Your First Gear Purchases

The Altimeter An obviously vital piece of skydiving equipment. Generally the Altimaster ones have the best name within the sport, however, ask around, ask other skydivers and most importantly ask yourself what YOU want and can afford. Most standard altimeters come with a reading from 1 to 12 thousand feet with a pull warning mark at 3 thousand and redline at 2 and a half.

The altimeter galaxy featured here is the one I use. It has replaceable lenses to cater for those heavy student landings that may crack the glass. It is a little cheaper than its older counterpart; the altimeter II due to it not having the facility to be chest mounted and have lights mounted to it which in my view is something I will not require.

Altimeters are guaranteed for 10 years from most of the major manufacturers and do not require any servicing.

A question everyone asks me is what were to happen if you experience an altimeter malfunction. Well, the contingency would be to monitor your ground height and pull at a safe altitude away from other people. An instinctive “high pull” can be more dangerous than waiting as other skydivers behind you will not be expecting you to pull so early. As you will learn on your AFF course, the importance of altitude awareness is high. Through your training and consolidation jumps you should get to know roughly how high the ground looks at certain altitude and should use your altimeter as a confirmation. This will come with time and you will find yourself staring less and less at your altimeter.

The Goggles Although not an immediate thought, the goggles take second place on the list of compulsory purchases. Wind force is strong and a good set of goggles will not only increase your street cred in the video but ensure trouble free jumps !

The type of goggles are down to your personal preference. I myself use the central clear set featured on the left. These are Sortz goggles (retailing around £20) which have foam insulation around the edges. A good set of student goggles should have no colouring. Not only can other skydivers see your eyes but yellow tints can also impair your judgement of distances.

I like the Sortz goggles because they fit well, wrap around your face and are relatively cheap up to other makes. They also don't steam up as some of the more expensive ones do.

A hook knifeThis takes third place on our shopping list. Another safety article you hope you will never use it but it is worth purchasing. Retailing around £15 it is a small cost in the grand scheme of things. It is worth noting that in the U.K it is compulsory to wear a cutaway knife. The one featured here is a standard 8 inch hook knife that has a covered blade. It comes with a pouch that can be clipped to your rig making it easily accessible or even sewn into the leg of your jumpsuit. One popular mistake new skydiving students make is the interpretation of the words “Cut away”. Funnily enough a cut away does not involve a knife. A cut away is simply releasing your main chute from your harness, placing you back into freefall to open your reserve. A cut away is initiated by the right hand cut away handle that just disconnects you from the main chute and does not concur with the visions people have of terrified skydivers hacking away at lines! Knives should only be used on your reserve chute as a last resort to perhaps clear a line over malfunction and allow the canopy to fly straight.

The Helmet.

Funnily enough this is not something you have to worry about when starting. Helmets are expensive purchases and it is important you buy the right one. When starting I would recommend just borrowing a helmet or or test jumping ones you like from your local drop zone shop. It is always a good idea to wear a helmet even if your told you don't need one. Helmets not only protect you in the air when jumping with others but also protect you from those hard landings!

The one I use is featured on the left. It’s a Bonehead Mindwarp helmet that is fabric padded on the inside with an internal pocket for an audible altimeter on the side. Retailing at around £115 it is a large outlay but is something that requires research and thought.

Personally I prefer to wear goggles and have a helmet that has an open face, but again it is down to your personal preference. Other skydivers prefer to have visor covered helmets but I like the feeling of wind rush. As a relative student at the sport you will be required to wear a open faced helmet on most Drop zones as full faced helmets impair vision and hearing and are generally reserved for more experienced skydivers.

So that’s the basic equipment (plus the luxury of a cool looking helmet). As you have probably noticed from looking at other skydivers, your kit reflects you, and at the end of the day a great deal of research on your behalf, has to be done to find out what suits your particular needs. Get talking to other skydivers, benefit from their experience and most importantly have fun in the process.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to buy a plane! Just a jump ticket! Once you are fully qualified its as easy as that. Jump tickets vary in price but are normally around £15 - £20 to an altitude of 12,000ft – 13,000ft. You will obviously not need to worry about this whilst on AFF as you have prepaid for all of your flights and instruction.

Planes generally fall into two categories;
Tail Exit – ideal for formations Side Door Exit – A Little more interesting!

I have no doubt that you will have an experience of both of these styles of exit by the time you hit 50 jumps. My favourite is the tail exit simply down to the mass amount of people you can get out of it in one go. The side exit tends to be a little safer for tandems students, as the instructors have more to grab onto to stabilise your exit from the plane.

Well that's it Guys and Gals. I hope you have found this a nice little introduction to the basics of the sport and what fun you can expect to encounter on the way. My last piece of advice as someone who has just gone though AFF is to remember that you are a student in the sport. Pushing the limits, downsizing canopies and fast landings will all come in good time but for now, pull high, pull stable and come in for a trouble free landing.

Blue Skies to you all

Mark Stone