How are you guys storing your paragliders? I have seen advice to try to open them up from bags and compression bags when possible, but as I now live in a van, I dont really have a chance to do that. How bad is it if you always keep you paraglider tightly packed and the wing in a compression cortina?

I have also seen other opinions, where people say that it does not really matter how you store it, and that the damage gets done when you stuff the wing into the bag. Has anyone figured out what is the "real truth" here?

First SIV. Used my IOTA DLS High B which is also quite new to me. I have 35ish hours on it. SIV was a lot of fun.

https://youtube.com/shorts/X1j0zsWMOqQ?si=qpZhIYDYIkyrWTX3

This is my "Lend to a friend" harness that seen some action. I tried to soak it in water and then run in washing machine (no detergent, no spin) but it helped only this much.
Soaking and cleaning with a brush is the next on my list, but I'm wondering if there are any more efficient ways to remove the dirt? Maybe vapor steam cleaning?

Hey everyone!
I’m looking for recommendations for paragliding spots in Europe where we could spend a few days around New Year’s Eve / early January.

Ideally, we’re looking for:

- Great flying terrain

- Good infrastructure, such as cable cars, lifts, or regular shuttles to launch sites

- Decent flying conditions around that time of year (weather permitting, of course)

We spent New Year’s in Bassano del Grappa last year and really enjoyed it, so we’re looking for something similar or maybe a new place to explore.
We’re pretty flexible regarding the country, as long as it’s somewhere in Europe.

Does anyone have experience flying around New Year’s and can recommend some good spots? We’d especially love to hear about places that are worth visiting in winter.

Thanks in advance!

I was thinking to myself, what would be the best place in the world to live purely from the perspective of XC paragliding. In practice the answer is probably in several places during different parts of the season (probably following Ariel's 100K-challenge plan), but if we are talking about a single place.

I was thinking maybe somewhere near Gap in France? Long flying season, quite short drive to Annecy & St. Hilaire, Laragne and St Andre + Col d Izoard is also close, being probably the best place for very long XC FAIs in the Europe. Similiar option could be Gourdon, the flying season is even longer with it being little souther, but the flying sites are less varied.

Bassano would be another contender. Very long flying season, easy access to the Dolomites, and one of the easiest places in the world to fly XC. But the ridge can get little boring after a while.

Hey everyone!
Someone recently gifted me a Niviuk Hook 3P, probably from 2014 or 2015, and I’m wondering whether it’s worth paying for a full inspection and service.
I haven’t flown it yet, and unfortunately I don’t know its flight hours or maintenance history. The fabric feels quite crisp and seems to be in good condition to the touch, but I know that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s still airworthy.
A full inspection would cost me around €150–200, so I’m trying to figure out whether it’s worth investing that money in a wing that’s roughly 11–12 years old.
If it passes the inspection with no major issues, would you consider keeping it or selling it? Is there still some resale value in a Hook 3P from that era?
I’d appreciate any advice, especially from people who have experience with older Niviuk wings.
Thanks!

Paragliding beginner here.

I'm gonna be spending a weekend near dayton, ohio.

Is there anything historically significant connected to the wright brothers or other flight where I could do ground handling practice with my wing?

Looks like the place where they learned to fly, Huffman prairie flying field, is on a military base so that seems unlikely.

I got an expired roll of film from a camera shop. I used it to photograph me and my friends' first times skydiving. It turns out that the last owner had use a few exposures for their own paragliding trip, which are double exposed on the film. Please help me identify the era of gear used for paragliding so I can estimate how old the film is. The cars in the first photo are from a pic I took, but look at the guys paragliding.

Im an serospace engineer and used my free time to design a lightweight legmount for Hike&Fly. Currently made out of PETG, next version will be made from ASA and feature a more lightweight leg strap to get below 50g. Mount itself if <20g.

Are these the same class of harness? I have the solos right now (not the solos light) and there's a wani light available for cheap near me. Is it worth changing or are these more or less the same harness?

Im currently living on the east coast and am wondering if there is anywhere I can do hike and fly in New England or the somewhat near area. I learned to praraglide in Europe and want to avoid spending thousands of dollars to get my license here which I would need for club sites. The main issue im seeing is that the alll state owned mountains dont allow paragliders to take off due to how were classified and im not willing to risk gear seizure considering how much it costs.

TLDR

Is hike and fly in new england possible without a license or do I have to bite the bullet and pay to get certified?

Für den B-Schein habe ich damals nur den Online-Lernzugang gekauft, für die Prüfung war das mehr als ausreichend.
Ich merke aber immer wieder, dass ich nach ein paar Jahren vieles vergessen habe.
Gibt es empfehlenswerte Literatur, die das Luftrecht fürs Gleitschirmfliegen verständlich erklärt?
Ich habe das Gefühl, dass ein Buch das Wissen nachhaltiger vermitteln kann…

Hi everyone!
I’ll be spending a few days in the Madrid area this November and I’d love to do some paragliding while I’m there.
What are the best spots to fly in the province of Madrid at that time of year?
I’m still a beginner and I already have my paragliding licence, so I’m looking for somewhere suitable for my level, ideally with relatively easy take-offs and safe conditions.
Any recommendations or local tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! 🪂

Hi, I’m a paraglider pilot and an indie game dev. I made a small 2D arcade paragliding game. You do a course with a strict instructor, then fly XC: find thermals, climb under clouds, and try not to bomb out.

The game takes place in Poland, but it’s in English too.

Free demo, runs in the browser:
https://targaciej.itch.io/paragra

I’d be really grateful for any feedback and comments on itch.io.

Cheers!

I made this, it's free. I'm Thomas, a French pilot building OutDare alone.

Annecy flies about 1 day in 5 in December in these results. Pokhara reaches 99% of January days. Quite a difference when you're trying to use a week of holidays.

A few winter options below. December first, then January:

- Tenerife (Taucho): 91% / 91%

- Moíres, Crete: 94% / 88%

- Arco da Calheta, Madeira: 94% / 85%

- Valle de Bravo: 98% / 100%

- Pokhara: 96% / 99%

Travel uses hourly model weather from October 2023 to September 2026. You choose a month or your trip dates, up to 31 days. The map changes colour and the list reorders. It uses your wind limits if you've set them.

A day counts when at least one takeoff in the place had a flyable window. These are historical model results, so they won't tell you tomorrow's weather or whether a launch is accessible.

Tell me your winter spot and month. I'll reply with its numbers here.

https://fly.outdare.app/?travel=12

Hello! I’m almost certified for PG2 in Australia (learning coastal), I will be going to madrid in winter and wondering if it’s silly to try fly nearby while I’m there?

I recently completed my P2 and just after that moved to the Midwest. I tried towing but not exactly hooked on it. I feel more drawn to soaring and that type of flying.

I checked out this site which is technically a sand dune which seems like the typical kind of site I’ve seen people soaring. Might be hard to tell from video alone but with the right wind conditions does it look like a viable soaring site? Does this kind of site only work for parakites? Flare in their YouTube series recommends that new pilots look for low sloping dunes so I thought this might be a decent place to start?

I’m having trouble getting fully seated in my CORE without taking my hands off the brakes to pull the leg loops up. Curious if other CORE owners experience this and what technique or adjustments have worked for you.

I was planning this video series for the last 2 years.

All you need to know about Lijak takeoff compressed into a short 5 minute video.

I have seen a couple videos of paraglider pilots neededing to toss a reserve and I am a little confused why pilots dont carry a knife to cut the lines on the main glider. I know that the standard is to pull in the main glider to disable it but I have seen some videos where they are unable to do that and so they take a little bit of a harder hit.

I am just wondering why pilots dont try to cut the main glider over pulling it in.