GoPro Bite Mount

GoPros have allowed people to experience the thrill of skiing, base jumping, kayaking, mountain biking etc. through the eyes of the professionals and even amateurs. However all these have a common thing in common; they all wear helmets which makes it easy to strap a GoPro to your head right out of the box.

As a surfer if you want a POV shot of the action you need either a head strap or a bite mount. The advantage of the bite mount is that it is can securely put in your mouth so you needed worry about it moving around when you take waves on the head but also you can take it out of your mouth while on the wave for different perspectives.

For this project you will need:

GoPro J buckle (supplied with the camera or can be bought separately)

PolyMorph (available here http://www.thermoworx.com or if you are in the UK and Ireland Maplins)

The J buckle pictured has polymorph still on it from the prototype of this project however it is still usable as a J buckle if you find you need to restore it.

Polymorph comes as a bag of pellets but is reusable. I store used polymorph as a thin sheet so it is quicker to soften.

There are three screws located on the bottom of the buckle. Remove these and you will find that the foot comes off leaving you with a smaller stem like shown.

Polymorph is a thermoplastic that melts at ~60 C. This means that hot water from an electric kettle is perfect to bring the plastic to that temperature.

Fill a bowl with hot water and place the polymorph in it. It will go from while to colourless. This is the point that you remove it from the water for molding.

The softened plastic is very malleable. Put it around the stem of the J buckle being sure to keep the mounting point for the GoPro free of any plastic.

Start to shape protrusions similar in shape to a gum shield.

Allow the polymorph to begin to go opaque at which point put it in your mouth and mould it to fit comfortably. You can repeatedly place it in hot water to soften until you are happy with how it fits.

Aim to have it go as far back as your premolars and molars so that the majority of your biting force is placed there. This minimised the risk to your front teeth in the even of a bash.

Quench in cold water until the plastic turn white. Test fit the shape and bite down hard to make sure that it is comfortable.

Once you are happy with the fit you are finished.

As mentioned before, shape the mount as such that the majority of your bite is on the molars and premolars, this will protect your front teeth.

For protection against dropping I run a leash from the camera to the zip on the chest of my wetsuit.