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What Clothing While Flying?

I'm thinking a little beanie hat with a propeller on top. 😂

Sorry, I had to do it!
Don't apologize, it's a wonderful idea 😁

I try to wear something comfortable depending on prevailing weather conditions. I do have a high viz helmet and vest for future commercial work.
 
I don't do commercial stuff, but I too have an opinion on what to wear, though of course it isn't at all based how I present to a customer. I am concerned with dressing in a way that is practically helpful to flight, some of which may or may not be useful to you...

1. Peaked baseball type cap - goes a very long way to keeping sun glare out of your eyes, and you can get ones that have action cam mounts for easy narration / ground recording.

2. Boots / shoes / footwear that you cannot trip over whilst looking at something else, and that will remain stable on uneven terrain - we don't want to be tripping over things on the ground whilst in flight - hard to look pro when doing that ;)

3. Mainly dark colours, so you can blend into the background when you need to, but with (in my case) white or reflective highlights - I wear my sturdy MC boots for flying, which have white fronts, which makes locating me through the UAV's camera quite easy when you may be lost in surrounding foliage. This is more of a habit from legacy days when we couldn't see on our controllers exactly where drones were in relation to us, but occasionally proves useful to be able to exclude yourself from frame where that is important.

4. A raincoat - no matter how sunny it is. I use that not only to save myself if the weather turns, but so that I have something waterproof I can instantly throw over the drone once I have got it down if a sudden thunderstorm catches us unawares. A big landing pad can serve a similar function.

5. Sunglasses, and spare sunglasses - if it's bright enough for my drone to need ND filters, then I want shades too ! For low light, I like those yellow ones that Steven Segal has been wearing since his mid-life crisis - they are actually very good at improving contrast in light levels which are slightly too low for regular sunglasses. but you will look 20% more like Steven Seagal, so swings and roundabouts hey ?

6. Not strictly clothes, but... A pocketful of plasters and sterilising wipes, for those rare hand-catch screw-ups, and so you are able to come dramatically and impressively to the aid of any fair maidens in distress you may encounter, or anyone you may have twatted on the way back with your craft ! ;)

7. Winter: As above, but more layers and something to keep your hands and remaining batteries warm as you fly. Some people like fingerless gloves and warm pockets before that, and I tend to agree with them - with so much to do on screens you don't wanna be faffing with gloved fingers and fudged commands these days.
 
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As a personal choice, I always wear a safety vest (over clothing of course :cool:) with the purpose of standing out, to appear as a paid professional.
 
I go casual all of the time. I try to blend in, and fly from shadowy areas to avoid sunlight and visibility from Karens. My clothing is bland, and in South Florida, that usually consists of cargo shorts and a tee shirt with a ball cap. I avoid neon, or anything that draws attention.

Dale
Miami
Thank you for that thoughtful response. I fly strictly for pleasure and live in Northern Nevada. I can't seem to a way to avoid an overheating ipad or iphone due to the immense amount of sunlight. Any thoughts on how to shade the controller without trees or buildings around?
 
I can't seem to a way to avoid an overheating ipad or iphone due to the immense amount of sunlight. Any thoughts on how to shade the controller without trees or buildings around?
That's a very tricky thing to solve I'd imagine. I presume it still happens if you stand so your body blocks the direct sunlight onto the phone whilst flying ? And you can buy sunshield kits that work with it, but they are only going to help with glare, and probably won't do anything to help the temperature issue if shielding it with your body didn't work.

What will work is sitting in the car and flying from there with the A/C on !

But if that is not an option for you, then you won't like the recommendation, but all I can really suggest is not using the iphone while the sun is near full strength, and getting the RC-2 instead for those occasions, which has a fan in it and doesn't overheat AFAIK.
 
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I wonder what @akdrone wears ??????????????? 🤣
Hah! Well I don't do paid shoots so....I missed this thread till I got pulled into it:). I think if I -were- doing it commercially I'd probably try a bright vest with some official sounding lettering. What I wear is obviously seasonally dependent but I shoot a lot from inside my car whenever I can park in a manner to let me view my drone. Yesterday I did a drive in a large loop - about 470mi of driving and the issue was no-see-ums and mosquitos just swarming when I would leave the car. I wore DEET! and long pants and long sleeves. With DEET it's important to clean your fingers and not let it come in contact with plastics. In winter I wear normal clothing if I know I can fly from inside the car. Otherwise you'll find me bundled in snowmachine bibs, bunny boots (look 'em up) a large parka and super thin gloves. A friend and I made a video years ago when he was trying to see how long his new Mavic 3 would stay up at -40F (it was, I think, 12 or 15min) and I laughed at him as he didn't even have any gloves on. Nor did either of us have a jacket on but I did have some very thin liner gloves on. We knew we were only going to be outside for 15 or 20min which is why we didn't bother with a parka. Flying drones at -20F isn't as bad as shooting Aurora at -60F for 4 hours. THAT is difficult.
 

they work against UK midges
i have similar clothing. There are places where we've kayaked that require you to lift the head net then quickly take a bit of food, close the head net and kill the critters inside. Getting in a tent requires 10min or more of trying to kill the mosquitos and black flies that have entered. It's always worth the trip but sometimes....
 
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i have similar clothing. There are places where we've kayaked that require you to lift the head net then quickly take a bit of food, close the head net and kill the critters inside. Getting in a tent requires 10min or more of trying to kill the mosquitos and black flies that have entered. It's always worth the trip but sometimes....
We have a similar problem here on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico when camping on the barrier islands in warmer weather. I've considered rigging up a small vacuum device to suck up and hold the mosquitos that get into the tent. It would be much easier than grabbing them or mashing them against the tent fabric.

The process or eliminating the infiltrators is particularly disheartening when many of them are already carrying a load of what was once your blood. But at least, I know there are no concerns with Grizzlies or Kodiaks.
 
We have a similar problem here on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico when camping on the barrier islands in warmer weather. I've considered rigging up a small vacuum device to suck up and hold the mosquitos that get into the tent. It would be much easier than grabbing them or mashing them against the tent fabric.

The process or eliminating the infiltrators is particularly disheartening when many of them are already carrying a load of what was once your blood. But at least, I know there are no concerns with Grizzlies or Kodiaks.
there are devices that do work that will attract mosquitos (don't know about other bugs) and will clear an outdoor area quite effectively. no referrals but I know they are out there...
 
there are devices that do work that will attract mosquitos (don't know about other bugs) and will clear an outdoor area quite effectively. no referrals but I know they are out there...
Best device for knocking mossies off-target? A wheel of ripe camembert cheese. I kid ye not. No batteries required and if push comes to shove: a handy snack too.
 
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Thanks for all the replies!

My reason for asking was primarily about projecting a professional image to clients (if they're there), the public, and anyone else you might encounter while flying (e.g. law enforcement). Of course, that has to be balanced with comfort. For instance, I'd prefer to wear pants when weather allows, but the dewpoint is currently 75F and the heat index will exceed 100F today so shorts are called for.
 
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