Who has a Dash Cam?

[Bladescb]

Looking to possibly purchase a dash camera. Is it useful, waste of money?
Any recommendations on which one to purchase. Do not want to use a cloud based solution. Would like to have one with a self contained card. Option for cell phone usage but want a view screen on the unit itself. Etc, etc.....

Thanx

[rames14]

First, I have a Garmin 46 with GPS (includes my speed on the display). Shortly after leaving rally, one of our members had someone cut him off, slam on the brakes and totaled their truck. I believe they had one. Anymore, I think it is prudent.

[Daryles]

After too many close calls from stupid people, we bought a Rove 4K.
It doesn't help with stupid drivers, but it will be useful when necessary.

[Hit The Road]

Originally Posted by Daryles

After too many close calls from stupid people, we bought a Rove 4K.
It doesn't help with stupid drivers, but it will be useful when necessary.

We have that model also. Works perfect! Set it and forget it. We purchased a spare mount to change between vehicles.

If I ever need it, I won't mention it until the other party blames me for the wreck in court then I'll pull out the video evidence.!

[bshgto]

I have one with front and rear cameras in the truck and in the wife's car. This is why because we tend to piss off drivers towing and they are always trying to get around us.
Remember if you're not speeding and tailgating, you're not driving fast enough, just ask one of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOm8K21mlqo

[jsb5717]

We have one as well. Haven't needed it yet but, as said, with so many stupid drivers and a litigious society it seemed prudent as cheap insurance. Once installed I really don't even think about it. Most of them will continue to cycle the same storage card, deleting the oldest recordings.

We have this one...seems to produce a good, clear recording.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Carl n Susan]

I bought an inexpensive one three years ago just to give it a try. I didn't need or want a GPS or a speedometer recording. Just give me the widest angle camera you have. I have recorded some stupid drivers, but I was very happy to have it when a guy lost control in the snow and wiped out the side of my car. The thrill disappeared when I tried to download the recordings and found out the SD card had failed about a week before! Fortunately the other driver was stand up and admitted it was his fault. Moral to this story is the camera is great but check on the SD card periodically.

I originally bought an Apeman off of Amazon. They are no longer listed there but here is a link to what I bought.
https://apemans.com/products/apeman-...hoCfGsQAvD_BwE

Amazon does have an inexpensive model similar to what I bought. Here it is
https://www.amazon.com/Included-Dash...-1-spons&psc=1

[mhs4771]

I was in need of a good RV GPS a few years ago and ended up getting a Garmin 785 with a built-in Dash Cam. Love it for both routing and the Dash Cam. Stores data in a micro card and can be down loaded to a computer or view on the 7" screen.
We were almost to Shipshewana South Campground and two Guys didn't like us in front of them, passed us giving the Finger, pulled in front and hit their brakes, we didn't hit them, but did get a good enough picture of them to read their license plate. Didn't report it as it wasn't worth the hassle.

[Mikendebbie]

About how many days/weeks worth of video does one of these record to a sim card?

[Robokatz]

Agree with everyone else on need to have one, either built in with GPS or stand alone. We didn’t buy a GPS, but did go with a Garmin Dash Cam Mini 2, which uses a looping SD card. Super small, really easy set up, excellent picture, and not expensive. A few close calls in the last few weeks since on the road where having the other guy on tape would have been well worth it.

[mhs4771]

Micro SD cards come in varying capacity, don't recall exactly in mine, but will essily store 10 to 20 hours of video. I generally delete the data every couple of days.
Another feature of my Garmin, it has a setting to auto save 3 minutes of data, 1 1/2 min before and 1 1/2 min after a major event, such as a crash. Hope to never need that feature, but there just in case.

[BB_TX]

I have one I used for years. Never got anything of any consequence on it. Started getting SD card full alarm message very often, sometimes after an hour or so. Tried a new card and same thing. So I put it away. Have considered another but never followed thru.

Some record for some defined period of time and then begin overwriting the older data so no need to erase periodically unless you just want to clear it. And as noted above, some automatically save video from overwrite for the minutes before and after being involved in an accident, or by pressing a switch if something happened you wanted to save.

[Lee-CI]

Rove 4K here as well. Have GPS coordinates, time / date stamp and TV speed recorded. Now sure how long it records as I put in a 512K SD card. Unit is set to over-write the oldest recordings should I get busy and don't do a routine delete. I enjoy reviewing the trips once we arrive, for there is a LOT of scenery that I don't get to really see due to focusing on the road and other drivers.
In the litigious society we now live in, I won't drive without a dash cam. Each has their own preference and ideas though. YMMV

[Bladescb]

Thanx for all the input. I was also thinking it was a good idea to have one and hoped we would never have to use it. Someone said that they can see the scenery that went by as often times the driver misses a lot. The Rove R2-4K is the one I was looking at and seems to get good reviews. Probably wait a month or so and get it for our December Florida trip!

[rvman]

On one of our Florida trips, we were passed by a Kia Soul doing 80MPH. Driver was asleep and ran full force into the back of a intermodal truck. Fortunately he got "hooked up" on the back of the truck and didn't swerve in front of us. When the State Trooper arrived the first question she asked me was "Do you have a dash camera". When I said no she responded with" you need to get one for your own protection". Bought one shortly afterwards.

[Bad Moon]

We have a GoPro, but not very happy with it , mainly due to the steep learning curve. The instruction book is unreadable without an electron microscope, (although there is an online version, it is not practical when driving). The display is too small to read without holding it next to your face. It is just too fussy to be used as a dash cam for us, although we use it, I hate it. I guess we are analog people living in a digital world.

[AZ Traveler]

Originally Posted by Bad Moon

We have a GoPro, but not very happy with it , mainly due to the steep learning curve. The instruction book is unreadable without an electron microscope, (although there is an online version, it is not practical when driving). The display is too small to read without holding it next to your face. It is just too fussy to be used as a dash cam for us, although we use it, I hate it. I guess we are analog people living in a digital world.

GoPros are action cams and not dash cams - there is a big difference.

[Daryles]

One feature I like about the Rove 2-4K is you can pair it with your phone and review any video files you want to remotely, then save or discard them.

[432bartman]

Nowadays, having one makes sense. As an officer, I took hundreds of collision reports. If there are no independent witnesses, no physical evidence to point the finger at one of the involved parties, and both are blaming one another, I would be unable to determine who was at fault. The low cost of the new cameras and quality of video is amazing. That little bit of video could save you the cost of your deductible, and making the other guy's insurance pay out on a claim.

[Hippy223]

I have 1 garmin 46 and 3 garmin 47 all hard wired in the vehicles. My buddy with dump truck fleet has the same ones in all 14 of his trucks. They have saved his drivers several times.