Propeller guards are an essential accessory for every beginner drone enthusiast. A beginner can end up breaking a drone by flying it without proper safety accessories, such as propeller guards. It is always advised to take necessary precautions to ensure your own safety, the safety of others, and your equipment. Not doing so can cause injury to people and damage to the equipment.
What are Propeller Guards?
Before discussing why you should buy propeller guards for your drones, you must know what propeller guards are. This way, you can make an educated decision.
Propeller guards function as a barrier between the drone’s propellers and the environment. This ensures the safety of the drone as well as the safety of those who come into contact with it.
Propeller guards are a necessity for flight in a high-risk environment or for inexperienced drone flyers.
Why do You Need Propeller Guards for Your Drone?
Many people underestimate the importance of propeller guards for drones and damage their expensive equipment or get injured. It is always a good idea to take necessary precautions to safeguard against dangers.
Following are some top reasons you must invest in propeller guards:
1. Safety
Safety is the most important reason why you should buy propeller guards for drones. The propellers of a drone are built to be aerodynamic and thus can be quite sharp. They also spin at extremely high speed to keep themselves airborne.
This makes them quite a hazard. If your hands or any other body part comes into contact with them, the propellers can cause severe cuts. There is a high injury risk associated with flying a drone without a propeller guard since it can harm you or any other person who comes into contact with it accidentally.
A propeller guard puts a barrier between the blades and you or any bystanders. This way, you can raise the safety level of the drone, avoiding minor or major injuries.
2. Aesthetics
Some people also prefer buying beautifully designed propeller guards to make their drones look aesthetically pleasing. This, of course, is not a practical reason to invest in propeller guards. Still, it can make your drone more in accordance with your aesthetic preferences.
You can find a number of customization options for differently styled and designed propeller guards. From amongst the various options compatible with the model of your drone, you can choose the ones you like the most. This way, you can give the drone a unique and personal touch.
3. Protect the Propellers in Case of a Crash
In addition to posing a danger to you and others around you when flying a drone without propeller guards, the propellers themselves can get damaged in case of a crash. Drones are an expensive investment. Damage to them can cost a lot of money to fix. In some cases, the equipment cannot be repaired at all.
Guards don’t just protect the propellers from taking damage in case of a mishap or a crash, but they also protect the drone as a whole. They can drastically increase the chance of recovery of the drone in case of an accident.
4. Reduces the Risk of Entanglement
A drone’s propellers spin at a very high speed. So, they run the risk of entanglement if they ever run into a tree or some other such object. Incidents such as this can make the drone impossible to recover.
A propeller guard reduces the drone’s likelihood of entanglement as it functions as a barrier between the propeller and other objects. This increases the chances of recovery of the drone in case of a crash.
5. Drone’s Visibility is increased
It can be pretty hard to see a drone clearly, especially if it is far away. This lack of visibility can be somewhat problematic when flying a drone. As such, you might need to take steps to increase the visibility of the device if required.
Propeller guards can help increase the visibility of the drone over long distances by increasing the size of the drone. This will aid you in flights as you will be able to see the device more clearly.
6. Drone Becomes Easier to Carry
Drones are fragile. You can easily end up damaging them if you handle them too harshly. They need to be handled with absolute care to ensure that you don’t cause damage to any part. Propellers are one of the most fragile and crucial parts of a drone.
Generally, drones are not very easy to carry since there are no parts you can hold on to. Propeller guards provide you with a safe way to hold on to the drone while you carry it around.
7. Provide Protection during Landing
Safely landing a drone is not an easy task. Sometimes a drone can move in unexpected ways, which may lead to a crash. Therefore, the flyer needs to be extra careful while landing the drone. In this case, propeller guards help protect the components of the drone if something goes wrong during landing.
8. Easy to Install and Low Cost
Propeller guards are readily available to buy online – you can easily find the right ones for your drone’s make and model. They also tend to be low cost, enabling you to keep yourself and your equipment safe at a relatively low cost.
A lot of propeller guards have a clip-on design which allows for an effortless installation.
Effects of Propeller Guards on the Drone’s Flight
Propeller guards will indeed have a negative impact on your drone’s flight due to the extra weight they add. In addition, the flight time of the drone is also reduced, and its acceleration time is affected due to the added weight. The weight of the propeller guards causes the maneuverability of the drone to be affected as well.
With Propeller Guards vs. Without Propeller Guards
| With | Without |
| They add extra weight to the drone; hence reducing battery life and flight time | Better flight time |
| May protect against injury, especially if flying indoors | Your drone is more prone to injury |
| They can catch the wind and affect maneuverability | Better maneuverability |
| More power is required to fly the drone, especially at high speeds | Flies great |
Important Things to Remember When Buying Propeller Guards
If you have decided to buy propeller guards for your drones, then there are a few things for you to keep in mind to make a good purchase. The guards must be of suitable weight. Ensure that they are neither too heavy nor too weak. It is best to strike a balance that ensures good flight time yet does not compromise on reasonable safety.
You should also make sure that the propeller guards provide suitable protection since otherwise, they will be useless and only add weight without any benefit. Go for high-quality propellers that you can afford.
Conclusion
For experienced flyers, propeller guards might not be that important because they add extra weight to the drone and reduces some of its important functions, such as flight time, battery life, and maneuverability. On the other hand, we recommend all the beginners to fly their drones with propeller guards because they may accidentally land it on someone’s head and cause injury.
It is best to decide whether you need propeller guards or not based on the risk factors as well as your own experience and skills. Hopefully, the information provided in this article will help you decide whether to buy propeller guards for your drone or not.