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rjs, maybe the bit about parts of the SL helmet requirements that the Freestyle helmet definition mentions is relevant there? All in all it could do with being clearer! Interesting random aside tho.
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