Preparing for skydiving, especially if you’ve never been skydiving before, can feel overwhelming. Mentally preparing for the experience, finding the right skydiving center and instructor, researching the equipment you might need, the dos and don’ts of skydiving, etc. It’s a lot.

Plus the pressure of looking good in the photos and videos of your jump so that you can proudly share your triumphant moment with the world. In this article, we will answer the following question that is likely to cross your mind: How Should I Wear My Hair When I Skydive? 

When you skydive, you should always tie your hair back. There are plenty of hairstyles you can rock while skydiving, from braids to wearing bandanas. The important thing to remember is that your hair shouldn’t obstruct your view, or thwack your instructor in tandem skydiving. To enjoy and feel free while skydiving, don’t let down your hair. 

If you want to look absolutely stunning while skydiving, stick around for more of our hairstyle suggestions. We will present you with some extra tips and tricks on what to wear skydiving. You may also want to take a glance at our blog and see if you can be too tall to skydive.

How should I wear my hair when I skydive?

Long hair don’t care might be your mantra, but not when skydiving. Having hair that is longer than chin length and wearing it down when you are falling at 120 mph is a bad, bad idea.

First and foremost, leaving your long hair loose on a skydive can be a potential safety hazard when you are about to deploy a parachute. Moreover, you don’t want to give your tandem instructor a mouthful of your hair, do you? Read our interesting blog to find out what happens when you open your mouth while skydiving.

Last, but not least, skydiving with loose hair can end up in hours of brushing out tangles and tubs of conditioner. Luckily, there are ways how you can tame your luxuriant mane and still look your absolute best. Tying your hair back is the key. Next are the hairstyles you can rock while skydiving.

Braids

To braid or not to braid is not even the question. Braids are by far the best hairstyle for skydiving. However, it’s important to wrap them and pin them close to your skull. If you opt for smaller braids, bunch them together to prevent discomfort. Remember that tiny hair whips can really sting when traveling at 120 mph.

If you have super long hair, you might want to wind the braid or braids around the crown of your head. That way you will keep your hair contained. Channel your inner Lara Croft, but not at the cost of thwacking your instructor with the braid.

Buns

Buns have a tendency to fall out. Nevertheless, if you are confident that you can secure the bun with plenty of bobby pins, go for it, by all means. From tasteful ballet buns to playful space buns inspired by Princess Leia’s hairstyle, your possibilities are endless.

Ponytails

Ponytails are not the most ideal choice, since there is a lot of loose hair at the end of a standard ponytail that will fling around in freefall and most likely knot itself up. However, you can tame your wild ponytail by using extra reinforcements in the form of a couple of elastic bands.

Bandanas and cloth headbands

If you have medium-length hair, bandanas and headbands are the way to go. They also work as a substitute for hats, since hats will blow away when skydiving. Bandanas and cloth headbands will keep your hair out of your eyes and mouth. They also prevent sunburn, which can be a real problem for thinning hair. Buffs are a very popular choice for many skydivers and can help prevent you from landing with a windblown look.

How should you wear your beard for skydiving?

If you have a long and majestic beard, the same rules that apply to hair are applicable to beard. You can choose to tie up your wizard beard or braid it. It’s important that your look good in the photos and it’s even more important that your beard doesn’t block your view.

What is the best thing to wear while skydiving?

The important thing about your skydiving outfit is that it doesn’t restrict you in any way since you’ll be wearing a harness attached to your tandem instructor. That being said, athletic wear or activewear is the most comfortable and appropriate clothing for skydiving.

When the weather is warm, you can wear athletic shorts, leggings or yoga pants, and T-shirts. However, keep in mind that the temperature at altitude is always colder than on the ground. To stay comfortable when the weather is cool, consider wearing thin insulated base layers under long sleeves and long pants.

Are jeans ok for skydiving?

Since the skydiving harness is tight, jeans shouldn’t be your first choice when it comes to skydiving. A pair of your beloved worn-in jeans might do the trick provided that they have enough stretch. In any case, you will feel much more comfortable wearing shorts, sweatpants, or leggings, depending on the weather.

Can you wear a hoodie when skydiving?

Wearing a hoodie when tandem skydiving is typically acceptable in most skydiving centers. However, there are people who frown upon it since they feel that it might obstruct your view or worse yet pose entanglement risks when deploying your parachute.

To be on the safe side, you can tuck it into your jumper or jumpsuit. Check out our blog to find out what happens if you open a parachute too early. If you are tandem skydiving, be sure to check with your instructor whether wearing a hoodie is the best idea.

Do you have to wear a jumpsuit when skydiving?

Skydiving centers usually don’t require first-time tandem skydiving students to wear a jumpsuit. However, they do recommend them. If you take a look around the skydiving center, you are likely to see most licensed jumpers wearing jumpsuits.

Jumpsuits are not just a fashion statement designed to make you look badass, although they will definitely help you look even better on camera. The bright colors of jumpsuits are designed to help you pop up against the blue sky background. Apart from looking slick, skydiving jumpsuits have the following purposes that contribute to the performance and the safety of a jumper:

• Protection – at the most basic level, skydiving jumpsuits offer protection for your skin against minor rips and tears, as well as for your clothing against grass and mud stains that can occur on landing. This is particularly important when you do a butt slide landing, which is common for tandem student landing, as the jumpsuit will protect your clothes and your bottom from any scrapes.
• Fall rate control – one of the jumpsuit’s purposes is to equalize the fall rate, which is a skydiver’s ability to control how they are falling. Jumpsuits add a different amount of drag, as appropriate to your own body weight or shape. This is particularly important when you meet up in the sky and create formations with other jumpers.
• Performance control – each skydiving discipline has different performance specifications. Some skydivers need belly or relative work jumpsuits for flying belly to earth, some need freefly jumpsuits for orientations other than belly to earth. There are also wingsuits for wingsuit flying. If you are interested, you can learn how to start wingsuit flying in our blog.

What are the best shoes to wear skydiving?

A good pair of sneakers can go a long way when skydiving. Heels, sandals, flip-flops, boots with hooked laces, and similar footwear are not appropriate footwear for skydiving for obvious reasons as they are most likely to fly off your feet at 120 mph. These are the criteria that footwear needs to meet for skydiving:

• The shoes need to stay on your feet at 120 mph.
• They need to support your feet and ankles for landing.
• They should be quality shoes in good shape for overall support.

Can you wear glasses or contacts while skydiving?

Yes, you can wear both glasses and contacts while skydiving so you can enjoy the breathtaking views to the fullest. Contacts are a better choice since they rarely fall out while you are in freefall. All jumpers are required to wear special goggles for protection and there are even goggles that can fit over the prescription glasses.

Final words

In this article we’ve covered everything there is to know about what to wear skydiving. We’ve also answered the main question: How should I wear my hair when I skydive? Our final tip for you today is not to wear any expensive jewelry, as it can get lost during the skydive. Last, but not least, when preparing for skydiving, don’t forget to wear a smile and have the time of your life.

For more skydiving-related info, be sure to check out our blog. In our blog, you can find out why parachutes and ropes are made from nylon or if BASE jumping is worthwhile.