A dash cam for your RV?

Not long ago Americans were glued to their TV viewing seats, watching video images of huge meteors streaking across Russian skies. What made it all the more amazing was the source of some of these images: Dash mounted video cameras owned – not by law enforcement types – but by civilians. Is there a future dash cam for your RV?

What's a dash cam? It's a small electronic gadget that records motion pictures, and at times, audio. "Dash cam" may be a misnomer, because more dash cams are mounted on sun visors and windshields than on dashboards, but the moniker works.

Why would you want to have a dash cam? Well, they've proven to be great for recording meteor incursions, but they have some other practical uses as well. For example, you're moving on down the road in your motorhome, when out of the blue, some yo-yo on a motorcycle (or car, truck, whathaveyou) cuts you off, slaps on the brakes, and woops, now its a matter of "He said, she said." Or is it, "Dash cam says . . ." which holds a lot more weight when it comes to settling accident statements. Here's another: You come back to the campground and find somebody's tried to break into your rig. Your itty bitty dash cam, cleverly stashed up and pretty much out-of-sight, caught images of the vandals and their auto license plate when they rolled in front of your rig. Or it could be you're putting together a video presentation to show the folks back home of your travels – a little bit of "road footage" can make quite an impression.

So where do you shop for a dash cam, and what do you look for? Let's take the last question first. There are several criteria to keep in mind when dash cam shopping.

Video quality: The higher the definition, the better the picture. Shoot for at least 720p or 1080p or higher. Asking for reasonably high definition imaging doesn't automatically translate to a high cost.

Recording angle: A wider image is typically better than a narrower or telephoto-type image. Not all manufacturers list the lens angle.

How well does it hide? Having a discreet dash cam is a good idea. Small is good, and don't pick a dash cam with a jazzy, "look at me!" color. Tucking it up on the sun visor can make the thing seemingly vanish. Sticking it on the windshield with a suction cup begs for trouble.

Power cable length: Make sure the power cable is long enough to reach from your desired mounting location to a "hot all the time" 12-volt power outlet. And a longer cable is better – you'll want to route the cable around corners, not have it drag down in front of the windshield.

Continuous loop/cycling: Since a dash cam records onto a microchip or memory card, when the card is "full up," it should automatically start recording over the "oldest" material on the card. Consider whether the memory is large enough to keep a reasonably long record. Remember, the cam should be on 24/7 to guard your rig.

LED lights: Some dash cams come with LED lights, said to help them make a better recording in darkness. More likely those lights will glare off the windshield and end up creating image problems. Since the LEDs really do little do improve night shots (they're too dim), make sure if the dash cam has LEDs that they can be switched off. Also, LEDs will simply call attention to your dash cam – not something you want as a security feature.

Look before you leap: When shopping, it's good to review videos shot with the model you're evaluating. If you can, it's best to look at a video on the Internet from an end-user, rather than the manufacturer. Pump up the video to "full screen." While most all dash cams will produce a reasonable image in daylight, the real test is what kind of image is rendered at night.

Where can you buy a dash cam? Presently most dash cams are imported from Asia, China, Korea, and Taiwan being the giants in the manufacturing. There are so many flooding the markets, it's difficult to keep them all straight. You'll find them retailed all over on the Internet. But where to buy?

One dash cam expert says at this time, one of the best places to buy a dash cam is on the big Internet auction site, eBay. It's said that most eBay sellers are concerned enough about their reputation that they'll stand behind their products, and eBay's buyer protections can help with that.

We recommend you check out a unique Internet site, dashcamtalk.com. This outfit not only provides a "comparison page," and reader forum, they don't sell dash cams, nor do they accept them for review, so they're more likely to be unbiased in their information.