There have been photos published on Reddit from people who were seriously cut up by the spinning propeller blades - both from RC helicopters and commercial quadcopters.

Not something I want happening to me, or being responsible for.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great hobby! Designing, building, tinkering, flying, improving (and repairing, always repairing) your own models is very rewarding. If you know what you're doing it's not a very dangerous hobby, too. A lot more people get injured with baseball, american football, kayaking, paragliding, cycling, racing, scuba diving, boating just to name a few. If you have a little common sense (not grabbing your UAV out of the sky with your bare hands, for instance), keep a safe distance with buildings, roads, people and animals you'll be fine!

> Imagine flying a 2 pound brick with 4 sharp, spinning blades at 25 mph.

With 4 sharp blades spinning at potentially over 10k RPM.

The quad I'm building now has a foam shield all around the rotors. And it's a mini. It's gonna be slow, but safe(r).

Minis are safer, and perfect for learning how to fly! Take this for example: http://www.banggood.com/Cheerson-CX10-CX10-Mini-24G-4CH-6-Ax...

Mad fun to fly, it can do everything its bigger brothers can (well, apart from carrying your GoPro, of course!), and it's only $23.00. Worst thing that can happen is your cat attacking it, but with these tiny props and this weight, no damage will be done!

Well, okay then, maybe mine is not so "mini" after all. 5x3 props, 10A ESCs - fairly small still.

The GoPro is wildly over-rated. The Mobius is smaller, lighter and cheaper, and works about the same.

http://mobius-actioncam.com/