ive been flying without a landing pad basically forever and just find a flat spot or land in my hand which i know some people hate but whatever it works. but i was out last week at this really dusty spot and the sensors kept freaking out on landing and i got some grit in the gimbal area which was not fun to deal with

so now im actually considering getting a pad. the thing is i see these huge 75cm ones and then theres the smaller 30-40cm ones and i genuinely dont know if size matters that much here. like is a bigger pad going to help with the dust issue more or is it just easier to spot from the air. and do people actually use the ones with the carrying bag or do they just fold it up and shove it in the backpack

also totally unrelated but has anyone tried those wrist strap things for carrying the controller, i saw one at a shop and it looked kind of useful but also kind of pointless

the bigger pads are definitely better for the dust situation, the whole point is creating a cleaner zone for the props to push air over when youre close to the ground. the 75cm ones are overkill for smaller drones imo but for anything mavic sized i use a 60cm and it's made a noticeable difference in how much junk gets kicked up. mine just folds into itself and clips onto the outside of my bag, takes about 10 seconds to set up which was a big selling point for me

as for the wrist strap thing i actually use one and it genuinely helps on longer shoots when youre just monitoring and not actively flying, takes the weight off your hands. probably depends on how long your sessions are though

hand catching is totally fine until its not lol. learned that the hard way with a gust of wind once, wont go into detail. landing pad changed my life honestly, just get a medium sized one you'll be fine. the giant ones are kinda ridiculous unless youre flying something big