Most places that I fly, I has long grass, dust or sand around and I don't want dust or sand getting blown into the drone by the down draught created by the propellers.

So, why do you have a landing pad?

Stop the camera and filter/lens getting damaged

With the more compact drones, (Mavic Mini, Mavic Pro, Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom), the distance between the camera and the ground is very small. On uneven surfaces, it could mean that the camera touches the ground. A Drone Landing pad often flattens off the surface to stop this problem.

Also, keeping dust and water from wet grass away from the lens and filters.

Protecting your drone's motors

Your drone sucks air into the motors to keep them cool. We want to keep as much dust, sand and other fine materials away from the drone as possible. A lot of my Drone Adventures have takeoff points in dusty and sandy place, so a landing pad really helps to protect the drone in these situations.

Stop the blades hitting grass

Hitting things with the drone rotor blades is never a good idea. If you're setting off your drone from long grass, having a drone landing pad helps to flatten off the grass and also actually ensures that you do check the ground first, moving branches, sticks etc.

Making landing cooler (And Safer)

It's always good to be in full control of your drone. Landing in the spot that you took off from demonstrates this control, and I have had a round of applause for landing perfectly on my drone landing pad. A drone landing mat also ensures that you do plan your takeoff and landing... hitting your rotors on a branch or rock that you hadn't seen when landing somewhere new isn't fun.

Things that I considered

• Size matters - You don't want a massive landing pad for your Mavic Mini
• Does it pack away easily (And small)
  • See my video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjMnntMrKDM
• Weight and pack away size
• Weighted edges or pegged in
• Durability
• Colour - Do you want to stand out (Or not)

My landing pad

I chose the Foldable Drone Launch Pad Helipad as it was cheap enough, packed away small and did the job.