Starting Paragliding

Rating:
Summary: Informative Introduction to Paragliding
Review: After reading the negative reviews of this DVD, I hesitantly purchased it anyway, and I'm glad I did. I do agree that the DVD is pricey for the amount of footage on the DVD--I would have liked to have seen at least another half hour of footage. However, I respectfully disagree with the other negative comments. The photography is very good--and the in-air shots from a camera mounted to the paragliding rig are excellent. The footage is shot as if you are right there on the training hill with the instructor and other students.

Although I expected reasonably good video resolution on this DVD, which it is, I really didn't expect Hollywood-level cinematography along the lines of Outside Magazine's exciting "Never Ending Thermal" paragliding episode that recently aired on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN).

The DVD has much footage of launches, landings, and other glider handling--a picture really is worth a thousand words. This DVD should get anyone pumped up to give paragliding a try.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly Done
Review: Amateurish and poorly edited, the DVD was very disjointed. The material didn't flow well, there was no information on where and how to obtain lessons or puchase equipment, nothing on how lessons or equipment work.

Rating:
Summary: Amateurish--Save Your Money
Review: Had I not been around other sky sports (sport parachuting and flying) I'd have learned nothing. As it was, I learned little.

The video was all shot on consumer equipment with an unsteady hand and poor sound (no narration, just chopped-up video of a guy talking people through disjointed parts of information). Worst of all, there was nothing that explained the mechanics of flight and paraglider flight in particular, how paragliders' shape affects their handling characteristics, where to learn more information, how to get started, costs of lessons, how long it takes (on average) to solo...nothing.

An extravagant price for 30 minutes of poorly done video.

Rating:
Summary: Advice: an alternative to buying this DVD
Review: I have not seen the DVD hence the neutral 3 star rating. However $29.95 is a lot for 30 minutes, especially considering the reviews by others who have seen it. It is clear that no one learns, or should learn paragliding from a DVD. However if you really want to see instructional footage on a DVD my advice would be to buy the comprehensive, and perhaps definitive book "Paragliding: A Pilot's Training Manual" which includes an 80 minute DVD illustrating all of the critical paragliding techniques (but again is no substitute for instruction). This book is available from Amazon for $39.95 and if out of stock or on a extended delivery schedule you can find it at the USHGA store, and from several other paragliding and hang gliding organizations.