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and give your location every 15 min-
utes when flying the mountains. The
radio also allows you to make
contact with your chase
vehicle after landing so you
can get picked up. If you
were to land out in the
bushes or injure yourself,
the radio becomes essential
for retrieval and rescue. It is
also recommended to get a
back up battery case. Most pilots
acquire their amateur radio license.
STIRRUP/SPEED BAR
This is one of paraglid-
ers favorite pieces of
equipment. It allows pilots
to get comfortable in their
harness without having to
be active on their control
inputs, and gives you a footrest
for your flight. Never grab the
risers to push yourself back into
your seat with your brakes in your
hands, or to reach down and grab
your seat board to make the adjust-
ment with the brakes in your hands.
Active piloting is what it is all about,
and the stirrup allows us to continue
to be active pilots while getting com-
fortable in our harness. The
speed bar runs through a
sleeve on the stirrup.
VARIOMETER & GPS
The variometer gives you
the advantage of map-
ping out thermals as you
attempt to soar and make
altitude gains. A variom-
eter gives you key informa-
tion like altitude, time, and
an audio tone for climb and
decent rate. Variometers keep
pilots safer by helping them
find the core of the thermal.
This keeps pilots away from the
edges of the lift, which can be
turbulent, and succeeds in maxi-
mizing your climbs. The GPS give
you ground speed, heading,
and exact location should you
need a pick up or assistance.
This piece of equipment has
completely changed the way
paragliding competitions are
run.
FLIGHT DECK
The deck clips onto your har-
ness and sits in your lap for
an easy view while you fly.
You can store water, extra
batteries, your cell phone,
and other gear in the zip-
per compartment under
the deck.
FLIGHT SUIT
Although a flight
suit is not required,
most pilots end
up making the
investment at
some point.
It is nice to
zip the suit
on quickly
at launch
before you
fly. The flight
suit
allows you to
organize
your gear without
overheating
on launch. Once you have completed
the preflight check and set up, zip on
your flight suit and you are ready for
the colder weather at altitude.
HOOK KNIFE
Hook knives are a good thing to
have accessible when you are in
flight. They could become very
handy if you end up landing in
water. You can attach a hook
knife to the webbing on your har-
ness for easy access.
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