Helmet camera has arrived and packing started

To my relief I arrived into work this morning to an email from the post room telling me a parcel had arrived for me. As expected it was my helmet mounted video camera. Many thanks to Doug Low, the eBay seller who rushed my camera to the post office so it would get to me in time.

A quick dunk in the sink has proved that the headcam *is* in fact waterproof, but the internal memory will only record for just under a minute so I'll have to wait till tomorrow when I get memory cards to give it a full test.

There are plenty of mounting options for me to play with, none of which I'd describe as perfect. But they're certainly functional.


Here we see the camera mounted on my Shred Ready FMJ which is my main lid. The mounting here is just a rubber strap. Which is a bit fiddley to get on, but grips surprisingly well given that it doesn't pass through anything fixed to the helmet.

However, I've been told by those that know that the power of the water in the Nile is quite incredible compared to what I'm used to. So, on Ronan's advice I'm bringing a sieved helmet that'll spill water when I'm getting washed around.

So I tried mounting the camera on my Pro Tec lid. The drainage holes allow me to strap the mounting bracket on more easily and also to put the camera on the top of my head which makes it better balanced and so I'm less conscious of it being there.

I started getting everything ready to pack up and go on Wednesday evening. My paddling gear is nice and dry, the tent is in good nick, and I think I've everything else ready to go. Big Enda is coming to Dublin tomorrow and we'll run through our final checklists, do a panic buy of whatever we've forgotton and then retire to the pub before flying out on Sunday.