Tinker Tools: GoPro HD Hero2

When I was a kid, the best thing about missionaries was slides and stories.  Although the technology has changed, the concept hasn't.  If anything, today's missionary has an even greater responsibility to keep his/her friends and supporters up to date!

I started eyeing the GoPro products a couple years ago and have been impressed with the videos I've seen from other amateurs.  I must say that the main reason I wanted one was to make driving videos, but I also realized that the durability and water resistance would be great assets in the wilds of Bolivia. I started saving up gift money and was able to purchase an HD Hero2 about a month ago. 

After a couple days of goofing off with it, I got a chance to really try it out when my brother invited me to go on a driving adventure with him and his brother-in-law, who was visiting from the States.  Our dad is here, too, so we invited him to ride along with me.  It was also the first opportunity I've had to really break-in (literally) our Nissan Patrol.

We went to a place called Misicuni, where a new dam is being built.  It took us about 6 hours to go 85 miles, up to an elevation of 14,788 feet above sea level.  I shot video of 4.5 hours of the trip with the GoPro, which I cut and condensed into 23.5 minutes of excitement and unbelievable scenery:

 

For those of you that just want the excitement and don't care about the scenery, I also made a 5-minute highlight film.  It's mostly the river crossings and getting myself stuck:

 

(I took quite a few photos as well, which are available in my Picasa albums)

Although there is some trial and error to go through to get good footage, I'm pretty happy with what I've gotten so far.  I bought the Motorsports Edition, so the main mounting option I have is a big suction cup that sticks to the body or glass.

When I first got it, I thought it would be cool to have a POV (point-of-view) camera, like some people do with helmets, so I made my own with a sticky mount and the guts of a welding helmet:

What better way to capture the experience of driving in Bolivia, right?  Turns out, it's no good for driving, though.  I sit too high in the vehicle and most of the picture is headliner:

Of course, it's not just for driving with!  I tested its waterproofness in the pool at Villa Tunari:

And its durability with some of the youth from church:

The Tinker-Fool

Have you ever had an experience where you thought, "Should I call for help yet? . . . how about now? . . .how ab. . . NOW, DO IT NOW!!!"

Yeah, that happened to me a couple days ago.

I was helping my brother move some things out of our carport with a few friends.  We were in a rush, because the landlady showed up and was angry that he was storing tools, workbenches, and wood in a carport that we were paying extra rent for.  She demanded that it go away immediately, and "asked" that we follow it as soon as possible.

So you could say that I was in a hurry and not thinking clearly.

Ben hired a truck to haul the big stuff, but we were going to put the small stuff in the back of his red Land Cruiser, an FJ55, affectionately known in the LC community as an Iron Pig.  I was going to open up the back end, but the white Cruiser was parked up against the back of it (reverse of the picture below), so I needed to move the red one down the road a bit.

We live on a 10% grade, so we always chock the wheels with a rock.  Because I was under pressure, I didn't check anything inside or ask for help.

I moved the rock.

Well, the Pig started to move.  I don't remember if I tried to shove the rock back under it or not, I just remember thinking, "I have got to get this thing stopped before it rolls a kilometer down to the highway, destruction in its wake."  Probably not that eloquently, but yeah.

The only thing I could think to do was grab the tire and make it stop rolling.  It knocked me down and dragged me several feet.  I don't remember feeling the steps, but I obviously went down them.  That concrete planter there helped stop the truck -- one of the spring bolts broke it off as we went past.

I did yell for help, but it was pretty feeble, as I couldn't get my breath, due to the 31x10.5 BFG AT on my chest, backed by 4000 lbs of Pig.  Ben and a couple neighbors came out to find me flat on my back on the side walk, holding the tire.  But I stopped it!  It was literally 2 inches from hitting a neighbor's car!

I got a nasty abrasion on my arm and more minor ones on my chest (almost to my collar bone) and shoulder blade.  You can see the tire marks on my shirt.

I don't feel any internal damage.  Ribs feel good, as do my spine and shoulder.  I have a lot of muscle pain in the back and pectoral, but that is fading, and feels much better with a little heat on it.

Thankfully, I was wearing a good pair of goatskin gloves (that my MiL gave me for Christmas - thanks Mom!) and didn't damage any fingers.  The kickoff for our church's 15th anniversary celebration was last night and the worship team played about 12 songs.  The guys would've been pretty disappointed if I couldn't pluck my bass!

UPDATE:

At a week and a half later, I feel good and the abrasion on my arm is almost completely gone.  Of course, practically the whole church has heard about it, and keeps telling me to go to the doctor. :)  I took this photo of the Pig last night -- this is more or less how it was sitting at the time of The Accident: