I recently got an Oregon Scientific ATC-9K HD helmet camera, and so far I love it, but the one thing I don't like is that they went away from the AA batteries and went to a rechargable - likely to save space in the camera.

With the AA batteries it was pretty expensive, but when they ran dead on the trail I'd just pop in some new ones and be on the way. I have 2 rechargables for the new camera, but if I want to do more than 4 or 5 hours of footage in a day then I have to be charging batteries in between. For Cypress this could be an issue.

I could charge them off my DC outlet on my KLR, but then the battery and charger would have to be secured to the bike somehow so that when I'm ripping down rough dirt roads it doesn't come off or fall on the ground. I can't see a good way to do this. However, I was in Walmart last night and found this battery/DC charger set for $25. You just plug the battery into the charger with a USB cable (included) to charge it up, and the battery has a USB outlet on it to charge whatever (iPhone, etc). The battery is 4400 mAh, and my helmet cam batteries are 1050 mAh each, so I should get 4 helmet cam charges off of a single battery charge. This way, I can do the charging in my tank bag where it will be safe. As a bonus, the charger is also a 20 watt inverter, so you can plug your AA battery wall charger into it too and charge that off your bike as well.

If you do longer adventure rides where you are camping, this looks like a pretty good option for charging electronics. I'll have to see how it works on the Cypress trip.

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Chris

2017 Versys X
1991 Suzuki TS200R

how did the battery packs end up working out for you?? Do you find the ATC9K heavy when its on a helmet, and what do you think of the mounting system for it?

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2009 DRZ 400S

The camera is actually very light on the helmet. No problem there. The mounting system is OK, but I stuck the clip on to my helmet with two-sided tape. You have to be careful what angle you mount it at, since there's no way to adjust the direction when you do this. I keep some extra two-sided tape with me on trips, because it seems like once a year I either fall and knock the camera off or the tape gets weak and it comes loose. It's never actually fallen off on me, it's always come loose when I go to attach the camera to the mount.

The battery pack worked out great! I kept a battery charging all the time, and by the time the one in the camera was dead the one on the charger was ready to go. The ATC-9K specs say 2.5 hours run time on the battery and 3 hour charge time, but I found that there were enough stops and I had the camera off enough to easily make up that 1/2 hour difference.

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Chris

2017 Versys X
1991 Suzuki TS200R