been flying for about 8 months now mostly at parks and open fields and ive always just hand launched and landed. friend of mine keeps telling me i should get a landing pad and honestly i cant figure out if hes right or if its just another thing to carry. i fly a mavic air 2 and so far havent had any issues with dirt or grass getting kicked up but maybe i just got lucky?

are they actually useful in practice or is it one of those things that sounds good but sits in your bag forever. also if they are worth it which size do people go with, some of them look massive.

honestly thought the same thing for a long time and then i tried landing in a field with longer wet grass and the motors sucked up so much debris i had to spend 20 minutes cleaning everything out. after that i bought a cheap 30cm pad off amazon and never looked back. it folds up super small and takes like 5 seconds to set up, just throw it on the ground. i dont think about it anymore it just goes in the bag automatically now.

the size thing is real though, i started with a bigger one and it was kind of annoying to carry. the smaller ones are fine unless youre flying something big.

theyre useful but i wouldnt stress about it too much. the main thing for me is landing on gravel or dusty areas, the pad keeps the sensors on the bottom cleaner. hand launching is totally fine if your takeoff spot is clean grass. i have one but i probably only use it maybe half the time if im honest with you.