RECOMMENDATIONS CONCERNING PARAGLIDING EQUIPMENT

Demands to paragliding equipment at carrying out flights in mountain area are stipulated safety of flights in the first place and could be divided symbolically on demands to the passive safety of the equipment and demands to the survival equipment.
Today technological progresses have made a great step far ahead in comparison with first flight equipment. Flying characteristics have risen that expends spectrum of objectives and range of weather conditions for quite safe flights. But at flights in high altitude mountain zone aerology can not be forecasted with enough accuracy that imposes additional demands to equipment.
If You are «pilot of plains» and got used to quiet thermal flights, then You’re not going to feel comfortable being in narrow and powerful streams at «half of wing». That is for making more safe flights it’s rational to have more safe and quiet paraglider in sense of its flight behavior. The most interesting thing is that sometimes it’s more nice for «mountain pilots» who got used to «boiling» air to make flights using more simple wing, too.
From whole paraglider’s range appearing in market today for flights in mountains it may be marked out three categories of safety ( or one – according certification scales ) – there are DHV 1, DHV 1/2, DHV 2 (standard). Wings of 1 or 1-2 categories are more preferred because at enough passive safety they have high flight characteristics. But goals defined for pilots must be taken into account here, too. If You wont to have soaring flights in mountain area then You should find balance between maximum of safety and flight features. Sometimes, flight features indirectly determine safety of flights – for example, speed feature of wing which able to break through too strong contrary wind. If you have the goal to make a flight from the top after ascent then DHV 1 paragliders should become Number 1 for you because they have maximum of safety at high flight features. Particularly we would single out wings designed specially for mountaineer’s intents and for mountain flights, but this category has conditional division on «wings for soaring» and «wings for descents» at their main feature of lightweight.
From all said above it follows that the best option is to have several paragliders for different intents. But not every person could afford to have a few wings, so, this person should make sure own intents concerning geography and categories of future flights in order to choose safe and apt «friend» at intercourse with sky.
Also, choice of harness influences passive safety, and it’s presence or absence of protection for back, level of carbines placement and harness’s construction itself. There are a lot of constructions, and everyone defines goals of using. For mountain conditions lightweight harnesses are more reasonable (who would want to bear on his back additional 5-6 Kg ?...) and with presence of airbag as protection. Concerning level of carbines placement – we would want to say that it influence immediately and psychologically pilot’s behavior. So, the shorter-length of straps the link with pilot is stronger. That is at short level of hanging all smallest evolutions of wing will be transferred to pilot in form of jerking and strong wingovers with big amplitude. And also all operation movements of pilot (even not conscious and not pointed) will be increased and transferred to wing, and the wing will «try» to execute it. In turn it can lead to precondition for accident or to accident itself.
So, right choice of harness is important and crucial thing, too. Manufacturers have endeavored here to keep up with intents of pilots. And today there is wide variety of «alpine» harnesses with weight from 600 gram up to 3 kg and different level of comfort as well as passive safety level. We can talk about rescue systems very long time, too. But basic elements were defined long time ago. First of all is rescue parachute, aid kit, reserve rope, radio communication means.
Demands to rescue parachutes are: reliability, reliability of opening, acceptable speed of descent. Reliability of rescue parachutes is provided by manufacturers and changed according conditions of usage. It means if You have parachute which is being damp often, which overhead at keeping at home or it has been overexposed to sun and one time was already used, and You still use is it, then it probably have led to loss of first strengthening characteristics provided by manufacturer. So, pilot should know history of his parachute and follow instructions of usage. Right packing and periodicity of over packing of Your parachute influence reliability of opening.
It’s stupid thing to discuss aftermath of slowly-opening or not opening parachute. Every pilot is responsible for right packing and periodicity of over packing of his parachute.
Rest means - aid kit, reserve rope and radio communication means – are additional and extremely required, too. It was said a lot about structure of aid kit, and we won’t go into details, but note that presence of extremities immobilization means, antishock and analgesic medicines as well as individual medicines and medicines for high altitude being are extremely required, certainly.
Radio communication means must be agreed frequency and agreed reporting schedule at operating duty as well as at accidents between all participants of flights and rescue team and service team of the region. That’s great also if you have a good command of mountaineer knot technique, of passing mountain obstacles and methods of work by roped parties. So, mountaineer experience is for you benefit.

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