okay so i keep seeing people use those foldable landing pads and i genuinely cant tell if its one of those things thats actually useful or just a thing people buy because it looks professional. i fly mostly at parks and fields, occasionally some gravel areas. my mini 3 has been fine landing in grass so far but i did have one time where it kicked up a bunch of dirt on takeoff and i wasnt thrilled about that going into the motors.

are these things actually protecting the drone or is it more of a nice to have. and what size do people use for a smaller drone, the giant 90cm ones seem ridiculous for something that weighs 250 grams

totally worth it in my opinion and i was skeptical too at first. the main thing for me isnt even landing its the takeoff ? on dusty or loose terrain that downdraft really does kick stuff up and into the motors over time. i fly at beaches a lot and sand in the motors is a very real problem. even just having a clean flat surface to launch from makes a difference.

for a mini 3 i use a 60cm pad and its more than enough. the 90cm ones are really more for larger drones like mavic 3 or air 3 where the props are further out. most of them fold down to almost nothing anyway so theres not really a reason not to just throw one in your bag

yeah i got one mostly because it looks cool ngl but it has actually come in handy a few times in tall grass where i couldnt see the ground well. gives me a visual target to aim for on the way down. mine is just some random one off amazon, think i paid like 12 bucks and its been fine for two years so its not really a big investment either way