Skydiving Equipment
Any type of clothing can be used by jumpers during skydiving. Should you be an enthusiastic jumper, try the special jumpsuits that have better aerodynamic performance. These suits also have handles or grippers, for fellow jumpers to grasp while doing maneuvers in groups.
The common parachute has three main parts: the main canopy, the reserve canopy and the harness-container system. In case a jumper should get incapacitated or lose track of altitude, and due to this need to deploy one of the parachutes at a certain altitude, most skydivers have an automatic activation device (AAD) that allows them to do this.
An important thing to be mentioned is that the parachute canopy is a rectangular, inflatable wing, open in the front to scoop, or ram, air. The parachute is forced to stay filled by the fact that it is sewn closed in the back. Several airfoil-shaped sections, sewn together side by side make up a ram-air canopy. The sections build a wing similar to an air mattress. Parachute canopies have sizes that go from 4.3 sq m , that is 46 sq ft to more than 46.5 sq m , meaning 500 sq ft after landing. Only in case the main canopy does not work, may the reserve canopy be deployed. The jumper carries a container attached to the backpack, in which he keeps the two canopies.
This backpack is tied to strong, durable, nylon straps that make up a harness. The harness is buckled around the thighs, chest, and shoulders of a jumper and attaches attaches to the base of the parachute risers, four straps between the jumper's shoulders and the suspension line of the canopy. All these lines make the skydiver certain that the canopy stays connected to him during the entire fall.
A good idea would be to have an altimeter and an audible altitude alert on you when jumping. This is what most skydivers wear in order to track the descent. The alarm goes off reminding the skydiver to open the parachute when he has reached the canopy deployment altitude. In order to protect their eyes during their rapid descent, skydivers have goggles and they also wear lightweight head protection and footwear suitable to their landing site. They might even have light gloves , should the conditions during the jump be cold.