Scuba diving is going to be a big part of our travels. The underwater world is both strange and exciting. Every time we go diving we come across incredible and fantastic creatures and sights that catch us by surprise. We’ve tried taking photos but getting anything of decent quality is challenging to say the least while fumbling around trying to both frame the subject and keeping the camera steady in the current. For this trip, I’ve decided to rely on my GoPro instead. But wouldn’t it also be great if I was able to capture our dives without worrying about handling the camera?
There are commercial options available for mounting a GoPro to your gear and some look really interesting. You can buy masks that have a GoPro mount built in. However, these are pretty expensive and I already own a mask so I decided to see if I can’t just add a mount to it instead. $3 worth of nuts and bolts with a bit of careful shaving of the plastic with my dremel tool yielded the following. Behold, the GoPro face mask!
A regular dive can take anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes. Let’s hope the GoPro battery lasts that long! I’m going to bring a spare to replace between dives. I’ll also have to learn to control the camera by the beeps it makes since I won’t be able to see it once I’m under. Luckily, I’ll get plenty of practice and hopefully get some nice footage to share as well :).
Sorin
Le Voyage Extraordinaire No. 55 
Hey that looks like a sweet DIY but I just worry about the nut and bolt after diving in salt water…I think they might rust quite fast although that shouldn’t really change anything. If you want to be sure, I think there are plastic screws and nuts available to buy to avoid this kind of thing.
I got stainless steel nuts and bolts so I’m hoping it won’t be a problem. Hopefully a thorough rinsing after every dive will help as well.
I love this! Really hope it works.
Any theories on what happens when you’re under the extra pressure? Think it’ll make the seal tighter? Will it be more or less likely to leak?
Thoughts on silicon sealant?
Finally, do you have Amazon Prime? If not, maybe get it…and make sure your first dive is w/n the same-day delivery zone: http://goo.gl/lfe6NM 😉
Looking forward to the footage!
The pressure makes the mask stick better. You actually want it a little loose at the surface because the volume of air inside the mask will shrink as you go deeper. This should keep a tight seal even with the extra weight of the GoPro, I hope. What I’ll do is test it in a pool first. I’ll also be able to simply unscrew the camera from the mount underwater if I really need to and just stick it in the pocket of my BCD.
I’ve considered silicon sealant but I want to be able to remove the mount as well. I don’t have a lot of those GoPro arm things so I want to be able to reuse it when I’m not diving.
So awesome, Sorin! 🙂 Hope it kicks ass!
How you doing, we need an update. It’s getting lonely in here 🙂
Keep your eyes on the blog, I’ve got one coming up today 🙂
How you doing buddy?
Hey Loren – I’m doing pretty well! We’re getting ready for our last planned dive trip to Komodo before we make our way north. We’re not sure where we’ll go yet, though ;)…