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Has anyone really benefited from a wetsuit?

Ron-EP

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Hey all!

So I'm not doubting the functionality of the wetsuit. I believe it works and i believe it to be a quality product from what I've heard and read. My question is how purposeful it actually is. Has anyone really benefited from it? Are pilots really taking off in the rain or heavy snow? How does the lens not get drops on it causing blur? What types of footage are people capturing with this? Just so many unknowns for me. Hoping someone can give some input to justify getting one.

Thanks!
 
Hey all!

So I'm not doubting the functionality of the wetsuit. I believe it works and i believe it to be a quality product from what I've heard and read. My question is how purposeful it actually is. Has anyone really benefited from it? Are pilots really taking off in the rain or heavy snow? How does the lens not get drops on it causing blur? What types of footage are people capturing with this? Just so many unknowns for me. Hoping someone can give some input to justify getting one.

Thanks!

I purchased one, but have yet to chance upon a storm worth filming yet.
 
@Ron-EP ,personally for me the most important function of the wet suit along with the water landing gear would be if i spent most of my time flying over water, then the fact that i was able to save my drone from a watery grave would justify the outlay
i myself have no interest in flying in the rain ,so i would not be able to make use of the protection that the suit gives to the drone it really depends on the type of flying you like doing ,so if its something that you would use on a regular basis to capture stormy conditions then it would help with water ingress
 
I really like my wetsuit. The pro is that it works. It protects your battery as it says it does. I live near Lake Michigan and enjoy getting footage of the waves hitting the rock lined shore. The con side of things is that the wetsuit gets put on and stays on. I personally don't like swapping batteries when suited up on sunny days but that's just my opinion and it really isn't a problem, just a minor annoyance ! Yes the lens does get compromised at times, Don't fly against the rain helps but not always possible. Overall I do not regret my purchase and glad I have it when I need it. I also have a couple batteries I left uncovered just to make sunny days a touch easier ! Happy flying
 
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Hey all!

So I'm not doubting the functionality of the wetsuit. I believe it works and i believe it to be a quality product from what I've heard and read. My question is how purposeful it actually is. Has anyone really benefited from it? Are pilots really taking off in the rain or heavy snow? How does the lens not get drops on it causing blur? What types of footage are people capturing with this? Just so many unknowns for me. Hoping someone can give some input to justify getting one.

Thanks!
Let me start off by stating that I gain nothing from what I am writing here but rather sharing my experience with the Phantomrain products as I have used them thus far.
I have wet suits on all of my drones as well as rescue jackets and have flown in heavy snowfall and in cold temperatures down to -5°F. I am aware that this is below the manuf specs but if I only flew in specified temperatures, would only have about a 6mo season. This is a risk vs reward decision. The wet suit keeps the battery and electronics warmer which in my region is a good thing since it's colder here. I have not had the opportunity to fly in rain as of yet since it is still winter in Alaska and I am a relatively new drone pilot (Nov 2020 but have 100's of flights and nearly 70 miles of horizontal travel). I intend to fly over water this summer and am glad to have a way to retrieve my investment should something go wrong and the drone crashes or self-lands over the water. The rescue jacket maintains a low CG unlike the pool noodle products I have seen and also purchased prior to learning of Phantomrain products. The rescue jacket also produces less drag than the pool noodle style "floats" and increases the visibility of the AC.
Product quality and support is great as is response to questions/inquiries. The additional weight is negligible even on my MM1 although either product does put the 1 over the weight limit to require it to be registered, not an issue for me since I have it registered anyway. I don't notice any flight characteristic differences with the wet suit for the MM1 and certainly not my M2P or M2Z. The rescue jacket slows them down but drag is so negligible on the M2P and M2Z that you really cannot tell that its on in horizontal flight other than you can see it a lot further away. There is some increase in noise with the rescue jacket but that is to be expected with the additional vertical drag created which does reduce speed both up and down but again, worth it to me. The rescue jacket is also great for taking off/landing on snow.
I would highly recommend wet suits for anyone who plans to fly in rain/snow or flies in a region where the weather can sneak up on you quickly and/or in colder regions. I also would recommend the rescue jacket for anyone who flies anywhere near bodies of water. Keep in mind that the rescue jacket is designed to keep the battery and body of the drone out of the water and provides the minimum buoyancy required to do so. He has another product called the Sea Lander that is a bit heavier and bulkier but is intended for intentional water landings whereas the rescue jacket is more of a retrieval from water product. The Sea Lander isn't advertised on his website due to feedback from users of the additional weight and drag. I bought a rescue jacket for my M2P and added his shapes that I modified to it to make a sealander which is approx 1oz lighter than the originally designed version according to Phantomrain. I do notice more pronounced drag with this configuration but am willing to sacrifice the reduced flight time/speed for the added security of knowing my $1.6k drone is going to remain high and dry in a water landing situation.
You cannot keep the weather off of the lens when flying forward in moisture laden air, although I haven't experienced issues with moisture collection on the lens even when flying in heavy snow. My experience has been at low speed in little wind as I was working to capture snowflakes as they passed by the AC so certainly doesn't reflect all potential weather possibilities regarding precipitation and/or wind.
 
Hi all,
Admittedly a complete Noob, furthermore making a potentially ridiculous suggestion ... still:
I identify with @Ron-EP 's question and want to raise the following - Why on earth would wrapping the drone's body with a layer or two of cling film (carefully avoiding props & gimbal, then making openings over ventilation grilles, etc) not work?!? Would certainly keep any water *out* of battery seams & button, avoid overheating, negligible extra weight & drag, no cost.... Maybe add a piece of scotch tape at the end to make double-sure it remains tightly on.
Thoughts??
 
Hi all,
Admittedly a complete Noob, furthermore making a potentially ridiculous suggestion ... still:
I identify with @Ron-EP 's question and want to raise the following - Why on earth would wrapping the drone's body with a layer or two of cling film (carefully avoiding props & gimbal, then making openings over ventilation grilles, etc) not work?!? Would certainly keep any water *out* of battery seams & button, avoid overheating, negligible extra weight & drag, no cost.... Maybe add a piece of scotch tape at the end to make double-sure it remains tightly on.
Thoughts??
As for me, I avoid flying in visible moisture. Much of my flying is done over and around salt water, and having done some internal work on previous copters, I know that a salt gets in and forms a light residue. I want to keep moisture exposure to a minimum because of this. For important and possibly life threatening situations such as search and rescue, I would take any reasonable chance, including moisture exposure, but I would do so knowing the possible risks to the UAV.
 
Hi all,
Admittedly a complete Noob, furthermore making a potentially ridiculous suggestion ... still:
I identify with @Ron-EP 's question and want to raise the following - Why on earth would wrapping the drone's body with a layer or two of cling film (carefully avoiding props & gimbal, then making openings over ventilation grilles, etc) not work?!? Would certainly keep any water *out* of battery seams & button, avoid overheating, negligible extra weight & drag, no cost.... Maybe add a piece of scotch tape at the end to make double-sure it remains tightly on.
Thoughts??
My $0.02
1-wrapping with cling wrap would make changing the battery a pain.
2-what happens if you don’t keep a ventilation opening clear and the drone electronics overheat?
3-what happens if the wrap starts to come off in flight? That could prove to be catastrophic if it got tangled up in a prop/motor.
4-this approach would be somewhat of a tedious task IMO taking away from flight time and would have to do it each time the weather could turn or you want to change battery in order for it to be an effective alternative.

The wet suit installs once and stays on the drone/battery and doesn’t add enough weight to negatively affect flight time. There is un-detectable amount of drag since it forms to the shape of the drone, you are adding an insignificant amount of frontal area. I havent noticed any reduced speed. I live in a colder region so the retention of heat on all but maybe the hottest days in summer is a positive thing. I have flown in the cold with and without wet suits on my birds and I tend to get at least a few more minutes of flight time due to the neoprene helping to hold the heat in. This doesnt help the gimbal and I for one would pay a little more and be willing to loose a few minutes flight time if I could fly in colder weather and keep the gimbal from freezing by way of some form of electrical heating of it. Of course some of this isnt of concern in more southern regions where the retention of the heat may become detrimental. Its something each individual pilot must decide for themselves. To me its worth the cost and added weight although I personally havent realized any reduction in flight time due to the slight weight increase (my M2P weighs only 911g with wet suit and strobe velcro and 907g naked so the weight increase is very negligable)
 
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Update - I have flown in the rain since my last post in this thread and the battery compartment has remained dry every time. I also got myself in a bad situation flying from my boat a few weeks ago. Long story short the drone wound up on the ocean about 1/4 mile from the boat. The wet suit and rescue jacket saved the day! The drone was still floating upright after having been hit by a passing sailboat and my own boat bumping it on the retrieval. So glad it wasn’t on pool noodle floats as it would've been a total loss for the drone due to it flipping when hit. Fresh water and electronics don’t mix, let alone salt water. It would have been days before I could get to enough alcohol to have attempted to mitigate damage had the drone gotten wet but she stayed bone dry throughout the entire experience!
 
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