I dropped $300 on a drone for abandoned site scouting and it was a total waste

Caleb Bell · 2026-04-01T12:15:09.216065+00:00

I was trying to get a better view of an old factory roof in Detroit to plan a safe entry point. The drone kept losing signal behind the brick walls and crashed into a pile of rubble on the second try. The camera was okay, but a motor arm snapped, and the repair quote was almost as much as a new one. Has anyone found a cheaper or more reliable way to check out upper floors before going in?

ryan_carr595mo ago

Why not just buy a better drone next time?

10

susanh464mo ago

Yeah the extendable pole trick works better than you'd think for scoping floors.

2

fiona5025mo ago

I read about some urban explorers using a cheap extendable pole with a phone mount. They just stick it up through a broken window to get a look around. Might be less tech to fail, but you gotta get pretty close.

1