The whole kit fits in the trunk of a Civic.
A complete personal paragliding kit — wing, harness, reserve, helmet, vario — weighs 15–22 kg and packs into a single backpack-shaped concertina bag. Here's the inventory, what we provide during training, and the brands we recommend when you're ready to buy your own.
What every pilot needs.
The wing
The wing — also called the canopy or "glider" — is a soft fabric airfoil with roughly 30 ribs and 200+ lines. For training and your first year of flying, you want an EN-A: the slowest, most forgiving certification class. Once you have ~50 flights, most pilots step up to a low-end EN-B (sport class).
- Beginner: Ozone Moxie, Ozone Alta, Advance Alpha 7, Gin Bolero 7, Niviuk Koyot
- Sport: Ozone Buzz Z7, Advance Epsilon DLS, Gin Evora, Nova Mentor 7
- Sized to your "all-up" weight (you + harness + gear)
- ~$3,500–4,500 new · $1,800–2,500 used
The harness
The harness is your seat in the air. For your first harness, get a standard upright pod or open harness rated to EN 1651 (load) and LTF 91/09 (back protection). Built-in airbag or removable foam back protector — both are normal.
- Standard upright for the first 50 flights
- Step up to a pod harness for XC after P3
- ~$700–1,400 new
- Fit matters more than brand — try before you buy
The reserve parachute
A backup canopy that lives in a sealed pocket on your harness. You hope to never deploy it. We repack reserves every 100 flight hours or annually, whichever comes first — Wes does our school reserves and most of the regional club's.
- Square / pulled-apex shapes are current standard
- Sized for your all-up weight + emergency margin
- ~$500–800 new · annual repack $95 (we do it in-shop)
- Practice toss in a hanging harness once a year, minimum
The helmet
EN 966 is the flying-specific helmet standard. Two shapes — open-face and full-face. Most pilots prefer open-face because you can hear the wing and the wind better; full-face is preferred for SIV and acro.
- Open-face for general flying
- Full-face for SIV, acro, comp
- ~$140–280 new
- Skiing/biking helmets are not the same standard — don't use them
The instrument (vario)
A small instrument that beeps when you're climbing and groans when you're descending. Modern varios add GPS, route logging, and wind direction. A basic audio vario is fine for your first year; XC-capable units come later.
- Starter: Flymaster Vario SD, Flytec Element Speed
- XC unit: Skytraxx 3.0, Flymaster Nav SD
- Phone-based: XCSoar, FlySkyHy (iOS)
- ~$200–800
The rest of the bag
Gloves, a hook knife, a radio for school comms, eye protection, a windsock for the LZ, and a concertina (or "fast pack") bag. None of it expensive, all of it part of the standard pilot's kit.
- Light gloves (you steer with cotton-feel sensitivity)
- Hook knife with line cutter
- 2 m UHF radio for site comms
- Polarized eye protection
- Concertina bag (~$80) for cell-rib pack
The shortlist we hand new pilots.
Paragliding is a small industry. About a dozen companies make the wings, harnesses, and reserves you'll see at any flying site in the world. Here's our shortlist — the manufacturers we've put a customer on and would put a customer on again.
Ozone
UK / FR. Largest paraglider manufacturer in the world. Famous for the Alpina and Zeno lines; the Moxie is the best-selling EN-A in the U.S.
Advance
Swiss. Conservative, precise designs. Alpha (EN-A), Epsilon (EN-B), Sigma (EN-C). The harnesses are why most pilots eventually own one.
Niviuk
Spanish. Koyot (EN-A), Hook (EN-B), Ikuma (EN-B XC). Strong in the Latin American comp scene; Diego flies a Niviuk.
Gin
South Korean. Bolero (EN-A), Atlas (EN-B), Explorer (EN-B+). Lightweight Yeti line is the standard for hike-and-fly.
Nova
Austrian. Prion (EN-A), Mentor (EN-B). The Mentor 7 is one of the most-flown XC B's on the east coast.
Skywalk
German. Tequila (EN-A), Mescal (EN-B), Cayenne (EN-C). Underrated in the U.S., very popular in Europe.
BGD
UK. Founded by ex-Ozone designer Bruce Goldsmith. Cure (EN-B) is a pilot favorite for thermal feel.
Phi / Flow
German and Brazilian boutique brands. Both have made noise with the Mira, the Phi Allegro, and the Spectra in the last two seasons.
Don't buy first.
If you're new to the sport, do not buy a wing. We hear this every season: a student gets excited, buys an EN-A on day two, and is on the wrong wing by flight 80. Your needs shift fast in the first year.
While you're in training with us, school gear is included — Ozone Moxies in three sizes, Advance Easiness 3 training harnesses, Independence Annular reserves, Plusmax MS-1 helmets, and Flytec Element varios. You fly on this until you've got the rating and the time to make an informed buying decision.
When you're ready to buy, we'll size and demo wings for you in person, and we keep a small consignment shelf of well-loved used wings from local pilots. We also do free buyer's-eye inspections on any used wing you find online before you wire money.
One rule we hold the line on: we do not sell wings outside their manufacturer-recommended weight range, and we do not sell EN-C or above to pilots below P3. The conservative end of the certification table is where the long-term flying happens.