Last updated on September 20th, 2026 at 03:16 am
Let’s find out what clothing you need to wear when you’re paramotoring.
Your training is booked, and your chosen school recommends that you wear a pair of tough ankle high boots along with your regular clothes, and that’s it! While this may suffice for short training flights, it certainly doesn’t apply to qualified paramotor pilots who’ll be spending hours in the sky, and regularly climbing to heights that can reach more than 20°C lower than the surface temperature.
But when it comes to paramotor clothing, not everyone fits the mold, as the type of flying you do will most definitely influence how you should dress while you fly. In this post we’ll look at all of the things you should wear when paramotoring, and also a few things you should never wear.
What clothing should you wear while paramotoring?
If you’re wondering what to wear paramotoring, the table below gives you a quick overview of the clothing and accessories recommended for flying, along with items that are best avoided.
| What to Wear While Paramotoring | What Not to Wear While Paramotoring |
|---|---|
| Helmet – The first and most important item to wear when paramotoring. | Hoodies and coats with hoods – Hoods can be pulled through the paramotor cage towards the spinning propeller, creating a serious entanglement hazard. |
| Flight suit – A windproof flight suit provides an additional layer to retain body heat and protect against wind chill, particularly during cold-weather or high-altitude flights. | Loose-fitting trousers – Trousers with loose ankles can catch on the paramotor frame while running during takeoff. |
| Balaclava – Helps keep your face and neck warm in colder conditions and can be tucked into a flight suit to prevent cold air entering around the collar. | Loose items – Lanyards, necklaces and other unsecured items can be drawn towards the propeller. Keep necessary items tucked away or securely attached to the harness. |
| Motocross gloves – Thin, hard-wearing gloves provide protection while still allowing you to feel the throttle and brake toggles. Thicker skiing or heated gloves can be used in colder conditions. | Hats and caps – Avoid unsecured headwear that could become a problem while flying. |
| Hiking boots – Grippy hiking boots provide traction on wet or dewy grass during takeoff and landing. | Trainers – Trainers may not provide enough grip on damp grass, increasing the risk of slipping during takeoff or landing. |
| Waterproof boots – Help prevent wet grass from soaking through your footwear and causing cold, wet feet. | Loose clothing around the ankles – Avoid clothing that can catch on the paramotor frame during takeoff. |
| Thermal socks – Useful for retaining warmth during cold-weather or high-altitude flights. A second pair can also help lock in heat. | Dark or tinted eyewear during landing – Beginners should remove sunglasses or lift a tinted visor before landing because dark lenses can make it harder to judge height for the flare. |
| Sunglasses or a helmet visor – Help protect your eyes from bright sunlight and cold airflow and can make it easier to spot other air traffic. | Unsecured accessories – Avoid necklaces, lanyards and other items that can flap around or become drawn towards the propeller. |
| Ear protection – Earplugs, ear defenders or suitable noise-cancelling headsets help protect your hearing from engine and propeller noise. | Flying without hearing protection – The noise from a 2-stroke engine and propeller can be extremely loud. |
This first section applies to most paramotor pilots, but especially pilots who like to fly high, or pilots who fancy a little cold weather flying during the winter months.
When you fly at higher altitudes, the temperature on the ground won’t influence what you wear as much as you think, as it’s always cold higher up.
The air temperature drops gradually the higher you climb, at a roughly 2°C drop per 1000 feet of altitude gained. So climbing to 5000 feet will drop the air temperature by a whopping 10°C. We also need to factor in wind chill, and the fact that the spinning propeller is dragging cold air past you as you fly, which all leads to a a very chilly flight.
Flight suit – If you’re planning on flying during cold weather or at higher altitudes, you’ll need a windproof flight suit over top of your regular clothing. This gives you an extra layer that keeps the warmth in, and stops the wind chill from sucking away your valuable body heat.
Check out my flight suit post by clicking here.
Balaclava – if you fly during colder weather, a balaclava can increase your comfort massively. Not only will it keep your face and neck warm, but tucking it into your flight suit will help to stop cold air entering in through your collar, which in turn will help to keep your whole body warmer.
Paraclava – Balaclava for paramotoring
Gloves – at the very least, a pair of motocross gloves are essential. Depending on the ground temperature, you may want to increase the thickness to skiing gloves, or even heated gloves.
Neglecting gloves, especially during cold conditions, can cause numb fingers and reduce your ability to properly feel the throttle and brake toggles. This could lead to incorrect brake and throttle pressure being used, which could be extremely dangerous, especially during launching and landing.
Gloves will not only keep your hands warm and comfortable, but they’ll also give your skin some protection if you happen to fall during takeoff or landing.
Boots and socks – wind chill can also cause numb toes while flying at altitude or during colder weather. A pair of hiking boots will work great to keep your feet warm and prevent numb toes, which can be a nightmare when landing.
Be sure to get waterproof boots, as wet grass on your launch field will quickly cause water to soak through the material and into your socks, causing super cold toes in seconds. You may also want to add some thermal socks, or a second pair to help lock in the heat.
Clothing and accessories that all pilots need.
The first thing all paramotor pilots need to wear is a helmet, take a look at my dedicated helmet post for the top helmet choices.
Sunglasses or helmet visors – no matter when you’re flying, the bright sun can obscure your vision, and make it difficult to spot other air traffic. This becomes more of a problem during sunrise and sunset, as traffic directly ahead of you can be obscured. This makes sunglasses an essential accessory for all paramotorists.
Sunglasses and visors will also help to prevent cold air hitting your eyes, which can lead to soreness during, and for many hours after landing from longer flights.
As a beginner, be sure to remove your sunglasses, or lift your tinted visor before landing, as the dark lenses can make it more difficult to judge your height for the flare.
Gloves – we’ve already mentioned gloves for high altitude and cold weather pilots, but all pilots (even those flying in tropical climates) should wear a pair of motocross gloves.
I recommend motocross gloves in particular, as they’re very hard wearing, and offer great protection if you happen to fall during a bad landing for example. Also, due to them being fairly thin, you can easily feel the throttle and brake toggles while wearing them.
Other options may include bicycle gloves, paragliding gloves, and I’ve even seen pilots wearing tight fitting gardening gloves! The cotton type with rubber grips along the palms and fingers.
Grippy boots – we’ve mentioned boots for keeping your feet warm, but a pair of grippy hiking boots are essential for all pilots launching from grass.
This is because of the morning and evening dew that collects on the grass, making landings extremely slippery. This puts you at risk of broken propellers and even injuries.
When I started flying I always wore trainers, simply because I wasn’t aware of this. It took a couple of falls on damp grass during low wind faster landings for me to realise I needed some grippier footwear. I’ve not had an issue with this since I started wearing hiking boots, and recommended them to all pilots.
Ear protection – sitting right next to a screaming 2-stroke engine with a noisy propeller will destroy your hearing in no time, so ear defenders, earplugs, or noise cancelling headphones are essential.
Before spending any money, decide whether you want to communicate with other pilots, people on the ground or ATC, as there are some really good headsets available with built in speakers, mics, and noise reduction.
What not to wear while paramotoring.
We’ve covered what you need to wear while paramotoring, but what about the things you shouldn’t wear? The following are items that I’ve personally had problems with over the years.
Loose fitting trousers – if you fly without a flight suit, be very careful of wearing trousers that have loose ankles, as they can catch on the frame of your paramotor as you run.
It’s best to wear trousers with elasticated ankles, or tuck your trousers into your socks before launch. This also helps to stop air entering around your ankles to keep your legs a little warmer.
Hoodies – hoodies and coats with hoods should never be worn while flying your paramotor. I used to wear a hooded ski jacket which was lovely and warm. Until one day when I took an in-flight selfie, and noticed the hood was being pulled through the cage towards the spinning propeller.
As you can see in the image below, I posted the picture online, and another pilot mentioned how a friend of his was almost strangled when his hood was sucked through into the propeller!
Loose items – similarly to hoods being sucked through the loop cage or netting, loose items like lanyards and necklaces can also end up in the propeller.
Lanyards can be really useful for attaching phones and other gadgets that you need to take flying, but keep them tucked into your flight suit until you need to use them, or tie them securely to the harness in a place that they won’t cause any issues. Never let them flap around unsecured, as they’ll immediately get drawn towards the propeller.
Hats and caps – I’ve never worn a cap while flying, but the following is a caption taken from one of our readers comments who thought it was important to share his mistake to help others.
I’m a new paramotor pilot (50 hrs) with initial training 2 years ago. I would like to share my experience of my first flight with my own paramotor, which could have almost been fatal. Right after my initial training I was very excited to fly on my own and I had all the equipment except my helmet. The plan was for my instructor to leave my helmet at the launch site for me to pick up. When I arrived at the launch site there was nobody there (and no helmet for me), just a light drizzle. I decided to start with just a baseball cap and my earmuffs. The visor of the cap was facing forward and I was sure that the band of the earmuffs would hold it in place. I took off without a problem, but immediately after take-off the relative wind pushed my cap behind my head and my earmuffs went on my neck. As a reflex, I dropped the brake toggles and tried to get my hat back in place. The drizzle turned to rain and I managed to land safely shortly afterwards. So my three mistakes were: firstly, as a very new pilot, never try to fly alone (at least not without someone present on the site), secondly, never take off when you feel the slightest rain or drizzle, and finally, convince yourself that your helmet is not just there in case of a crash, but is an essential part of your flying equipment. I hope it will help others not to make these silly mistakes!
Now you know what to wear paramotoring, check out some paramotoring gear by clicking here.
And find yourself some warm paramotoring gloves by clicking here