This prepping topic is on security. Being able to keep an eye on your surroundings is a great way to assist in the security of your area. Not only can you quickly determine if a threat to your physical security is approaching, you need to be able to scout in advance of any movement that you are making, look at areas that may be hazardous (like flooded areas) and other things you may want to see at a distance.

One of the keys to security is not letting opponents surprise you. A person who is prepared needs to be familiar with the area where they live, and be able to monitor that area for the appearance of those who would endanger their safety. You never want an opponent to surprise you. Watching events, it is becoming obvious that a drone is a huge multiplier by allowing you to keep an eye on large areas of the territory surrounding your shelter, so I decided to get one.

Apparently, a 20 year old was able to thwart the Secret Service by using a drone, while the SS drone was not able to fly because of “connectivity issues.”

The drone I selected is a DJI Mini 4k. There are more capable drones out there, but the large advantage with this drone is that , at less than 249g, the drone is light enough that it doesn’t need to be registered with the government in order to be legal, and we all know that I am not registering shit. I got it as a Prime day deal for less than $400. That deal included the drone, three batteries, and the charger.

It was easy to fly, and I took it up for its first flight after watching the below video. I am posting it here, cued up to some elevated footage, so you can see how clear the video is.

The only thing different with mine is that I have it set for Imperial instead of metric units, and the lower left corner is a Google maps kind of display that shows you where the drone is on a map. I have found the drone to be intuitive and easy to fly. I have been taking it easy because I don’t want to lose it, but on the two days I have flown it, it has gone as high as 250 feet and flown as far away as 1,000 yards. The drone reaches a top speed of 20 mph, and the battery gives about 30 minutes of flight time. Following the rule of thirds (one third to go out, one third to return, and a third for contingency) that means the drone has the endurance to go out about 3 miles. I’m not yet comfortable flying it that far.

It’s capable of operating in winds of up to 15 miles per hour, but I won’t fly it in winds that high.

I recommend that you find your own drone to keep an eye on the area.

The disclaimer: I don’t advertise, and receive nothing for my reviews or articles. I have no relationship with any products, companies, or vendors that I review here, other than being a customer. If I ever *DO* have a financial interest, I will disclose it. Otherwise, I pay what you would pay. No discounts or other incentives here. I only post these things because I think that my readers would be interested.

Categories: GearSecurity

5 Comments

EN2 SS · July 31, 2024 at 6:13 am

I have the DJI Mini2 and it is a great drone, although it doesn’t swim for sh#t. 😉 It is easy to fly, I’ve had it up to almost 600′ once to see if it would go there, sent it up the valley and above the mountain to see a controlled burn. It is programed by them to stay below 300 feet. It gives warnings when getting to far away and losing connection to the controller and if connection is lost it will return to the Homepoint. One warning, sometimes when taking off the GPS will not set a Homepoint and without that, it doesn’t know where to come back too. Always be sure that you are told that the Homepoint has been set. FYI, Homepoint is wherever you set it up and take off. If at Amy time you think you are too close to an obstacle, release all the controls, the drone will stop and hoover at that place until you can figure out how to move it to a clear area. When in hoover, even if the wind is blowing the iron will maintain that position and fight the wind. If you get high wind warnings, if possible a lower altitude will reduce the wind enough to fly home.It is quick even in slow motion mode, so take your time and learn how it flys, you’ll enjoy it a lot.

D · July 31, 2024 at 8:36 am

Garand Thumb did an interesting video on drone evasion recently.
I learned a few things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdy0uxaJl0E

Tom from East Tennessee · July 31, 2024 at 9:09 am

I got a DJI one similar to yours a while back. For the price ($1k or less for many models of drone) it can give you that heads up or let you look at something over there, and that could be really important.
I got the drone to play around with and to have, along the same lines as you did. One thing with my model that was a little disappointing is that it’s camera is purely visible light capable, no IR or anything like that. So when I’ve flown it around rural property and some woods, you probably aren’t going to see someone on foot in the trees who is camoflauged or trying not to be seen. To see someone walking in the woods would require you to fly pretty close to treetop level looking down, and maybe some luck too since that low they could hear the drone.
If you want to get next-level with drone capability, some of us were looking and there’s an industrial model of the DJI that has thermal imaging. A couple of years ago that model was in the $10k ish range. THAT would truly be a big deal for seeing animals and people walking even in the woods, and it would also of course work at night.

In a similar vein, not to get off-topic but it would be worth considering getting some night vision and some thermal imaging capability just to be able to see at night. From hikes out in the woods with friends, it’s pretty cool to have NV and Thermal- that combination lets you move around easily even in the woods at night and thermal will let you see something hiding in bushes. Having that capability added to a drone would be big enough to maybe justify the cost…

C · July 31, 2024 at 10:00 am

If I wasn’t so focused on paying down debt and building my work shop I’d already have a flame thrower drone. I really want the Throwflame Wasp.

IcyReaper · July 31, 2024 at 12:26 pm

Outstanding, back to the prepping series. If you would as you learn about it, can you update us as to this works or maybe a another model as above talked about IR capability.
I for one really enjoy the Prepping Pyramid series. Its a teaching treasure.

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