As I fly for fun and don’t enter competitions, my choice of equipment prioritises enjoyment over performance numbers. I have no relationship with any manufacturer or dealer.
Gliders
I flew a Gradient Aspen 4 in 2013 and 2014. I loved its superb handling and responsiveness, in particular its ability to centre strong thermals. However, I found that after 3-4 hours in lively conditions, I was becoming frazzled by constant attention on keeping the wing well balanced, which was impairing my motivation and decision-making.
The Ozone Rush 4 which I used for the next three seasons (2015, 2016, and 2017) suited me much better – it enabled me to fly in active air indefinitely and still feel fresh and focussed. The biggest plus point of this wing for me was the overall balance of handling and performance. I found the feedback sufficient but not excessive, and I enjoyed its agility and efficiency in thermals. The only negative was a feeling that the top speed was on the low side for the high B class. In over 500 hours on this glider, I experienced just a single full-bar blowout, which was a non-event, as the wing was flying normally again so quickly.
I changed to a Swing Nyos RS at the start of 2018. It edged the Rush 5 by being released earlier, otherwise I would have had a difficult choice to make between these two. I was attracted by Swing’s claim that this is a comfortable glider to fly in turbulent air, which I found to be well justified, and I really liked using the C-bridge when accelerated – the predecessor of today’s B-C systems. It seemed to glide better than the Rush 4, especially on the bar and in rough conditions, but the natural turn radius was wider. After I had had 100 hours airtime on this wing, I wrote a detailed review.
In August 2021 I got a BGD Base 2, on which I have now enjoyed over 450 hours in good all-round conditions – some strong, some weak. It has a blend of responsive handling, performance, and stability which I love. The feedback is informative rather than demanding instant corrective input, but it is quiet in both pitch and yaw axes so I have found that even after 4-5 hours in lively air, I’m not at all fatigued. I quickly got used to the B-C system for controlling pitch and direction when on bar, and find it light, intuitive, and effective, so much so that my instinct now as soon as I’m not in lift is to push half bar and grab the strap between the risers unless it’s too turbulent. So far I’ve only had two significant deflations, both in localised horribly rough air that would have collapsed any paraglider, and the wing required no special skills to encourage it to start flying normally again very quickly.
Harness
After 1,000 hours my Swing Connect Race was worn out, so I replaced it in 2021 with a Swing Connect Race Lite, with which I have been equally pleased. I’ve found it very comfortable on long flights, with a good balance between stability, sensitivity and weight-shift authority (with the chest strap on a relatively wide setting), and it has all the features which you’d expect from an XC-orientated harness. It was easy to set up initially, and I have no difficulty in getting into the pod immediately after taking off, and using the bar. The quality of materials and construction is faultless, and I’m impressed with its durability so far – after over 400 hours use it’s showing only minimal signs of wear.
Reserve
I carry a Beamer 2 (which I have never used). When it has to be replaced due to its age, I expect to get a Beamer 3. I chose a steerable parachute because there are plenty of hazards around in the Alps such as cables and rivers, and a reasonable chance that a deployment might be necessary with enough ground clearance to be able to benefit from the potential to avoid such dangers and choose a landing spot.
Flight deck
My main instrument is a Flymaster GPS SD+. The ability to compose ones own layout is a facility which I value highly; here’s my current main page:
I expect that some pilots would find this screen too cluttered, but it suits me. One feature of this instrument which that I find particularly useful is that a single button press brings up a list of nearby landing fields (if tagged as such in the waypoint list), from which an option can then be set as the next waypoint, resulting in the glide angle to reach it being displayed.
I also use XCTrack Pro on a spare smartphone for live tracking and to display wind data from nearby weather stations (configured as per instructions here), which I find very helpful both in terms of safety and in-flight decision-making. This image – taken after I had landed because of what it showed, i.e. evidence of föhn – demonstrates a good example of its value:
The other instruments on my flight deck are a solar powered XC Tracer Mini V (which has Flarm, and could be used as a backup audio vario) and a cheap ball compass, to facilitate maintaining a straight heading in the unlikely event of needing to escape from cloud at the same time as a GPS failure.
I also have a hook knife and a tree landing rescue kit in accessible harness pockets. I had the hook knife on my flight deck until I once cut myself unpacking the harness!