I’ve been struggling with mounting my Gopro on a long extension boom to the deck of my poly sit-inside kayak. The Gopro suction mount and their 3M VHB adhesive have not worked reliable to date, because of the leverage/torque this places on the mounting point.
So I’m looking at some of the screw in (I hate to do this) mounts with star bases, such as the Scotty or the Railblaza.
Does anyone have experience with either or both when surface mounted on a sit-inside?
here you go
– Last Updated: Nov-23-14 5:33 PM EST –
I have a kayalu suction cup mount with the 8" bar. So far it has held fast on the deck, on the stern, and on various parts of the hull. It stays put well enough to get a roll on video. I've had it in 3' slop but that's it so far. Also had it on my car headlight on a 55 mph highway and it held fast.
The only thing I noticed is that when mounted all the way up on the bow or back on the stern, the bar allowed it to bobble about a bit in rough water. So now I just leave the bar off when I place it there, and accept the lower perspective, the fittings still get it up off the deck without the bar.
It's not cheap like the gopro mount, but once you receive it and use it, you'll understand why. Kayalu also makes permanent mounts and a suction cup "tripod".
http://www.kayalu.com/secure_server/kayalu/ram-mounts-locking-suction-gopro-hero-camera-mount-with-toughbar-extension-arm-p-303.html?cPath=30
suction on plastic?
so you have mounted the Kayalu suction system on a plastic kayak? and it held?
BTW the Kayalu uses RAM mounts parts
Yes, not cheap!
I’ve seen their stuff before in ads, but never in person.
What makes any of this any more reliable than the Gopro suction cup mount, which is supposed to stay on race cars under speed???
Did you compare?
no, I haven’t
I’m not certain it would work, but I would be surprised if I couldn’t get it to work on a plastic kayak. The suction cup isn’t big enough for flex to be an issue. If the mounting location was abraded plastic that would be dealt with in several ways.
I understand it uses RAM mount parts but I guess I don’t see the point of introducing a branding name to the discussion, unless the OP knows what RAM mount parts are. But I stand by everything I posted, the strength even surprised me.
Did you have another product in mind?
yup
My gopro suction cup mount now occupies a distant corner of my junk drawer. It’s a piece of relatively cheap plastic. The kayalu mount is made of marine-grade materials, coated metal, etc. These guys make marine camera mounts, and not just for kayaks.
swivel
joints, made in Boulder…
swivel joints, search in Google Images for…try McMaster Carr…
Attaching a joint, boom and camera prob requires bracing hull under the mount.
I assume a sandwich of brace plate/hull/mount, bolted together with a layer of appropriate goo in between each. Find an appropriate fabric and goo at West Marine.
Ask the folk at Guillemot Kayak Forums.
I second this
Wholeheartedly. I’ve had one for two years, just bought my second for a second go pro. I have the long boom on one, no boom on the second. I had a plastic wilderness systems kayak, and it NEVER fell off in 2 years of use and abuse. Rescues, getting hit, didn’t matter. That suction cup can hold on.
Although it does not work on all plastic finishes. I have a friend in a plastic venture kayak that has a rough porous finish on the deck. It would not stay on. We found areas where the finish was smooth and it stuck perfectly.
Here’s an example of a vid I made where I abused the mount at bit when we rescued people and it kept getting hit.
http://youtu.be/nsPZA7y9jKE
At around the 9 minute mark my instructor and I have a bit of a struggle and the camera gets knocked about and kicked. Doesn’t come off. It just moved the camera on the GoPro mount.
Completely worth the money. On my new boat it’s even better.
I know several brands from online
But not in real life. It’s not easy finding one to see in person, much less try out, before purchasing.
RAM looks good, especially the double or triple mounts. Kavalue looks good.
Are these that much better than Gopro in a single or does it really take a double/triple???
only problem I have with it
is that the camera arm bounces around a bit in chop. But I’m not sure anything but a tripod-mount would cure that, though I’m open to suggestions.
The tripod mount is a bit too steep for me. And I don’t want to place permanent mounts all over my kayak.
I was surprised to hear
I was surprised to hear that Kayalu mount would stick to a plastic kayak since others with plastic kayaks lamented that it didn’t work for them.
I mentioned RAM mounts since I use some of their suction cup bases (same as Kayalu) on my composite kayaks with mixed results.
If conditions are calm and not much knocking happens then OK, in the rough they have come off.
Here is an example that got recorded: http://youtu.be/6oT2uUJADg8?t=2m38s
I know it was asking a lot from a suction cup mount but they have not worked so well even in much milder conditions.
I could suggest a few alternatives but most involve a fair degree of DIY and some hard mounting of bases on the kayak (screws), something that the OP is not prepared for.
I had very good luck with tripods but those need to be anchored rather well and salt usually kills them after a while.
I think it depends
On the finish of the plastic for each manufacturer. For my wilderness systems boat it’s never come off in 2 years of use and abuse.
Gnarlydog, I’m a fan!
Have emailed you at your site on occasion and you are my inspiration for video-kayaking! (Please don’t confuse that with anything approaching your level of skill, though. LOL)
I’m trying to get shots like you do from a variety of different angles. Some need a closer to the deck flexible system, others an outboard or upright boom.
My plastic Glide seems to handle the Gopro suction mount almost always, but it has failed me twice and I don’t know why. Several mount attempts have failed under the leverage of a boom.
I can resort to drilling, just would prefer to avoid it if reasonably possible.
Please elaborate on the systems you use and don’t hesitate over whether I can do the DIY, which I can.
Meantime, have you tried any of the double or triple suction cup systems?
Btw
Great vid. Great editing. Which helmet mount that spins do you use?
works great for me
In my experience the weak link is the arm flexing within the fittings. I’ve only lost it when I was too hasty in fastening it. Rough water, rolls, R&Rs…it stays put.
my camera mounts
sorry to reply to your comment on my blog only yesterday; it got “lost” in the system…
Instead of repeating my approach to kayak mounts here, please check the comment section on this post: http://gnarlydognews.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/video-sailing-with-vixen.html
DIY helmet mount
I made that helmet mount before I could find anything on the web about spinning mounts. All I saw was unique footage of somebody riding a bicycle in Taiwan and was mesmerized by the angle. GoPro had no similar footage and nothing else I could find on the web.
With a coworker we figured out what was going on and put our creative ideas into action.
I used parts that were cheap and rather basic since I knew salt will kill anything that moves. I was willing to sacrifice the mount and let it corrode eventually.
It is not like I wanted a ton of footage like that as it makes the viewer a bit… dizzy?
One thing: no holes were drilled into the helmet but I rather created a carbon fibre plate that is removable.
Your mounts
I would love to see that pile of your mounts, G!
That’s excellent
Question though. Does it feel weird/cumbersome to wear it while paddling? I know it captures great footage, I’m wondering how uncomfortable it is to wear it while on the water.