Personal kit

The helmet, boots, gloves, clothing and radio that protect you on a training day, the small items that matter in an emergency, and what can wait until later.

In this lesson you will

Many paragliding injuries happen in ordinary moments: a stumble, a trip or a loss of balance on launch or landing¹. Good boots, a fastened helmet and gloves cannot prevent every fall, but they make many of them far less costly.

A training day is also long. You carry the wing up the hill again and again, stand in the wind between flights and spend hours in the sun, and fatigue builds as the day goes on². What you wear and carry decides how sharp you still are for the last flight of the afternoon.

Figure: A training-day kit. Wear the left-hand group every time and carry the middle group; the right-hand group waits until your site or your instructor calls for it. Ask your school what it lends.

A training-day kit. Wear the left-hand group every time and carry the middle group; the right-hand group waits until your site or your instructor calls for it. Ask your school what it lends.

Your helmet

Use a helmet made for air sports. The European standard EN 966 covers helmets for paragliding, hang gliding and microlight flying, and its impact test uses a higher drop than the common ski-helmet standard³. Some ski-helmet standards are accepted in competitions, but one helmet maker argues that air-sports helmets protect significantly better than ski helmets⁴. For training your school sets the rule, so ask before you buy or borrow.

A helmet protects you only if it fits closely and the chin strap stays fastened and tight³. EN 966 does not require a chin guard; one maker recommends chin protection as long as it does not noticeably restrict your view³.

Wear it whenever you are connected to a wing, not only for flights. BHPA rules, for example, require a helmet whenever you are connected to a wing⁵, and its schools want helmets on and fastened before anyone clips in⁶.

Common mistake Helmet off “just for a bit of kiting”

Symptom: Between flights you clip in for some kiting on the flat, helmet hanging from the harness.
Cause: The helmet felt hot, and kiting does not feel like flying.
Fix: Helmet on and fastened whenever you are connected to a wing. A gust can drag you or lift you on the flat too.

Boots and ankles

Your ankles take the knocks of launch runs and landings on rough ground, and leg injuries are among the commonest in paragliding¹. The BHPA recommends flexible hill-walking boots or jump boots: they support your ankle but still let you run⁷. In summer many pilots wear trainers, preferably with ankle support⁷; ask your instructor what suits your site.

Common mistake Hiking boots with open lace hooks

Symptom: A line snags on your boot during layout or launch, or you find a frayed line afterwards.
Cause: Open hooks on the boot catch lines and damage them⁷.
Fix: Fly in boots without open hooks. Until you have them, show your boots to your instructor before the first layout.

Gloves and clothing

Wing makers tell pilots to fly with gloves⁷. They protect your hands from the lines when the wing pulls during ground handling, and from scrapes if you fall. Choose gloves thin enough to feel the brakes, because much of what you learn about the wing comes through the pressure in your hands⁸.

Training sites are exposed. The BHPA suggests several light, warm layers under a windproof, warm gloves in cool weather, and your own food and drink, because sites are often far from shops⁹. Layers let you cool down while you carry the wing up the hill and warm up again on launch.

Wear long sleeves and long trousers that let you run, and leave out anything loose that could catch a line. Add sunglasses or other eye protection: wing makers list it alongside the helmet, gloves and boots⁷. Protect your skin too: hours on an open hill burn, so bring sun cream and a hat for between flights.

Everything you wear and carry also counts towards your all-up weight¹⁰. The sizing lesson explains why that matters.

The radio

On your first flights your instructor talks you down by radio: a radio link is the ideal way to pass corrections in flight¹¹. In APPI training, students at the first two levels may fly only under supervision with radio¹².

As a student you mostly listen. Agree before launch how you will show that you heard a call; APPI instructors, for example, ask students to move their feet¹³. The calls themselves are in the radio lesson. A few habits keep the radio working for you¹⁴:

Charge and check it before you leave home.
Do a radio check once you are clipped in.
Mount it where the transmit button cannot be pressed by accident.
Switch voice activation (VOX) off: wind noise keeps it transmitting and blocks the channel.

Common mistake A radio that will not stop talking

Symptom: Nobody can use the channel, and the instructor’s calls are lost in wind noise.
Cause: Voice activation is on, or a harness strap is pressing the transmit button.
Fix: VOX off, and mount the radio so nothing presses the button. Ask your instructor to show you the lock, volume and channel controls.

Which radio you may use, and on which channel, depends on the law where you fly.

Standards differ Radios for students

Common ground: Use the radio and channel your school gives you. Radio law belongs to each country, not to the training bodies¹⁵¹¹, and some countries require a licence for the frequencies pilots use¹⁴.

USHPA (USA): USHPA sets no radio rule of its own; US federal (FCC) rules apply. FRS radios need no individual licence but have low power limits; GMRS needs an FCC licence; transmitting on the two-metre amateur band, which many US sites use, needs an amateur licence; MURS radios may not be used in flight. Whether a particular radio may be used in the air is a separate rule, so use what your school uses. Listening needs no licence¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸.
BHPA (UK): UK: the BHPA says amateur radios on 144 MHz may not be used in flight, only licensed airband radios¹⁹. A 2024 change to UK amateur licences reportedly allows licensed amateurs low-power airborne use, so this guidance may be out of date²⁰. Licence-free radios may be used in the air only if their own rules allow it²¹. Transmitting on amateur bands always needs an amateur licence.
APPI (international): Students at APPI levels 1 and 2 fly only under supervision with radio, and APPI exams involve radio calls, so bring a radio that works¹²²². APPI adds that all flying must follow the law of the country you fly in¹⁵.

Summarised from each body’s published material, which changes over time. Check the current official documents and follow your school.

Instruments can wait

A variometer tells you, usually with beeps, whether you are going up or down. A GPS gives your position, groundspeed and track. They are the tools of soaring and cross-country flying.

In many schools your first flights are radio-guided and instrument-free, so your eyes stay outside: on the wing, the terrain and other traffic. In the BHPA scheme, setting an altimeter and using electronic devices without losing your lookout are taught after Club Pilot²³. If you do carry an instrument, set it up on the ground: just after launch, fly away from the terrain before you touch anything²⁴.

Small things that matter in an emergency

A hook knife lets you cut yourself free of tangled lines, which matters most after a landing in or near moving water²⁵. Some harnesses come with one. Keep it within reach on the harness and test it, because cheap knives blunt after a few cuts²⁶. Near water, wear a self-inflating life jacket: a back protector floats and can leave a pilot face down²⁵. The water lesson has the details.

Carry a phone and some identification in a zipped pocket, in case you or someone else has an accident²², and know the local emergency number²⁷. A small first-aid kit costs little; a recognised first-aid course teaches you what to do with it²⁸.

Kitting up for a flight

Lace your boots firmly and check that nothing hooks or dangles.
Cue Laces tucked in, no open hooks, nothing loose at your ankles or neck.
Why Hooks and loose ends catch lines⁷.
Put your helmet on and fasten the chin strap before you clip in.
Cue The helmet stays put when you shake your head; the strap sits snug under your chin.
Why A helmet protects you only if it fits closely and stays fastened³.
Gloves on, phone and ID zipped away, hook knife in its harness pocket.
Cue You can find the knife by feel without looking down.
Why In an emergency there is no time to search for it²⁶.
Radio on, channel and volume checked, and a radio check once you are clipped in.
Cue You hear your instructor’s test call clearly over the wind.
Why On early flights the radio is how corrections reach you¹¹.

Instructor's note Trainers, ski helmets and borrowed kit

Schools differ on details. Some accept sturdy trainers on a smooth summer training hill, others insist on boots. A ski helmet may be fine for a taster day and refused for high flights. Your instructor’s rule wins, every time.

If you borrow a school helmet, adjust it for your head before you clip in. A loose helmet can tip over your eyes in the middle of a launch run, exactly when you need to look up at the wing.

Questions students ask

Can I use my ski or bike helmet?

Ask your school. EN 966 is the standard written for air sports³. Competitions accept some ski-helmet standards, but that is not a training rule⁴.

Should I buy a radio before my course?

Not before you ask your school which radio and channel it uses. A radio that is legal in the air in one country may not be in another¹⁹¹⁷.

Do I need a vario to start?

No. Instruments become useful when you start soaring. In the BHPA scheme, for example, using them without losing your lookout is taught after Club Pilot²³.

Key points

Wear an air-sports helmet (EN 966), fitted closely and fastened whenever you are connected to a wing.
Boots with ankle support and no open lace hooks; gloves thin enough to feel the brakes.
Dress in layers under a windproof, and bring food and drink for a long day.
Use the radio and channel your school gives you, with VOX off and a radio check once clipped in. Radio law differs by country.
A vario and GPS can wait: early flights are about your eyes outside and your instructor’s voice.
Carry a hook knife within reach, a phone and ID; wear a life jacket near water.

Ground to Solo is a study aid. Paragliding is learned in person with a qualified instructor at a recognised school; nothing here certifies you to fly.