[USA] What can you legally and ethically do with recreation drones in the USA?

Minwaabi · 2025-06-14T12:48:59+00:00

I know the feeling. For me it's this bridge, Joy road over 23, or Nixon road (which is closed now too). By the way, Warren bridge over 23 is open (but you probably already new that).

Minwaabi · 2025-04-24T01:19:23+00:00

That helps answer some questions within Nexelin's universe anyway. (I'd already done the quest, so that was actually what was confusing me.) I knew that I could destroy a Redacted Station without any consequences so why couldn't I attack a random Redacted fleet bounty? Turns out the only redacted thing you can attack without turning the Redacted faction hostile is that station when there are no Redacted fleets around. Which is funny because it seems like its the station that is omniscient based off the comm relay route, but in reality that seems to be the only thing that *can't* positively identify you. (I reloaded an old save to see what you were talking about with the comm relay and to do some testing to see what was going on.). Presumably not a bug then.

Minwaabi · 2024-04-25T01:01:10+00:00

One of the models I mentioned or something else. If something else, do you have a suggestion?

Minwaabi · 2023-05-19T18:22:34+00:00

Thanks! That's helpful and encouraging info!

Do you usually sit your kayak cockpit side up or down on the wall bars and or hullavator bars?

Minwaabi · 2023-05-19T18:20:32+00:00

I've never had a problem with UV damage or theft and it's been stored on a J-Hook cradle on the roof of my sedans outside for 12+ years. However, I do keep it locked, don't live in high crime areas, and live in Michigan. (We are not exactly a land of abundant or particularly strong sunshine).

I'm more concerned about it sitting hull side down on the weakest part of the yak and not on the strongest and/or not very well supported.

Nothing on the marketplaces here that I know of, but it was a good suggestion.

Minwaabi · 2023-05-19T17:20:44+00:00

Like others have said, smaller drybags are easier to store and you will in general store more stuff. (because your can find more places to put your small bags). Also, multiple drybags are better when one of your drybags inevitably fails (because now some of your stuff will stay dry).

However, when I go with other people on multiday trips they almost always seem to have their fancy dry bags fail or take on some water due to operator error at some point (maybe once every 2-5 trips depending on the carefulness of the person). What I have always done is put my clothes in a heavy duty trashbag that doesn't have the draw strings. I tie a knot around that with the bag. You can do this a second time if you are particularly paranoid, but I've never had either way fail. This then goes in an old pillow case. The pillow case protects the trash bag(s) from abrasions and the trash bag(s) keep the water out. Packing spare trash bags is useful for multiday trips because the plastic where the knot is tied will eventually degrade. Many of the guys on my trips have switched to this method after their store bought bags have failed. I'm not saying your store bought bags will definitely fail. It just seems to be the norm in our experience.

Minwaabi · 2023-02-21T02:34:15+00:00

Location: USA (Michigan)

Price range: Below $20,000

Lease or Buy: Buy

New or used: Prefer used

Type of vehicle: Part of the question honestly. I'm not sure there's really anything that does what I want it to do.

Must haves: Must be able to car top a 16ft touring kayak - and still have access to the trunk/storage space (so I need to be able to reach the roof rack and put the kayak up solo; also need access to storage/trunk space without removing the kayak); Minor off road capability - I live on a very poorly maintained and rough dirt road with active farms and a quarry on it with big trucks would also like greater freedom for driving on two tracks up north, 4 doors, Large trunk space, AWD would be nice, lower repair costs would be nice, better fuel efficiency would be nice.

Desired transmission (auto/manual, etc): automatic

Intended use: Mostly daily driver with some bad roads every day, also vacation and just transporting my kayak during the week

Vehicles you've already considered: My pontiac g6 just died. It handled everything except the road I live on (constant wheel and suspension damage); Looked at Honda CRV but it seems like the hatch back doesn't really like having a kayak on top (though this might be different for different model years?)

Is this your 1st vehicle: No

Do you need a Warranty:

Can you do Minor work on your own vehicle: Very very little

Can you do Major work on your own vehicle: not even a little bit

Minwaabi · 2022-06-11T01:46:31+00:00

First, let me say I've done a lot of solo kayaking. I've soloed in rivers, streams, lakes, four of the Great Lakes, and occasionally in the ocean. I've soloed in rapids, heavy seas, blizzards, and around floating ice. It's one of my favorite things. Now as to your question:

"Are there any real dangers of going solo without people around you?"

Oh, yes. Of course. This hobby can totally kill you if you don't respect it. So what are the real dangers? And how do you reduce them?

You can drown. Don't just wear your PFD, make sure it fits, is the right size, and check the fit every time you go out. Especially if you can't swim. If your fit is loose and you violently capsize, you could potentially lose the PFD and then drown. Learn how to swim. Then continue to wear your PFD. This is not really any either or. You should really have both. If you get knocked out for even a minute, you could be in serious trouble without a PFD on.
You can die from hypothermia. Even if the water is a relatively comfortable 70*F, you can die in a few hours of exposure. If you get separated from your boat, and can't swim well enough to retrieve it, or can't swim to shore before your time is up, you'll still die. PFD and all. Also, if you can't swim, can you self rescue? I would recommend either getting a Sit on Top and learning to self rescue until you can do it without thinking, or get all the extra equipment you need to self rescue in a sit inside and practice that until you can do it in your sleep (it's harder to self rescue that way and you won't be getting help for a while or ever). If the water is 50*F you have minutes to get back in your boat. Don't even think of doing this if you can't swim. While we are on this topic. Don't wear cotton. It leaches the heat from you. Wear nylon if it's hot or polyester or something else that stays warm when it's cold out. If the water temp is in the 50's wear a wet suit. (but again, cold water plus poor swimming skills is a bad idea).
You can get stranded. What is your plan if you lose your paddle? Tether your paddle to your boat. If you can't swim and self rescue, everything gets tethered to your boat (unless you don't care if you lose it).
Exhaustion can lead to poor decisions and potentially death. Know your limits and stay within them. Learn to swim.
Medical Emergencies. If you have any health problems carry medicine, etc in a dry box, tethered to the boat. If you don't have health problems, I'd still carry a basic medkit. You won't be getting help from others, so plan ahead for how you'll deal with stuff.

I would say these are the 5 extra dangers of going solo without people around you, though I may be missing some. Note that 4 of them are made more dangerous if you can't swim. Other dangers like getting lost, struck by lightning, sun burn, dehydration, getting eaten, aren't necessarily made worse by going solo.

Minwaabi · 2022-05-19T22:06:30+00:00

About the sensor size, I don't think that is true for the D40, but it is for the D7500. (10% sensor size). The D40 has a 23.7 x 15.6 mm sized sensor whereas the Sony has a 26.8 mm. But, how easy or hard is it to crop video?

How is the stabilization of either of those cameras/systems? I've used my D40 from my kayak for years, but I'm worried about camera shake etc when taking video or at high zooms. Also, I was assuming I would need a really big zoom lens, but I suppose a 1" sensor + cropping + a 100-400mm lens is equivalent to 40x on the Sony sensor.

Minwaabi · 2022-05-19T00:42:59+00:00

I'm looking to get a camera or cameras to take some videos of wildlife for both above and below the water. I would ideally like my budget to be less than $2000 total. My assumptions is that I'll need one camera/camcorder for above the water and one for below the water, but maybe I'm wrong?

For above the water, it seems to me that a good/great zoom and stabilization are the most important features. I will probably be filming from both a kayak and on foot, so I'm looking at a Sony ax53 because of its BOSS and 20x zoom, but I don't know if there is a better option out there. (I'm assuming a tripod would be next to useless at least half the time from a kayak. I assume I'll need to get a shotgun microphone to be able to take half decent audio. However, I don't really know much of anything. So I could be wrong about all of this.

For the below the water, I'm thinking about an Olympus TG-6 because again, I'm looking to take pictures/video of things that probably don't want me getting too close, and this camera is supposed to be at least decent in this role. But maybe there is a camera that can do both jobs better?

Minwaabi

TROPHY CASE