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I may go for something more suitable for me "Warning! Drone Nerd at work - Do not ask any questions about my drone or I may not stop droning on about it!"
Hi Vis Vest Testimony
- Thread starter jofus
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Don't these vests with "Licensed Drone Pilot" seem pretentious?
I can understand if you're on a job site and other guys are wearing similar-colored vests for overall safety, but wearing one to a public park just so you can avoid interacting with people so they will not harass you seems very pretentious and cocky. Kinda like if a guy brought his Rottweiler to the park and it was barking and growling at people but the owner was wearing a yellow vest that said "Licensed Dog Owner" and that meant you couldn't walk up to him and ask him to leave the park with his menacing mutt. This vest can give you a false sense of authority and superiority.
Whenever I go to the park to fly, I wear normal casual clothes like anyone wears. I don't "put on airs" about my drone hobby and welcome anyone to walk up and give their opinion of drones --- good or bad. Luckily, 99% of all my interactions with the public has been positive and I love seeing the sparkle in a kid's eyes when I let him control a $1000 drone for a few minutes. Makes me feel like Santy Clause LOL.
I can understand if you're on a job site and other guys are wearing similar-colored vests for overall safety, but wearing one to a public park just so you can avoid interacting with people so they will not harass you seems very pretentious and cocky. Kinda like if a guy brought his Rottweiler to the park and it was barking and growling at people but the owner was wearing a yellow vest that said "Licensed Dog Owner" and that meant you couldn't walk up to him and ask him to leave the park with his menacing mutt. This vest can give you a false sense of authority and superiority.
Whenever I go to the park to fly, I wear normal casual clothes like anyone wears. I don't "put on airs" about my drone hobby and welcome anyone to walk up and give their opinion of drones --- good or bad. Luckily, 99% of all my interactions with the public has been positive and I love seeing the sparkle in a kid's eyes when I let him control a $1000 drone for a few minutes. Makes me feel like Santy Clause LOL.
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I love seeing the sparkle in a kid's eyes when I let him control a $1000 drone for a few minutes. Makes me feel like Santy Clause LOL.
STRANGER DANGER! STRANGER DANGER!
Don't these vests with "Licensed Drone Pilot" seem pretentious?
I can understand if you're on a job site and other guys are wearing similar-colored vests for overall safety, but wearing one to a public park just so you can avoid interacting with people so they will not harass you seems very pretentious and cocky. Kinda like if a guy brought his Rottweiler to the park and it was barking and growling at people but the owner was wearing a yellow vest that said "Licensed Dog Owner" and that meant you couldn't walk up to him and ask him to leave the park with his menacing mutt. This vest can give you a false sense of authority and superiority.
My thoughts exactly. Even on big job sites, you don't see "licensed forklift operator" or "licensed welder" on the back of other people's vests. I just put my FAA certification card in that clear plastic pocket in the front. I image the controller would make it obvious I'm controlling something remotely.
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Well strangely enough --- I do think a fluorescent yellow vest with big black letters "Drone Operator" would be useful at a job site --- let's the other workers know who this dude is and why he is there. But wearing something like that at a public park just seems douchey and pretentious. As if normal folks should not bother you since you are some authority person doing something vital to national security or some nonsense like that. We are just guys flying a stupid little 2-lb. plastic toy. That's all it is. No need to wear some vest that gives us an inflated sense of importance.
Yesterday I was flying a real estate job. I look very professional when I'm working - matching logoed polo and hat, shirt tucked in, etc. This guy at a house across the street was craning his neck to look at the drone and then stopped his car to ask me what I was doing when he was leaving for work. I would think it would be obvious, but even my explanation that I was doing aerial photography for this property didn't seem to totally satisfy him, not that I care. Meanwhile I'm burning battery and light.
I'm going to order one of these and have it with me in case I feel it would make a difference; I really hate being bothered while I'm flying. Mine will say "Drone operator - Do not disturb during flight."
Ryanmanchester, I really like the appearance of yours - where did you get it?
I'm going to order one of these and have it with me in case I feel it would make a difference; I really hate being bothered while I'm flying. Mine will say "Drone operator - Do not disturb during flight."
Ryanmanchester, I really like the appearance of yours - where did you get it?
I've had a similar experience, except while packing up. Did he keep questioning you or what? Also, where did you get your polo made? I'd like to get one embroidered for my business.
Nah, I explained it to him, and he just kinda stayed there, so I told him to have a good day and walked away, and he drove off. Just upper-class suburbians not wanting a drone in their neighborhood. Not that they're ever outside except when they're driving to or from home!
I got my polos made at a local place; just look up an embroidery shop. I got my logo designed on Design Hill - I paid $200 for design submissions and had about 200 designers submit - and I got one that I really liked. I really do recommend it. I tried another place first and they just weren't getting anywhere close to what I wanted; I ended up much happier with the "shotgun approach" of lots of different ideas.
I got my polos made at a local place; just look up an embroidery shop. I got my logo designed on Design Hill - I paid $200 for design submissions and had about 200 designers submit - and I got one that I really liked. I really do recommend it. I tried another place first and they just weren't getting anywhere close to what I wanted; I ended up much happier with the "shotgun approach" of lots of different ideas.
I know this post is extremely old but maybe it will help someone else down the road. I bought mine from Safety Vest Warehouse. What's really cool is they have a live custom tool so you can design your vest with anything and see it live without having to go back and forth with them.
Welcome to the forum
Do you have a picture of how you did your vests? We like to see what others have come up with
I wear mine proudly. You do become invisible with a high-vis vest and a hard hat on LOL.
A hard hat doesn't stay on too well if you are looking high in the sky. They also restrict your view. Now I know that there are versions that have straps and have profiles that don't interfere with vision, but those kind of headgear are going to get folks more curious than discouraged from talking to you.
I've been wearing a hard hat for many years now, climbing trees & doing other work-related activities. I like my hard hat, but I wouldn't consider it for drone operation, even though it might actually prevent some damage by a misguided drone.
We are required to wear a hardhat on several of our projects and it's never been a problem for us. Most of the time we weren't looking directly overhead and if the hard is properly fitted and adjusted it stays on pretty well without limiting visibility. Of course YMMV.
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