6 Best Tilting Thermal Camera Mounts Mariners Swear By
A quality tilting mount is essential for marine thermal imaging. We review the 6 top models mariners rely on for stability, control, and safety at sea.
You’re navigating a tricky channel after sunset, and the chartplotter shows a buoy, but you can’t spot it in the gloom. Your fixed thermal camera is pointed straight ahead, showing clear water, but the buoy is just below your bow’s line of sight. This is exactly why a tilting mount isn’t a luxury; it’s a fundamental tool for situational awareness on the water. Getting the right mount unlocks the full potential of your expensive thermal imaging system, turning it from a simple forward-looking camera into a dynamic tool for safety and navigation.
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Why a Tilting Mount is Key for Marine Thermal Cams
A fixed mount points in one direction: forward. That’s great for open water, but boating happens in three dimensions. What about spotting a lobster pot just off the bow or checking a piling as you pull into a slip? A tilting mount lets you angle the camera down, giving you a crucial view of what’s immediately around your hull.
The real game-changer comes when your boat is on plane. As the bow rises, a fixed camera ends up pointing at the stars, making it completely useless for seeing what’s on the water ahead. With a tilting mount, a simple adjustment brings the horizon back into view. This allows you to spot debris, other vessels, or unlit markers while cruising at speed, which is a massive safety advantage.
This adjustability is also critical for docking and close-quarters maneuvering. Being able to tilt the camera down to see your position relative to the dock, or to check for a person in the water, is invaluable. It transforms your thermal camera from a long-range spotting tool into a close-range navigation aid, giving you confidence in the most stressful situations.
Seaview PMT-10-M1: Top Mount for Raymarine & FLIR
When you see a clean, professional-looking thermal camera installation on a hardtop, there’s a good chance it’s sitting on a Seaview mount. The PMT-10-M1 is a workhorse, designed specifically for top-mounting popular cameras like the FLIR M100/M200 series and Raymarine’s equivalents. Its pre-drilled base and top plates take the guesswork out of installation.
Made from marine-grade, powder-coated aluminum, this mount is built to withstand the harsh salt spray and UV exposure of the marine environment without turning into a corroded mess. The design cleverly allows you to run the camera’s cables down through the center of the mount, protecting them from the elements and creating a tidy, snag-free setup.
The "M1" in the model name refers to the 10-degree downward tilt angle, which is a fixed tilt. While not actively adjustable from the helm, this pre-set angle is thoughtfully chosen to compensate for the bow rise of most planing powerboats. It’s a simple, robust, install-and-forget solution that ensures your camera is pointing where it needs to be when you’re underway. For a truly adjustable setup, you’d look to their powered options or the camera’s own pan/tilt functions.
Scanstrut APT-250-01: The Ultimate Mast Mount
Scanstrut is a name mariners trust for well-engineered mounting solutions, and their APT-250-01 PowerTower is a testament to that reputation. While often seen on powerboats, their mast mounts are the go-to for sailors. Mounting on the mast gives a thermal camera the best possible vantage point, clear of sails, rigging, and deck obstructions.
These mounts are designed for extreme durability. Typically constructed from marine-grade aluminum, they feature a unique design that clamps securely to the mast. The real genius is in the sealed installation; gaskets and cable glands ensure that no water can penetrate the mast or the mount itself, protecting the delicate wiring connections from corrosion.
A key feature of Scanstrut’s mast mounts is the fixed 20-degree upward tilt. This might sound counterintuitive, but it’s designed to keep the camera level when the boat is heeling under sail. It’s a brilliant piece of passive engineering that ensures you get a stable, usable image when you need it most, rather than a skewed view of the sea and sky. This is a perfect example of a company that truly understands the unique challenges of sailing.
FLIR M-Series Pan/Tilt Re-Fit Mount Kit
This one is less of a universal mount and more of a specialized tool for a specific job. The FLIR M-Series Pan/Tilt Re-Fit Mount Kit is exactly what it sounds like: a factory-designed kit for replacing or reinstalling an existing FLIR M-Series camera. If your current mount is damaged or you’re moving your high-end camera to a new boat, this is the only way to go.
You don’t buy this to mount a new camera from another brand. You buy it because you’ve invested heavily in a FLIR system and want to ensure its mechanical integrity. The kit includes the specific mounting hardware, gaskets, and components needed to perfectly match the camera’s base, ensuring a watertight seal and the correct orientation.
Think of this as an insurance policy for your investment. Using a generic mount on a sophisticated pan/tilt camera like a FLIR M-Series is asking for trouble. Vibration, water intrusion, and improper support can lead to premature failure. This kit provides a factory-perfect fit, giving you peace of mind that your system is as secure as the day it was first installed.
Edson Vision Series Mount for Smaller Vessels
Edson has been a respected name in marine hardware for over a century, and their Vision Series mounts live up to the legacy. These are an excellent choice for smaller to mid-sized vessels, like center consoles, walkarounds, and express cruisers, where mounting space is at a premium. Their clean, elegant design looks sharp and doesn’t overwhelm the boat’s aesthetics.
The real strength of the Edson system is its modularity. You can start with a simple base mount for your thermal camera and later add components to stack a radar dome, GPS antenna, or navigation lights on the same footprint. This "stacking" capability is a lifesaver on a smaller boat’s arch or hardtop, consolidating all your electronics into one organized, professionally installed tower.
Crafted from powder-coated marine-grade aluminum, these mounts are both lightweight and incredibly strong. Edson offers a variety of base plates and top plates, making it easy to match your specific camera model. It’s a system that grows with you, offering a blend of custom-fit quality and off-the-shelf convenience that’s hard to beat.
BattleWagon Radar Mounts for Heavy-Duty Use
If your boating involves serious offshore runs in heavy weather, you need a mount that’s as tough as your boat. Enter BattleWagon. The name says it all—these mounts are absolutely bombproof, designed for commercial, military, and serious recreational vessels that can’t afford equipment failure.
BattleWagon mounts are typically constructed from thick, welded aluminum plates, creating a single, incredibly rigid structure. There are no bolts to loosen or joints to flex. This overbuilt approach is critical for protecting heavy and expensive pan/tilt thermal cameras from the constant shock and vibration experienced in rough seas.
While they can mount a thermal camera alone, they are often designed as integrated radar and camera mounts. This provides a single, ultra-strong platform for your most critical electronics. A BattleWagon mount is a statement; it says you prioritize durability and reliability above all else. It might be overkill for a calm-water cruiser, but for a sportfisher charging through a choppy inlet, it’s the only sensible choice.
Seaview Modular Mounts for Custom Setups
We circle back to Seaview to talk about their true superpower: modularity. While their simple mounts are fantastic, their full modular system is like a set of Legos for marine electronics. It allows you to build a completely custom tower on your hardtop or arch, perfectly tailored to your specific array of gear.
The system starts with a base wedge or block that matches the angle of your mounting surface. From there, you add modular sections to achieve the desired height, and then you top it off with pre-drilled plates for your thermal camera, radar, satellite dome, and more. You can even add light bars or spreader kits for floodlights and antennas.
This approach is for the skipper who wants total control over their electronics layout. It ensures that every piece of equipment has an unobstructed view and that everything is organized into one clean, professional-looking mast. It requires more planning than a simple, single mount, but the payoff is a perfectly integrated system with room for future expansion. It’s the ultimate solution for consolidating a complex electronics suite.
Choosing Your Ideal Marine Thermal Camera Mount
Picking the right mount isn’t complicated if you break it down. Start with your vessel and where you plan to mount the camera. A sailboat will almost always require a mast mount, while a powerboat will use a hardtop, arch, or pilot house roof mount.
Next, consider your equipment—both current and future.
- Single Camera: A simple, fixed-angle mount like the Seaview PMT or a Scanstrut PowerTower is perfect.
- Camera and Radar: Look to a dual-mount option from BattleWagon or Edson to save space and ensure structural integrity.
- Complex Array: If you have a thermal camera, open-array radar, satellite dome, and lights, the Seaview modular system is your best bet for a clean, integrated setup.
Finally, match the mount’s duty level to your boating style. A lightweight Edson mount is perfect for a bay boat, but for an offshore sportfishing machine that sees heavy seas, the welded construction of a BattleWagon mount is a wise investment. Don’t just buy a mount for the camera you have; buy one that suits the boat you have and the conditions you’ll face.
Ultimately, your thermal camera mount is the foundation of your entire night vision system. It’s not just a piece of hardware; it’s what ensures your expensive camera provides a clear, stable image when visibility drops and the stakes are high. By choosing a mount that matches your vessel, your equipment, and your mission, you ensure that your window into the dark is always open and pointed right where you need it.
