Go Pro ...Good Bye : (

[rodltg2]

Tried to use my go pro for the first time and its in the drink! I attached the mount about 6" in front of my forward binding. I made 2 passes , it was fine. At the end of the third pass it was gone. Was this a bad place for it? I think it probably fell of on the deep water start. Wife gave it to me as a gift, so she's not to happy I lost it the first time I used it. Doubtful I can find it. I may just buy a new one, and tell her I found it !

[MattP]

@rodltg2‌ yikes! Did you have the float door on it?

[Tom351]

I lost one in the same manner a few years ago....it flew off on first wake crossing...The impact when the ski hits the wake is just too great for a standard mount.

[jhughes]

Been there too. Quite a "sinking" feeling. This was before I discovered the floaty back door option.

[6balls]

Guilty as well...son put it on kneeboard without float and it's gone. Lost another doing slalom course vid but was near the ball when it went down so a friend who has dive equipment found it.

Lesson...use the float always.

[rq0013]

I lost mine before the floaty back door was developed. Sent down 2 friends to scuba for it but they didnt find it.

[SM]

We should start a poll of who hasn't lost one.

[jedgell]

Not to jinx myself, but mine has stayed on for probably 10 sets without issue. I do have the floaty back door, so not too worried about it. Another guy I ski with has had 2 mounts break, both after only a few passes.

[bowty]

What about tethering the camera to the binding? When I use mine for snow skiing I use nylon cord tied around the hinge rod on the camera to a vent in my helmet. Only possible issue would be making sure the string is down and out of the camera view.

[The_MS]

Neighbor lost his last week when it fell off the boom it was attached to. I have heard that there is a chip in it that a fish finder can find.

[kstateskier]

My GoPro is 80' down under my old slalom course after the second set on it proved too much for the mount (which broke).

[E_T]

Put a leash on it....

[bbirlew]

I've tethered mine, but you need to drop immediately when the mount comes off or it will bash up your ski in a hurry.

 

[bowty]

@MS If a fishfinder went looking for it I think it would just show up like any other bump in the bottom. If you knew where it fell you could drop an ice fishing camera down and look that way.

[FracBurner]

Does GoPro have competition? Their margins must be fairly juicy.

[ScarletArrow]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYua845SOvw&list=UUr9W3XaPB_unoUvr8GWVl8w

 

I was hoping to see an alligator swim by as the GoPro kept recording for several minutes... no luck.

[lundberg]

This was my solution.

http://www.ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/5436/gopro-waterski-mount

 

[rodltg2]

I wish I hade read about them falling off BEFORE I decided to try it out on the ski. Lessoned learned.

 

My wife is really sad about it. She really put a lot of thought as well as $ into to a gift. I go and Bozo it up and lose it first day out with it. She was there and witnessed it. I don't know if she will believe it , but I probably will tell her I went out to the lake and looked all over and found it. Instead, I'll go to the store, buy a new one , cover it in mud and tell her I found it!

[slalom frog]

Floaty door has saved me 4 times so far!

 

[Cusefan78]

Go get one and toss it in the muddy water and say you found it. It'll get you out if the dog house just make sure not to use a credit card that she sees. I got busted once doing this very thing.

[6balls]

My son was doing a group project for class where he was doing the video and editing work and others were writing the scripts etc. All of their footage was on the go-pro and the assignment was due in 2 days. He was going to put it all together the next day...there were hours of footage on there that he was going to take the best of...and it went to the bottom of the lake. He was freaking out.

 

Rush job project with a teacher approved extension, a new go-pro and it got done but it affected 4 others as well...serious bummer. Goofy thing is he was in probably 8 feet of water when it pops off, he almost caught it in his hand but keeps the handle saying "NOOOOOO! NOOOOO!" instead of dropping it immediately so we could mark it. I had no idea what all the noise was about back there so didn't get out of the throttle, either. He eventually threw the handle down but we had gone a fair distance.

 

Water was pretty clear that time of year but weeds were coming up. Criss crossed a bunch in the alumacraft in approximate location but no luck. Had he dropped right away I think we could have marked it and come back with a legit shot.

[dchristman]

I have to ask, why are so many compelled to attach their cameras to a ski? Most all of the videos I've seen from the perspective of the ski are somewhat lacking in entertainment value and don't seem to be too educational either ... why even risk losing it? Put it on your head or chest. One of the best videos I have seen is this one by Terry Winter:

youtu.be/wHng0LBIVwE

[Cusefan78]

6bAll. You never know how it drops. I dropped a wrench in this week in 4 feet of water and couldn't find it. I looked for 30 minutes and it never showed up. I saw it drop in and it went behind me and by the time I turned around it was gone. I'm going with a fish ate it and swam away either that or aliens!

[rodltg2]

I was excited to use it and the only mounting option was the ski. I've seen videos of others doing it , so I thought I was good to go. Mine fell off somewhere between my deep water start and 4 ball. So an approximate 1000' x 100' area. Our lake is clear of weeds and only 4' deep or so. But muddy bottom. It's possible to find it , I would have tried yesterday but we had a full dock.

[6balls]

@cusefan78 buddy dropped cell phone while wiping boat last week at my bro's place...took 30 minutes to come up with it in murky water. Funny thing is one buddy jumps from the water screaming...blue gill went after his nipple. I thought he was carrying on until he got out and blood running down him both from top and bottom of his nipple. OUCH! He said "Screw this, dude, find your own phone!"

 

One of the difficulties with the floatie is how it affects mounting. For example use it on a chest mount and it points down cuz float in the way of higher viewpoint.

[Cusefan78]

6ball that's awesome. Killer blue gills! Good thing there was no pike around or he would be in trouble.

[bowty]

@6balls I have an idea of how they could remake the floatie mount to stop that issue, 3D model coming soon.

[Cusefan78]

Is there really a need for a floaty with the chest mount? I fell pretty hard last year and hit a buoy straight on the mount. Didn't even flinch it. On the other hand I thought the camera went through my chest. When I use the chest mount I tether it around the shoulder strap of my vest

[bowty]

deleted

[ToddL]

My son got one before this season started. He has yet to take it to the lake for fear of losing it. I've asked several times to put it on my ski, but he won't let me. He said that we need to buy the surfer sticky mounts and the reinforced mount arm. (We already have the floaty back door.) I just want to get in the water inside a buoy and film him coming into and out of the turn. That would be a cool shot I think...

 

Oh, and there is a youtube video somewhere out there of a guy who tested all of the various mounts with a go pro with the floaty door. He found that several of the mounts were too heavy to allow the floaty to keep both the camera and the mount at the surface of the water.

 

Here it is...