wearable spy cameras.

[Cassius]

Yeah no worries, I can't decide whether to mount a camera on my kevlar or on my weapon sytem.

The helmet will give a slightly higher (height) perspective but will be prone to more movement

If mounted on the weapon, it won't show where I'm additionally looking when out of contact.

I can't really afford to buy two cameras so may have to experiment, also may see if I have a willing slave to use a hand-held.

Dave

Epic Action Cameras makes a line of very affordable cameras ( roughly 100 to 200 US dollars) that are small and can be mounted anywhere. They aren't the absolute best image quality, but the cameras are durable.

The major downside is that they don't handle low light situations all that well.

[Rock Ape]

A solution I was thinking of trying was to mount the camera on my weapon, but mount an LED HID torch on my Kevlar which will clearly indicate when I'm not looking directly forwards.

To be honest the direction of observation isn't a massive issue when utilising a rifle because in CQB I'm going to be shooting mainly instinctively out of the normal "aimed shot" situation thus both eyes open and looking in the general direction of the shot-fall is all that's required.

Where I generally want to improve on is my secondary weapon skills and this is where a helmet mounted camera would be most beneficial because it would serve both rifle and pistol together.

Easiest thing to do is do a few dry runs with different configs and see what works.

Edit:

LOL just found a Magpul short 20mm rail in my spares box so going to retro-fit that to a spare kevlar I have then look to find a suitable camera and mount..

[toyamabarnard]

Edit:

LOL just found a Magpul short 20mm rail in my spares box so going to retro-fit that to a spare kevlar I have then look to find a suitable camera and mount..

http://www.tachyoninc.com/xcmicro_mounts.php

$100 for the micro cam and you can switch from helmet to rifle

[Rock Ape]

Thanks for that.. Me thinks that might be a birthday gift to myself !

[Wounded Ronin]

Remember how in Aliens all the Colonial Marines had a huge camera lens mounted on the side of their helmets?

[ChenPengFi]

http://www.tachyoninc.com/xcmicro_mounts.php

$100 for the micro cam and you can switch from helmet to rifle

Nice.
A friend has one of these Gopros
YouTube - GoPro 2010 Highlights
and with the wide-angle and HD it might be a better choice for the helmet, although a bit bulkier.
I've used it on my head surfing no problem.

[gregaquaman]

Got a couple of spy cameras on e bay for about $30 going to use them to test the concept.

runs on a micro SD card. The cord is just plugged into my computor rather than nessecary for the camera.

Let you know how I go after the weekend.

[gregaquaman]

Tested the cameras at work. Me and one other guy was using them.
The Image quality was actually quite good considering the low light and movement and it adds a completely new dimention to our video footage.
We do get a lot of chests when we are close up but even just the inclusion of audio makes it worth while. (Standing off an incident gives us everything though.)
Had a few problems with remembering to turn the thing on each time. Would be nice just to have a super camera that lasts a whole shift.
One other point, nobody noticed we were wearing them. Even with the flashing red light that shows we are recording.

So better cameras and more consistent tactics and we might be able to make this thing work.

[Wounded Ronin]

The more I think of it, the more I think the camera had better be on the helmet.

[Wounded Ronin]

The more I think of it, the more I think the camera had better be on the helmet.