Travelling With A Drone: exactly how We bring It, What it Costs, The Cons & The Pay-offs

As you understand from our YouTube channel, we’ve been travelling with a drone for a few months now. The drone certainly takes up a great deal of additional area in our packs, however we’ve re-arranged things well as well as we’ve likewise chosen up the ideal backpack for the job.

Note: Don’t miss the drone packing video at the bottom of this article!

We’ve been getting rather a few emails as well as comments about exactly how we handle to travel with a drone, so in this short article I’ll fill you men in on exactly how I pack it, exactly how much it weighs, what it costs, why I have it as well as if it’s worth it for better videos.

The Backpack

About a year before I purchased the drone, I saw a video on YouTube of a man who was utilizing the Vanguard Up-Rise II 48 backpack to tons his Phantom 2. When the Phantom 3 came out earlier this year, I wasn’t sure if it would in shape the exact same method that the Phantom 2 did, however I purchased it anyways and contacted Vanguard about the Up-Rise II 48.

Luckily, they were prepared to send us a bag for testing as well as review, however seeing as this bag is only $169.99 on Amazon, it’s already less expensive than many other drone bags on the market. This makes it an simple purchase for anybody who has already invested in a Phantom 3 as well as plans to travel with a drone.

The Uprise II fits the drone completely as well as it provides the Phantom lots of padding as well as support as well. The bag isn’t really produced the drone (though Vanguard told us in an email that they have something planned…shhh!), however the truth that it’s not a designated drone bag is really part of the reason why I selected it.

The Phantom is already a target while travelling. flying an costly camera in the sky isn’t precisely inconspicuous, particularly when you’re travelling to establishing countries with high criminal offense rates (ie: ones in Latin America), so having it packed away in a bag that just appears like a routine backpack was important for me.

If you’ve seen other drone bags, you’ll notice that they’re typically ideal squares as well as they frequently even have branding that makes it remove what’s inside. This is the last thing that I wanted. The Vanguard bag appears like a routine day bag as well as while it’s a bit big on my front side as a “second pack” it still doesn’t look like it’s bring anything much more important than my previous day pack was.

Hmm… I question What’s in that Backpack.
Also, typical drone bags typically have a difficult foam lining, which is fantastic for protecting the drone, however not ideal if you want to put other things in the bag besides the Phantom as well as its accessories. The Vanguard can hold my drone, Nex-6 camera, GoPro, Feiyu-Tech Gimbal, Macbook pro as well as all of the cords rather easily.

I did discover nevertheless that having the laptop as well as the drone in the exact same bag made it a bit bit heavy for me to bring on my front, so Dariece brings our laptops as well as cords in her day bag, as well as I bring the rest of our electronic devices in the Vanguard.

Why Did We get A Drone?

I like producing films as well as sharing them on Our YouTube channel as well as while video development is an element of the blog that doesn’t currently make us any type of money, it’s my preferred thing to do for Goats On The road as well as I like hearing people’s responses to our travel videos.

Travelling with a drone was an apparent next step into much better travel video production. After getting the Feiyu-Tech gimbal for video stabilization, the drone was the very first thing that we believed of to enhance our YouTube channel.

How much Did It Cost?

The Phantom 3 advanced (which is what I have) goes for $999. I likewise bought the iPad small to choose the configuration since my iPod 5 was incompatible. You can utilize Android gadgets as well as Apple wise gadgets for the drone, however I figured the iPad small was the ideal size. The device isn’t as well huge to bring around, as well as the screen isn’t as well little that you can’t see fine details in the streamed video while flying. The iPad small was $280 on Amazon (currently on sale).

If you were to go out as well as purchase the exact same set up as me, the expense breakdown would look like this:

Phantom 3 Drone = $999

iPad small 2             = $280

Vanguard Uprise   = $129

Total expense = $1,408 USD

I’m looking into choosing up some prop guards as well as an additional battery for the drone, howeverthat’ll be sometime down the road. It ought to likewise be noted that, just a couple of days ago, DJI released a (arguably) much better drone for less money than the Phantom 3 Advanced. The new drone has a much better video camera than the advanced as well as only costs $799. Click right here to purchase this drone as well as make me envious!

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Phantom 3 Advanced: Weight & Size

Phantom 3 aircraft Specs:

Weight (Including Battery as well as Propellers) = 1280 g

Diagonal size (Including Propellers) = 590 mm

Diagonal size (Not including Propellers = 395 mm)

Phantom 3 Controller Specs:

Weight = 700 g

Width = 165 mm

Height = 150 mm

Depth = 75 mm

Phantom 3 Battery charger Specs:

Weight = 400g

Dimensions = 175 x 125 x 30 mm

Vanguard Uprise II 45 Specs:

Weight = 1,550 g

Outside dimensions = 330 x 275 x 500 mm

Total Weight of backpack With Drone = +/- 3,930 g (8.66 lb)

Is it worth The Weight & Hassle?

We’ve only had the drone for a couple of months, however already I’m seeing a fantastic reaction from the videos that I produce with it. I’m seeing much more comments on the videos as well as numerous of them are particularly commenting about the drone footage.

Sunset shot With The Drone

I have to state that we haven’t truly travelled extensively with it yet as we’ve only gone from Costa Rica to Grenada with it, however I’m so thrilled with the reaction from the drone so far, that I believe any type of travel hassles that it includes will be well worth the additional weight as well as bulk.

We’ve likewise had a couple of provides from business wanting us to produce drone videos to promote their businesses, which is great. This was certainly part of the reason we dedicated to such a big investment in the very first location as well as we’re pleased to see the prospective for it to pay itself off.

Also, it’s truly fun to fly the drone. aside from the company element of travelling with a drone, it’s just a fun toy to have.

The Downsides Of travelling With A Drone

For sure, there are some downsides to having a drone on us while travelling, however we’ll just have to accept them as well as bring on with our typical adventures. While it is a bit worrisome to bring an costly flying video camera around the world with us, we have to just choose it as well as not let it hinder our travel plans.

A DSLR video camera with lenses costs about the same, however most likely doesn’t look like as much of a target as a fun-to-fly, remote managed camera.

I’ve noted a few cons about travelling with the drone below, however I believe they’ll be outweighed by the pros.

Obviously, the weight as well as bulk

The danger of theft

The danger of crashing it (been there, done that)

The interest it attracts

Other people want to fly it (and I have to state no!)

Risk of damaging it in transfer (although the Vanguard keeps it quite protected)

“No Fly Zones” are spreading like wildfire, so the future of totally free flight is uncertain

The fun & worry Of Flight

Travelling with a drone is quite cool. It’s amazing to get brand new perspectives of the locations that we visit. particularly since Dariece as well as I like to travel to a great deal of extremely off-the-beaten-path places. There are times when I’m flying the drone in Grenada as well as I’m quite sure that I’m the very first person to ever see these locations from the sky (and we get to share that with you guys!).

When I very first got the drone, whatever was fun as well as games. I flew it around without a care in the world. however because crashing it while shooting this video, I have a new anxiousness about flying it.

Minor Drone damage After Repair. The drone fell from 20ft as well as I had to bend the frame back into position. Not a pleased day.

If you select to travel with a drone, you ought to understand that each time you introduce it, there’s a possibility you might accident it. So if you work with a business to promote them, you much better fee a great fee. It’s truly not that difficult to fly a drone, however it’s likewise not difficult to accident one.

Luckily my drone only sustained minor frame damage during my crash, however frequently times the drone can be totalled after an accident, leaving you with 3 kg of scrap plastic.

Overall thoughts about travelling With A Drone

While I was hesitant to travel with a drone at first, now that I have it, I’m extremely happy that we made the investment. Our videos will continue to enhance as I continue to method flying as well as filming with thedrone as well as although it takes up some space, now that we’ve upgraded to the Numinous 55L backpacks, we have lots of additional room.

Our Numinous 55L Backpacks
I’ll report back as well as update this short article after we’ve travelled much more with the drone, however for now, ideally this provides you a great concept of what it weighs, exactly how we pack it as well as if it’s worth it for you to pick up a drone yourself. I’d say, if you like making awesome travel videos, then travelling with a drone is certainly worth the money, area as well as weight.

For much more about exactly how We pack Our Drone, view This quick Video!

Do you, or somebody you know, travel with a drone? tell us some pros & cons in the comments below! Are you thinking about getting one? If you have any type of concerns about travelling with a drone? feel totally free to ask us below.
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