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Review on ๐Ÿš Enhance Your DJI Phantom's Safety with Bestem BT-PHANTOM-GD PhantomGuard Snap-On Prop Guard (Set of 4) by Tom Goodlow

Revainrating 3 out of 5

They're mediocre, they do their job but they could use some improvement.

I've used DJI protection and also flown without protection, and now with this best protection. These guards seem to affect flight less than the DJI guards, but they still affect flight. It's inevitable. These guards sit slightly lower and farther from the blades than DJI guards, allowing them to penetrate deeper into the video image during strong forward acceleration. DJI and Bestem mounting screws are the same weight (0.2 oz). More or less. My scale only measures in 0.05 increments. Top protection, including mounting screws, weighs 2.95 ounces. DJI protective cases weigh 3.3 ounces including screws. Update: SummitLink Guards use all four motor mounts. The screws alone weigh 0.6 ounces. The entire set weighs 5.6 ounces - almost double the weight of DJI protective cases. The Bestem screws don't come with Loctite, I had to add that myself. The hex wrench size for Bestem propellers is the same as for DJI propellers and standard motor propellers. I checked how far the screws protrude from the guard bracket. This is the same distance that the DJI Propellers protrude through the DJI Guards. The kit also includes shorter screws. I don't know why, they are longer than the 'short bolts' you use when you don't have guards fitted and also the wrong shape so I don't see a scenario where I would use them. And there was no manual or other instructions in the kit. The guards are made of thinner, more flexible plastic than DJI guards, making them lighter and less prone to breakage, but also allow them to bend and allow objects to contact the support. The protective mounts have additional extra material protruding from the arm, resulting in it not fitting in a hard-shell backpack without cutting out the foam. I cut out the foam and now they fit fine. The guard does not protrude as far beyond the prop blade as DJI guards, making it more vulnerable if the prop guard bends a bit, which is likely to happen since these guards are more flexible than DJI guards. The guard does not exactly follow the curvature of the propeller blade, so the blade actually extends beyond the guard on each side of the guard. It also makes the props a little more vulnerable. If you get caught between the guards, you could touch the blades. This happened to me on my first test flight when I couldn't avoid the rope swinging. When I fell from about 6 feet, one of the supports popped out, but nothing broke. It seems good enough to me. If these guards break I'll probably try the SummitLink brand rather than buying another set of these. Update: Failed again due to guards not fully covering the screws and this time one of them broke. It didn't just break, it shattered. Part of it is missing. I'm throwing them in the trash and trying to use SummitLink instead.

Pros
  • Satisfied
Cons
  • I'll write later