Gear Guard vs RoadCam vs Incident Cam: what each Rivian camera mode records
Updated October 2026
Rivian vehicles can record with their cameras in three different situations, and each saves to a different place on the USB drive. Knowing which is which tells you where to look after something happens.
Gear Guard: while parked
Gear Guard watches the area around the vehicle while it’s parked and locked. When it notices someone or something close by, it records from the cameras and saves the clip to GearGuardVideo. These are usually short.
Check it for: door dings, scrapes, break-ins, someone looking into the vehicle, or anything that happened while you were away.
Incident Cam: sudden events while driving
Incident Cam saves the moments around a sudden event while driving, such as hard braking or an impact, to IncidentCam. You don’t have to do anything for it to save.
Check it for: collisions and near misses, especially for an insurance claim.
RoadCam: while driving
RoadCam is the dashcam mode. With continuous recording on, it records every drive into RoadCam/DriveStream in 15-minute parts. When you save a clip from the vehicle, it goes to RoadCam/SaveClips.
Check it for: anything on the road, a scenic drive, or context before and after an incident.
Which recordings get overwritten?
Continuous drive recordings use the most space, and when the drive fills up the vehicle makes room by recording over the oldest footage. Copy anything you need to keep as soon as you can. Our guide on a full USB drive explains how to see how much time you have.
Watching them together
After an incident you often want several recordings: the Incident Cam clip, the drive leading up to it, and maybe a Gear Guard event later that day. Overlook sorts them into Gear Guard, Incident, saved clips and drives, and shows a day timeline so you can jump between everything recorded around the same time. See how to open your drive.
Quick reference
| Mode | Records when | Saved to |
|---|---|---|
| Gear Guard | Parked, and something comes close | GearGuardVideo |
| Incident Cam | A sudden event while driving | IncidentCam |
| RoadCam (continuous) | Every drive, if turned on | RoadCam/DriveStream |
| RoadCam (saved clip) | You save a clip | RoadCam/SaveClips |
More guides
- How to watch Rivian Gear Guard footage on a Mac or PCStep by step: take the USB drive out, open it on a computer, and play every camera in sync.
- What’s on your Rivian’s USB drive: folders and files explainedGearGuardVideo, RoadCam, IncidentCam, file names, cameras and 15-minute segments.
- Using Rivian camera footage for an insurance claim or police reportWhat to keep, how to show it was not edited, and how to send it.