Ultralight board mounted camera pole - how to build thread

[blueplanetsurf]

Nice work Clay!

[clay]

Nice work Clay!

Thanks Robert!

[clay]

A friend (SUPalon) and I traded off boards and tested out the camera pole in a bit bigger conditions yesterday. Surf was about knee to chest high on the inside and chest to about a foot or two overhead up the point and there was quite a bit of rebound off the cliff making for a more challenging test. Super fun and stoked that the pole held up and how the video came out. 

[Off-Shore]

Awesome Clay. Really enjoyed that. Especially with the two of you switching. Phenomenal POV. Keep them coming!

[clay]

Awesome Clay. Really enjoyed that. Especially with the two of you switching. Phenomenal POV. Keep them coming!

Thanks Robert!  Really appreciating the good words.

I have been reluctant to take the pole cam to this beach break, the paddle out is often quite a challenge and getting trashed is part of the deal.  Real stoked that the pole held up well 

[Lakeshore1]

Looks like an AWESOME mount Clay.

[Off-Shore]

Clay. The vids are getting better as the conditions get bigger! Keep 'em comin'. 

[clay]

Looks like an AWESOME mount Clay.

Thanks Ben!

[clay]

Clay. The vids are getting better as the conditions get bigger! Keep 'em comin'. 

Thanks Robert!  Will do, this R&D stuff is pretty fun 

[southwesterly]

I love the dolphin photobomb @ 31 seconds.

[clay]

This was from a while back, I was playing around with a really long pole and a side view.  Small DW day:

[clay]

We went for a late afternoon session yesterday.  This time I mounted the camera pole on the tail and managed to catch a nice set wave.  I am luke warm on this camera angle, any suggestions on a better POV on the tail?  I am thinking maybe rotate the camera to the right so it is "looking" more into the wave face?

 

[Off-Shore]

Clay. This last one looks good. I agree rotating it to the right a little would improve the POV. Great work!

[clay]

I'd suggest three things to make it safer:-
2. Make sure the whole assembly can pop off the mounts if you fall on it or it gets dragged along the bottom

Quick update:  I did a small DW run a week or so ago.  I was feeling cold tired and lethargic.  I lost my balance and fell back landing right on top of the tail mounted camera pole, 2 of the 3  gopro attachment pieces broke right off.  I flopped it back over, resting on the 2 broken arms and finished the run.  Seems like this setup will easily break or separate when needed, accidentally or on purpose.  This was the first carbon mount that wasn't very sleek, so I cut the tripod legs off and remade/reglassed it sleeker and stronger and capped the ends of the tubes.

I'd suggest three things to make it safer:-
1. Block off the tubes so the whole thing floats easily

I had a great small day trading boards, a JL SUP noserider and my wife's 9'6" prone Robert August what I ride.  I had a tiny long and really fun barrel on the August so I had the idea of trying the newly reconstructed mount on that board.  I slapped some adhesive mounts on the nose without sanding or alcohol cleaning the deck, this was an hour before my session on a cold 40F degree morning.  Of course 5 minutes into my session I was caught inside and after the second wave the mount was nowhere to be seen.  Spinning around I saw it about 30 yards inside floating completely on top of the water.  So the whole camera pole rig appears to have positive buoyancy.

I'd suggest three things to make it safer:-
3. Paint part of it bright fluorescent yellow / orange so you can find it easily once it pops off.

The orange floaty on the camera itself made it super easy to spot the camera pole.  I paddle for it and scoped it up and had a little selfie wave shot.  My gopro session camera has been freezing now and then and it happened on this session and the video file is lost and beyond repair.  I ordered a faster gopro recommended micro SD card so I will see if this fixes the freezing problem.

[clay]

Hi,

First test of the pole on  my new Stretch SUP, the pole itself is super strong but one adhesive attachment point came off on a wipeout. Maybe the pole hit a piece of kelp or maybe it was the wave crashing on it?  I am wondering if maybe the thicker diameter of the pole makes for a bigger lever and more stress on the attachment points?  Or if the smaller more rigid footprint of this pole doesn't have enough flex and that's why it's not as secured to the board in the surf as it is on downwinders?  Or maybe it's the time of year and being colder I need to use an adhesive activator or let the 3M Gopro mounts bond to my board for more than a day or so?

I would love to hear any speculation or suggestions on what the problem might be and how to solve it.

Still a fun session, always special to see a big swell roll in.  I hurt my foot last week and have been limping around so I took it easy today and manage some sweet rides. I had been all sinus stuffed up on the drive down and after my session was completely cleared out and felt great. Seems like nature's neti pot works.