| 2009 Custom1Enterprises Bushnell Trophy
Cam & Covert II Security Bracket Review - April
3, 2009 |
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www.custom1enterprises.com
In the perfect world the trees would be
solid steel and cables and chains could not be cut. And the need for
security enclosures for your cameras would not be necessary. Here in
Georgia we are far from being in that
perfect world and so it goes for most other places also. We started to
notice the work of Custom 1 and have been using some of their products
this past year. We especially liked the enclosure for the Scoutguard 550
camera. It has proved itself as being tough and very rugged with an ease of
use that other designs lack. Being able to mount your enclosure and set your
aim up that place the camera in the box and slide the locking bar in place
and walk away is very nice. This new box was first designed for the out
going 08 Covert II camera but there will probably be very few orders that
particular application. Now that the Bushnell Company has announced their
new Trophy camera that is the same size as the mentioned 08 camera but does
not have all the reported functional issues. This should make the little
Bushnell very popular and would also probably make it a target for some bad
guy to try to slip out of your woods with it in his pocket. To get too
either the Covert or Bushnell if installed in this enclosure will take some
work. The first option would be to cut down the tree but if they do this
they would still have a major job on their hands to get the cam out of the
enclosure. Constructed out of 3/16 inch steel and having an area at the
bottom rear for the use of a cable or Python to secure it to the tree. The
steel is bent in such a manner to prevent the cable from being slipped out
of this area. There are also two holes in the back for lag bolts for those
folks that do not have restrictions about tree damage in their areas. Once
mounted either with lag bolts or cable or a combination of both you have to
make sure your aim is proper and then insert the camera and install the
locking bar. Upon return to check your camera all that is required is to
remove the locking bar and slip the camera out do your card change. We have
a couple of our own ideas about this enclosure and we will make a couple our
own changes as time will allow. So far this looks like a first class
security enclosure. We will do our best to defeat it and if successful we
will report. One of the most popular boxes currently available and sold for
the same camera; we were able to defeat it within 20 seconds with a plain
screwdriver. After sliding the one of our Covert II cams
into this box my first thought was it was like parking a Yugo in a Cadillac garage. This is one first
class box. The Bushnell cameras will be here this week so we will get
some pictures of the setup. Out of the box we could smell a fairly
strong paint odor from the camouflage so those that have the really wary
old deer poking around it might be a good idea to put the box out in the
hot sun a couple days prior to heading to the woods. The pictures on
their web site displayed several patterns of camo
to choose from. Our box was a simple tan and brown fern pattern that
seems to fit the woods quite well for this time of year. There is a
strap slot milled in the sides for those who like to use that method to
hang the box on the tree. When using this method we suggest that the box
be hung with the strap than the cam put in later. Our thought on this is
that when ever it is time for a card change you need only take the
locking bar off to remove the camera. If you put the strap through both
the side slots and also through the loops on the back of the cam every
thing would have to be removed to access the camera and the box would
have to be re aimed once the camera was re inserted. I just use the
Python cable through the strap slots and inserted the camera once the
box is aimed and everything worked just fine. There is also lag bolt
holes that can be used but this would limit the ability to aim unless
the mounting tree that you selected was at a perfect angle. I played
around a little using the 08 camera with this box but I think I will
wait for the 09 Bushnell camera to complete
the tests and review.
04-01-2009 update: We did a quick check on the
availability of the new Bushnell Trophy camera and found that there is
going to be a delay in shipping so we will go ahead and use one of the
Covert cameras we have. I poked around and found I still had one that we
had not tore apart for parts so we will use that camera for a few
pictures to show the first application. Once the Bushnell camera arrives
we will take another set of pictures. In the pictures you can see that
there are facilities milled in this box to
accommodate a strap also a python cable will also fit through this port.
It is routed under the strap mounts on the back of the camera. There is
also ports milled out for the external battery and the tri pod mount. On
the Covert the tri pod mount is not very functional because it is very
weak and will break out very easy if the camera is bumped once mounted
in that manner. This is one very good security enclosure and is the best
that we have seen so far for this application. We do not have the price
as of now because this is a new product and as soon as we get informed
we will publish that price. Most sell for less than $40.
We strongly recommend using protected shackle locks like this Master lock.
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