DIY GoPro kayak camera boom

It’s been busy weekend on the domestic front, bought a car, built garden furniture and caught up on some choirs around the home.

I also had an idea to build a camera boom for my kayak last week. So a trip to the in-laws for lunch today provided an opportunity to access some tools I don’t possess, namely a dremel and a vice. Game on and another job to be done when I was in the mood.

Buying a boom seemed pricey and I reckoned l could make one using some of the bits and bobs I had in my garage.

Components


Scotty 280 mount,M6 fine thread bolt, wingnuts/bolts, GoPro mount,

1 metre of 15mm aluminium square bar and shrink tube.

I took the dremel to the Scotty mount and took off the part that holds the rod leaving a flush surface. I drilled three holes and fitted bolts and wingnuts to hold the bar in place. The bar was shrink tubed before I started. The rod holder slots into the Scotty 438 gear head track adaptor on the GT175 rails on the yak. I’ll fit end caps when I source them to provide a tidy finish. I'm not 100% sure about the wingnuts as I can see loose braid catching on them. I will probably change them out for nuts.

This set up will provide some good angles and a great range of movement based on the flexibility of the Scotty mount/gear head adaptor.

I also wasn't completely  happy with the bite on a coarse thread M6 bolt to the GP mount so I sourced a fine thread in Phil’s garage.I cut this to the correct length and fitted this through the bar to hold the GoPro mount in place. I now just need to source the end caps and put my hand in my pocket for a remote.