recon for intel would be #1 use for me. however i think the noise of it might be a problem. my bol is in a very rural area.

 

Drones are pretty cool and they could definitely be useful for gaining intel. It may not take as much commitment to get enough proficiency to be useful, compared to other hobbies, but I think my wife would kill me if I started spending money on yet another thing, lol.

 

My wife is just below the boiling point as it is - Motorcycles, guitars, shooting…

I’m staying out of range now. 😎

 

Possible downside would be that someone notices your drone before you notice them and now they can be certain that someone in the area has all kinds of cool stuff to go after...

 

Yeah - but it would be easy to fly way out of your way to confuse/avoid following.

As for noise, only those right near the launch/landing would be aware - maybe.

 

When SHTF there are no laws protecting drones and they might become easy targets.

I do have to wonder how many people would notice them though. How far away can you hear the noise, like 200 feet?

Interesting thought. Charging it may become an issue. I guess it depends how much S hits the F.

 

I think you need a method to charge is as a matter of prepping course before worrying about having the drone...

Kind of like you need 3 weeks of water before 3000 rounds of ammo.

 

I have one to my left as I type. I managed to actually get it airborne at one point. I have yet to figure out how to actually use it. The winds have been so high here lately that I don't think it could handle it. I would love to have a video of the property if nothing else. If I could just learn how it works...........

 

I have a couple of drones and I can fly them high enough that they can’t be heard from the ground and yet they are still able to recon activity on the ground. I could definitely see the drone being useful for surveillance, providing one is careful with the flight path to prevent detection.

(BTW, my smallest drone is a 249g one that’s not subject to many of the rules regarding drone registration.)

 

I can not think of a more valuable role than what Aceman posited.

Let put aside the cost of a drone with a top camera and the ability to operate it at night and having an energy supply.

What can I do, whether urban or suburban or rural to do surveillance from at home?
1. obtain a quality range finder with a range of 1000 yards. Few people can shoot that far. Few people have a 1000 yard range clear field from home. Yes, I know optics. When a mentor wanted a recommendation, I suggested a 3000 yard range because if he was going to scoot, he needed to know sooner what was going on. I can not scoot.

2. obtain a top quality set of birding binoculars.

3. Now comes the harder part which doesn't cost much.
A. Get a set of US geologic maps for your area.
B. Measure and record distances from your home to buildings, ingress/egress points to your area.
B. Drive around your neighborhood and note the trees, shrubs, possible rally points for opposition figures - do this during the day and at night.
C. Notice the normal night lighting in your area.
D. Actually walk and record the time to points from your home

4. Once a year, I do the search for "reasonably priced" thermal optics, drones, night vision tools . . . and don't find them.

 

FWIW, I own 3 drones and have a Part 107 FAA license. I've been flying for 5-6 years.

So, I thought to myself "You know, a drone could be a really great tool in a SHTF situation."
Let's discuss what a drone might be good for.
The first thing I thought of was recon from the safety of your home...

Drones have a lot of useful applications.

Drones are pretty cool and they could definitely be useful for gaining intel. It may not take as much commitment to get enough proficiency to be useful, compared to other hobbies, but I think my wife would kill me if I started spending money on yet another thing, lol.

Drones do take some training and practice. Easy to fly. Easy to crash. It is important to know the basic rules and laws of the skies. In the past few years the FAA came out with the Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST test). Even part 107 pilots are supposed to take this. I did it in the car on vacation and it took less than 10 minutes, but I think useful for new drone owners/pilots.

When SHTF there are no laws protecting drones and they might become easy targets.
I do have to wonder how many people would notice them though. How far away can you hear the noise, like 200 feet?
Interesting thought. Charging it may become an issue. I guess it depends how much S hits the F.

1) modern drones tend to be small, not much larger than a clay shotgun target. I think it would be very difficult to shoot down with a pistol. I'm not hands-on familiar with shotguns and effective range of the ammo. But I would suspect that a drone a few hundred feet out would be difficult to take down. Additionally, anyone who shoots down a drone will have committed a felony. One hard rule is that the FAA owns the airspace from 1 foot above the ground to infinity. While there are restricted areas, much of the legality of flying over areas is determined by the launch and land position, not where the drone may be flying at any given moment. If the drone crashed in the restricted area, having been launched from a legal spot... Well... there may be issues recovering your drone.
EDIT: If you own a DJI drone, they have a process and monitoring system called "geofencing". Geofencing will lock your drone out of certain areas and it will be like hitting a wall. IMO it is a bit of overkill, big brother and sometimes a pain to get past even though the airspace is not restricted. When I do commercial shoots I always survey the DJI geofencing online, apply to have it modified then will go to the site and test to make sure they have unlocked the area. Often times DJI does not do it properly. I have stories to tell about this.

Interestingly there are blanket restrictions in what are designated as "sensitive areas" . Then entire of Washington DC is a "no fly" zone. You can't even fly in your back yard at any altitude. We have kids in DC and I don't even bring my drone when we visit. I have to wonder what was required to get permission for B roll (or just a few minutes of skirting the rule) of the city for TV shows and films?

2) How far can you hear a drone? It depends on the drone. My smaller drones cannot be heard by me until they are almost right on top of me. You are more apt to SEE my drones before you hear them because I always fly with strobes, even though strobes are only required at night. The furthest I have been able to spot my larger drone is about 10,000 ft over water with multiple strobes blinking. I do not rely on my video monitor/phone/tablet and try my best to stay within visual line of sight.

Side note: Some people get apoplectic when they see or suspect a drone is near. For the most part, camera drones are equipped with WIDE ANGLE lenses, so "spying" accusations are often absurd. Sometimes a little bit nuts. A few years back I ws flying over acres of farmland in Vermont, flying toward a mountain off my children's back porch, facing open fields. My step-son got a call from a neighbor saying "we got a drone flying around. What are we going to do?" Of course he spotted my drone with the strobes blaring, not any closer than 1000 feet from where he possibly could have been. When filming buildings or private property specifically I always contact the owner/management to get permission to fly over the property and film it. I do not contact property owners for "transitional" over-flights. It isn't required and IMO unnecessary. It's all about practicality and courtesy. More to say, but I'll stop here.

3) Charging. There are multiple charging systems, some very efficient to get drone batteries charged from your car's 12v plugs. Most drone owners purchase multiple batteries as a typical flight of 20-30 minutes would be considered standard on a single battery, though the industry has been pushing for longer and longer flying times per battery.

 

Additionally, anyone who shoots down a drone will have committed a felony. One hard rule is that the FAA owns the airspace from 1 foot above the ground to infinity. While there are restricted areas, much of the legality of flying over areas is determined by the launch and land position, not where the drone may be flying at any given moment. If the drone crashed in the restricted area, having been launched from a legal spot... Well... there may be issues recovering your drone.

Thanks for the good info in that post. I don't know much about drones.

My first point was that in a real SHTF situation, there are no rules anymore protecting drones and no one would even be thinking that.

I would not even try shooting one down with a pistol, but with a shotgun you could take one down at 200 feet and longer with larger birdshot or buckshot.

A rifle would be challenging but not impossible.

I didn't realize drones were so small - like a blue rock really? 5 inches in diameter? Wow.

Interesting topic.

 

I kinda want to disappear from the public in these circumstances. Although cool there’s a chance of bringing unwanted attention to yourself.

 

I have a DJI Mini 3 drone. I haven't flown it much, but it would be good to scan the surroundings. Here is a picture of the drone at takeoff (right in front of the flagpole) and one taken above and in front of our house where you can see the surrounding area pretty well. I do live within 5 miles of the Prescott, AZ, airport, so I do have some restrictions.

 

I have a DJI mini 3, and it's hard to spot and hear at any distance at all. If you don't want people to know it's there, just fly high. Mine does not have strobes. I seriously doubt you could hit it with a firearm at any distance.

For surveillance purposes, you can also use it for distance. It will tell you (meters) how far away from the launch point it is.

It does have geofencing, but I believe that can be defeated. I live right under a flight path (albeit overflying aircraft are still>5,000' agl) and it will still fly. I've also flown it within the "envelope" of a local airport. However the location I flew it in would be impossible to hit or create a conflict with aircraft. Basically on the other side of a large hill from the Airport and any plane flying at that level would be way below minimums, and probably about to crash into the mountain.

 

I think it is fair to say - much like haam radio...

During the majority of the time (99.7%) there are a lot of conditions, rules, training, and responsibility that go with doing this. And we encourage you all to avoid the Department of Making You Sad intervening.

Of course, in an SHTF, like most things, survival rules the day. Think "guidelines" not laws rules and restrictions as appropriate for your needs.

That said - The End of the Rule of Law, is very typically, a temporary thing if it happens at all...just something to keep in mind.

 

I wonder how well they would fly if it's SHTF time and GPS is jammed/spoofed/broken. Designing one that has no reliance on gps would probably be good for shtf, but not sure the feasibility of that.

 

Depends on if you’re flying a GPS drone or a drone that is not linked to GPS or possibly a drone where the mother company like DJI doesn’t have complete operational domain over their drones. You can fly a GPS drone without GPS but it’s considerably more difficult in terms of the skill involved. But it can be done.

 

If you have other optics covered then drones.
Telescopes
BInoculars
Gun optics
Night Vision

 

Drones have inherent issues, largely due to invisible hands. Other optic choices can be thought of as backup or co-witnessing. But drones have a perspective advantage and a range, when not intefered with, that is exponentially greater than any optic you merely look through, including scopes.
I have had one of my drones out as far as 10,000 feet, launched from flat land. Of course I followed all the FAA rules, but in a SHTF situation where information is needed rules no longer apply. But again, most civilian drones are sold by DJI, which means you cant count on your DJI drone to be available to you when you might need it most. Nothing beats redundancy.

 

The role of a drone is to alert every human in the area that someone is nearby who has abundant resources. No thanks

 

Yet you are posting on this forum...<sigh>

 

I have 54 acres of hunting property and a homesite. I would love to be able to check my food plots and ponds and home site by air but I just can't figure out how to use a drone. Don't have the time or patience to figure it out.

Having said that I understand that there are some drones that are programable which makes them easy/easier to fly. Just haven't had the time or energy to figure out what would work and how.

 

I would love to have an eye in the sky, but haven't pursued it yet.

 

What's a good beginner's model or place to start?