Most retailers of Paragliding equipment are also importers and distributors of particular brands, so will attempt to sell you only those items they make most money from. Adrenaline does not distribute any single make, instead we prefer to have the choice of all the manufacturers and select only the best for our customers and ourselves to fly.
Savings can be made by buying from our selected range of 2ndhand equipment, but remember the gear is improving all the time so you will be loosing out on safety and/or performance compared with the latest kit. Also note that Banks will finance your Paragliding fun!
Essential Kit |
Full Kit |
|---|---|
| Paraglider *
Harness* Reserve Emergency Parachute* Helmet* Boots (Paragliding Boots recommended) * All must be certified to CE
Standards
|
Essential kit
plus
Flying
Suit
Altimeter/Variometer
Map Holder & Air Map
GPS Compass 2m Radio and Headset Drink Dispenser Wrap-round Sunglasses |
We will assess your natural ability and the type of flying you are likely to want and determine which Paraglider is appropriate for you. Your budget then determines the cost of the final package where, if necessary, 2nd hand and new may be combined to reduced the initial shock to the wallet! However, we do not sell dangerous rubbish, so if you expect to spend less than £1000 on all your equipment please go elsewhere!
Costs are £1900-£2500
new, £800-£1700 2nd hand.
Nova have
led the field with the best designer in the business and have patents on most
of the features seen in modern Paragliders, which is why I fly one. They
are designed by Austrian Hannes Papesh and built in Hungary, one of the few
manufactures not to be tempted by the cheap labour but suspect quality control
of the far-east. Their latest glider suitable for talented beginners, the “Rookie”,
is getting rave reviews world-wide and looks set to be a design classic.
We also sometimes have 2nd hand equipment taken as trade-ins from our many repeat customers.
You
are going to be sitting in your harness for several hundred hours so its important
that its comfortable and has the correct webbing geometry to complement the
handling of your chosen paraglider (remember it is literally seat of the pants
flying!).
The main differences in the design
and cost of harnesses is in the level of crash protection which then influences
the positioning of the reserve parachute and deployment handle. For maximum
back protection some designs have airbags which inflate whilst flying to provide
a cushion of air which is nearly as thick as the things pole-vaulters land on,
and we are never in free fall!
The penalty for such massive impact
protection is drag, although some claim very little, and having the appearance
of a huge flying snail, so many compromise with fixed airbags 22cm thick which
sit neatly in a more conventional harness. Remember that even when the
wing is fully stalled with the same aerodynamics as a big tent you should not
be falling faster than 20mph, so the impact should be no greater than jumping
off a six foot wall !
New costs are £450-£700, 2nd hand £150+.
Sup Air were the first specialist harness
manufacturer set up by a French pilot in Annecy who was fed-up of being uncomfortable
during his record braking flights around the Alps. Almost every other
manufacturer has copied his designs but Sup Air is still the bench-mark for
the others with the largest range of harnesses in the business. I fly
one !
Other Harness Manufacturers including Edel, High Adventure, Woody Valley etc sometimes have introductory
offers which are good value for those on a budget and are perfectly adequate
designs.
If you fly correctly you’ll never need this as all accidents are due to pilot error. I have never deployed mine in 3000hrs in the air over 17 years, including flying radical prototype competition gliders in very extreme conditions. However, I would never fly without one and neither should you, someone else may fly into you!
Helmets are compulsory
in the UK but not yet in the rest of the World, although your insurance may
be invalidated if you claim for a head injury that would have been prevented
by wearing a helmet.
Costs £40-£180.
Purpose designed
Paragliding boots are much better than walking boots because they are designed
for greater impact absorption and ankle protection. Remember also that
you will be walking off-road with 20-25kg on your back so its easy to twist
an ankle before even taking-off!
Costs £110-£150
Will be discussed
and demonstrated during training, but the list below gives some idea of the
final cost of all the equipment.
A
Flying Suit will keep
you warm at altitude (its always cold at cloud base) and has handy pockets for
radios, cameras etc. and of-course makes you look the part!
Costs £90-£185
Altimeter/Variometer
This instrument does become essential when you start to thermal high and venture cross-country. The Altimeter is useful for staying out of airlanes and avoiding hypoxia above 15,000ft, the vario is used to stay in the thermals.
When venturing cross-country (XC) you need to read an Airmap to avoid controlled airspace and other banned areas such as missile firing ranges etc. The map sits in a holder on your leg or in an apron holding other useful items like your compass and vario. There is no right or wrong way to arrange your instruments and gear, simply personal preferences.
Cost £10-£40, £15/Map.
Essential in competitions
where we race around a course to cross the line first, but also useful in normal
flying, not just for avoiding getting lost, but for monitoring the wind strength
and optimising your glide to suit the conditions. It can be very reassuring
to know one is making progress against a strong wind when your eyes are saying
you are stationary!
When linked or built
in to the more sophisticated vario’s you have a flight computer which has
many clever facilities including calculating the exact optimum speed to fly
and when to begin you final glide when racing in competitions.
Cost £120-£900+
Somewhat superseded
by GPS it is still useful to have one when in heavy cloud where GPS do not work.
Knowing which way to fly to avoid a mountain in the cloud also may be very handy!
Cost £2.50-£70
2m Radios are very useful when flying in the Alps as the rescue services continually monitor the safety frequency in case of an accident. They also have weather information on automatic radio-beacons spaced around the mountains. Elsewhere they are useful for in-flight teaching, which is why they are compulsory on our courses, and organising retrieves, although in many counties mobile phones are taking over this latter role. Note that the cheap handsets that are widely available in the shops are useless for flying purposes as they operate in the wrong frequency band and have very limited range.
Cost £110-£250+ Headsets £25-£125+
Cost £15-£50
Wrap around Sunglasses are essential in some locations for UV protection but also keep the flies out and improve the definition of clouds and power lines.
Cost £20-£150
EQUIPMENT PACKAGES. Ring Steve on 01538 304109 for personalised packages and individual items tailored to your needs.