Camera Safety Starts Here

Watch Norman give a good intro into cameras. After that, read over my camera safety briefing.

Read the updated SIM

Flying a Camera - USPA SIM 2025

Key Points

• Cameras are a distraction 
• Everything you add tries to kill you
• Do not watch your openings with cameras
• When wearing MARDs and cameras you must tuck your chin!
• Entanglements can happen under canopy “LEVEL FLIGHT” if it does
• Extension bars are killers, not worth the danger
  DISCONNECT RSL if you must use them, but not recommended
• Prevention key over a helmet cutaway system.
  Choose snag resistant mounts
• Cameras fall at 70+mph and are projectiles. Use caution and require secure mounts over populated areas.
  

Briefing Guideline 

Here is a great Camera Briefing boilerplate from Skydive Langar. Good outline for general camera safety.

My Camera Briefing Outline

When I give safety briefings, these are the points I tend to cover. If you are unfamiliar with any of this nomenclature, please reach out to your rigger or local instructor. I will expand on this in the future, but it's a great starting reference. 

My apologies it is lacking images, this is my writeup to myself for my safety talks. 

Learn how to Fly

Learn how to fly properly before starting to video people. You need to be just as or generally even better than those whom you're trying to capture. Trying to video people early on in your progression will make you fly improperly and cost tens of thousands of dollars to unlearn. The tunnel is an amazing tool, even when adding things like wings (check with your tunnel & instructor before booking). In other words, don't learn how to freefly while shooting video.

Entanglements are a serious issue

Most of the time they are caused by things that one wouldn't expect

1. Don't look or bring your pilot chute towards your face before throwing. There are a lot of really well known skydivers who still do this even with cameras. Stop it!
2. On new canopies, excess is upwards of 10+ inches, stow this properly as this stuff loves to wrap around cameras and ringsights.
3. Dive loops love ringsights and long cameras, be sure to store them vertical after deployment, not out.
4. On sliders, be cautious of entanglements due to the pulls event on removables. They are the perfect size to engulf your gopro.
5. Be cautious of canopy formations when wearing big camera setups. Preplan these jumps and disconnect your RSL when doing canopy work. Be sure to know the basics about canopy entanglements, who cuts away first, etc before approaching others under canopy.
6. Nowadays, never consider side-mounting a camera. Our yokes are way too narrow and they will cause neck issues.   
7. If using a MARD do not put a camera on the back of your head. In spinning malfunctions your MARD will shoot you out and your reserve may hit the back of your head. If you have a mount back there it can easily get entangled with your reserve extracting. TUCK YOUR CHIN when cutting away with a MARD and cameras.
8. MARDS do fail and when they do so, the pilotchute may come on the opposite side of  the RSL. This loves creating horseshoes around cameras. Tucking your chin helps prevent this malfunction.
   Side Note: Your reserve risers are super short. If you get line twists on your reserve, reach up ABOVE the line twist to square out the canopy and even control it via the brake lines themselves. It's better to have a reserve in line twists than to become part of the earth.
9. It is difficult to get a line on the crown of your head. If you have a problem deploying stable, camera flying is not for you! AFFI should make their own considerations. 
10. Do a line test. Take a line and run it over your camera setup. Anywhere it catches, fix it! Hard foam, closed cell spray foam, or even craft "Sculpey" work well to make mounts and fix entanglement dangers.

Prevention is key

Prevention is the key to preventing entanglements. A cutaway system is recommended, but really prevention is where it's at. Remember, given enough line, your neck is an entanglement hazard. Hook knives are never a bad idea, just know what side it's on and practice touching it under canopy.  Objects under extreme tension seize up. What works on the ground may not work under load. We also want to focus on prevention as a canopy attached to your neck upon deployment will most likely be fatal. This shit is serious. 

Snag resistant mounts ARE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

On The Ground

The sky is not the place to set up your camera and learn how it works. When you get a new camera:

1. If it's a GoPro and you're using a VHB mount, it takes up to 72 for that tape to fully cure. Be sure to mount it on a clean surface and allow it to cure properly. A falling camera can kill people or ruin a very expensive airplane.
2. Once the camera is mounted properly, connect via the wifi app to show liveview. Then put the helmet on and adjust the camera angle to what is a natural angle to you. Take off the helmet and tighten that screw up. Don't mess with this angle in the plane. Feel free to mark the mount and the camera with a tick so you know what this angle is when you hit it on the plane getting out. -- Don't forget to duck when leaving the aircraft, you have an extra 4" now on your head.
3. With the liveview on, walk around and get a feel for the FOV (field of view) to get an idea what is the center of the frame. These are FOV drills and good to do when you change anything on your setup. This is free! Figure it out on the ground. 
4. Most importantly, with liveview and the camera off, get used to the buttons locations, how they feel, and how they work. If you wear gloves, wear gloves while doing this exercise. Jump run is not the place to figure this stuff out.. Listen to the tones the camera makes when on, recording, turning off. Play with the camera on the ground and get used to it's mode of operations. I know it sounds crazy, but if you are doing this for money, Read The Fucking Manual! Put it next to your toilet and read it versus derping on facebook.

GET IN A ROUTINE even with just POV cameras

[Trunk's Routine] At a little bit before a 2 minute call, I review the dive again in my head. Remind myself about the bullet points. Then I personally check my wings to ensure they are connected and routed correctly (if wearing them), then my harness checks (chest strap / leg straps), pilot chute and bridle, then my EPs. Once this is done, do not sit back on your pin. That space is sacrosanct. Also, check this off in your head and stop worrying about it unless someone rubs against you. 

After this, I do my camera checks, turn my gopros and still camera on, then put on my helmet, put my ringsight close to my eye so I don't forget it. I also do a test fire on my still camera. On yellow (or similar light), I open the door and put my ringsight down. On green I press all my cameras to record, check the spot, and get out of the plane. A routine will save your life and prevent you from making mistakes. It also really helps out anxiety. 

If a camera malfunctions, just say screw it and focus on the dive. If you are just using a GoPro with one button for POV, just hit record right before exit.
Two minutes of lead-in is ridiculous and we really want you to focus on the dive, not the camera. 

If you are shooting for Nationals read the competitor rules before this happens. You have options. 

Ringsights

If and when you add a ringsight be sure to cut off the excess. They love to be a source of entanglements. Also, use the nylon screws so you can break them off if there is an entanglement. Rotate them fully up after deployment and not out as out is where all the entanglement things are located. They are also eye scoops, so be sure to rotate them away from your eyeball before landing. A hard landing killed at least one person when it went through his brain. 

Ringsights also lead to an issue I call bullseye. That's where you're so focused on getting the shot, you forget you're hauling butt to get there and forget you don't know how to stop. Always drive a bit offset from the formation and brake early. Show control, don't be that guy. 

Wings  

Wings are helpful and necessary for most of us when flying with belly formations & tandems. There is a hole that can occur between the wing and the wing attachment point. Be sure never ever to reach between this to grab your pilot chute. Also, run down your main lift web during my checks to make sure I didn't somehow wrap the wing around my harness and cover up your handles. Deployments do change and be sure to really throw your pilot chute and not to merely let it go inside your burble. You will get pilot chute in tow malfunctions if you get lazy on your pitches. 

Altitude Awareness

An audible is 100% a requirement when filming. Even better is two. Every videographer, given enough time in this sport has been pulled a lot lower than they wanted to altitude awareness is key don't depend on "those fucking old guys" to pull at the correct altitude. Review your hard decks.

Dive Plans and Boogies

When you start filming boogies and such, be sure to be part of the briefing. Suggest higher breakoff altitudes if necessary. Examples, hula hoop jumps where you want to get the deployment. Stress that people track away from you and not look back to see what is going on. Get good at teaching newer jumpers tracking.

Be the voice of reason on jumps where there will be a huge differential in altitudes. For instance inflatables. It gets super scary when you have 3 skydives at different altitudes all in the same tube of air. Be sure to minimize the chaos, and come up with a plan to get everyone at the same altitude on breakoff (BFR). Remind people that you are taking center. Count the number of people and recount in the plane. Be sure you know where everyone is before deployment and check your air. (flips/barrel rolls)

Deploying with cameras 

I recommend looking at the horizon and tapping your toes on deployment . Resist the urge to watch your canopy while it's deploying. This will save your neck from being at max in case you have a hard opening. Watching your opening will cause neck trauma! Get used to feeling your canopy deploying and applying harness input to get it to open on heading do not apply riser input. I push my head back through the risers if I feel like I'm having line twists, all while not watching the opening.  Be ready to steer with your risers in case of traffic though. 

Sometimes we deploy higher as a camera flyer. Be sure not to fly up the line of flight right away as other groups are still in freefall.

After deployment, take a deep breath and then inspect that the excess is not wrapped around your toggles or cameras before firing your brakes. On the ground review a POV video of your opening and ensure you're not seeing possible entanglement issues. Fix these if they exist.

More Resources

My technical blog has a ton of awesome information