Guide to Utilizing Drones for Off-Grid and Survival Situations

Drones are very versatile when it comes to uses or purposes. Besides being used to take aerial photos or videos, drones are also used for building inspections, rescue missions, and more. So, drones can be useful in various situations. However, can they be used for off-grid and survival purposes? And if they can, how can they help? To know more, here is a guide to utilizing drones for off-grid and survival situations.

What are Drones?

person flying a drone

Before we get into the use of drones for off-grid and survival situations, let us first discuss what drones actually are. If you don’t know, drones are devices that are capable of flying using multiple propellers. You can then control the movement of a drone using a controller, which comes in the form of a separate device or an app that you can download to your smartphone or tablet. For more info on choosing a hobby drone to purchase and try out, read the Beginner’s Guide to Buying a Hobby Drone.

Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs, were originally created for military purposes, as they are deemed to be safer to use for aerial missions. Drones are safer for aerial missions since they don’t need a pilot to operate, although a person would still need to control their movements remotely. So, when aerial missions fail due to encountering resistance from enemy forces, there wouldn’t be any human casualties for those missions. Because of how small drones are, they are typically used for spy missions rather than bombing missions, although there have been some drones that have been used for bombings.

As parts or components for drones became cheaper and more accessible, they have become more popular for photography and videography, as they are constantly used by photographers to get aerial shots of beautiful locations. However, drones are also used in other industries besides photography, and these industries include engineering, agriculture, and surveillance.

For engineering, drones are primarily utilized to inspect areas or parts of buildings or infrastructure that can be difficult for people to inspect. On the other hand, drones are also used in surveillance to allow police officers to follow suspects or suspicious citizens and to enable companies or businesses to have devices that can help secure their offices, factories, or establishments from unauthorized personnel or intruders. For agriculture, drones have containers installed on them that contain pesticides. The pesticide is spread in a much more efficient manner when using drones since they can spray the chemical on more plants or crops in just a few minutes.

How Can Drones Be Used for Off-Grid and Survival Situations?

When it comes to off-grid and survival situations, a drone is arguably one of the best devices to have, as it has many uses that can make any situation or environment safer and more convenient for you. Here is a list of benefits that you can get from using drones for off-grid and survival purposes.

View Areas Easier

using a drone to survey the fields

If you are planning to live near a lake or in a forest, you may need to survey the area first to check if it is safe to live in or if you will have easy access to sources of food and drinking water. Instead of inspecting different areas on your own, which can usually be unsafe, you can just use a drone to easily view those areas. While manually inspecting areas on your own can take hours or even days, depending on how wide the areas are, viewing those areas using a drone would just take you a few minutes or hours. So, to save energy and time when it comes to surveying areas around the location you are planning to have a home in, you should try using a drone.

Have Better Efficiency When Hunting for Game

Hunting for game is one of the aspects of off-grid living that some people do, as this activity enables them to get their own sources of food without relying too much on grocery stores and online shops. Of course, if you have to hunt for food, you would first need to have a hunting license, as hunting for animals is illegal if you don’t have permission from the government and if you have no knowledge of which animals are not allowed to be hunted.

Once you have a hunting license and a hunting rifle, you may then use a drone so that you can scout for potential game in various areas around your off-grid home. Scouting for game using a drone is very effective, as drones don’t really cause disturbance in the areas where wild animals live, as long as they are flying at a safe distance.

Use Drones to Locate People in Disaster-Stricken Areas

drone with a first aid kit

If there are areas near you that have been stricken by natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, or tornadoes, you can use your drone to help rescuers locate people that have been trapped in collapsed houses in buildings. Some disaster-stricken areas can be very difficult for rescuers to access. Fortunately, a drone can fly above those areas and provide a much safer way to locate people that need rescuing.

Drones that have HD cameras are specifically useful for these situations, as they will be able to see injured people or those that need help from afar. However, it can also be good if the drones are installed with long-range thermal detectors that can see body heat. So, if there are specific spots in disaster-stricken areas that are glowing red or orange in the detector, there is a chance that the glowing spot is a human trapped in the rubble.

Deliver Aid and Supplies Quickly

Another use of drones during survival situations is to deliver aid and supplies quickly to people that need them. Some drones are able to carry at least a few pounds of food, water, and first-aid supplies with them while flying, although you will need to know exactly how much your drones can carry to avoid issues.

In addition to providing aid to other people, drones can also help in providing aid for yourself, as you can utilize the drone to ask for help from nearby towns and cities. Drones can help rescuers find your locations, and these flying devices can also be helpful in getting supplies that you need to survive for a few hours or days before rescuers arrive where you are.

These are a few of the best uses of drones for off-grid living and survival. If you are going to live off-grid, you can consider getting a drone since it will be useful for you in many situations or instances. Learn how to fly a drone and utilize it for hunting, surveying, getting supplies, and other activities.