Looking good is only part of the equation
Words and images by Will Bond
Perhaps the day has finally come; you’ve winced at your reflection in that garish borrowed tunnel suit for the last time. Never again will its flappy antics get to leave angry red marks on your chest. Never again will the stupid zip come down mid-flight. Never again will you look at your tunnel footage and wonder if anyone has ever looked so… goofy. You’ve made the decision. It’s over.
But how, then? What’s the next step?
The two big questions
When it comes to suits, you’ll want to start the process by sketching out your honest answers to two key questions:
1. What will I use this for? (Belly? Freeflying? Angles? Dynamic? The sky?)
2. What’s my budget?
The what-for
Why would you need specific suits for specific disciplines?
Take FS, for example.
The ‘bootie suits’ FS flyers wear include extra material between the knee and the foot. That design creates much more power from the legs, meaning that turns can be quicker and more precise, allowing the flyer to potentially create more formations. The ‘sausages’, versions of the pillows your instructor grabs on the arms and legs of your borrowed tunnel suit to keep you from pinging off into the glass, make it easier to take grips and move each other around.
For committed practitioners of the discipline1, a suit with these features is essential kit. However, if your intention is to get more into the freefly side of things, these features aren’t just unnecessary. They will work against you.
The same goes for freefly suits. Freefly suits want to be tight… very tight. The painted-on look is ideal, so we can feel exactly what the wind is doing, where it’s pushing and pulling us, improving our flying technique. (Some tunnel-specific designs even have built-in hoods.) These skin-tight suits have the added benefit of helping us fall faster. If you’re keen to point your belly button pretty much anywhere but down, this is great. If you’re excited about FS, well… you’re going to have trouble finding people who are stoked to fly with what equates to a greased-up, angry salmon.
Freefly suits come in all shapes and sizes, and their basic construction will not only suit flyers working on freeflying skills, but also those working on angles and dynamic flying. Construction and materials vary widely by manufacturer. If you plan to take your suit to the dropzone (and, therefore, drag your butt across the grass and your knees across the packing mat), you’ll need to order one that’s reinforced and ready for such treatment. And here’s where the next question comes into play: budget.
Full disclosure: This is my area of expertise, but I will be slightly biased (being a passionate fan, and affiliate, of DEEM, one of the key manufacturers on the scene).
The damage
Throughout my many years of experience in the tunnel (and countless hours spotting high-level flying), I have seen enough ‘wardrobe malfunctions’ to tell you this much for certain: you get what you pay for.
If you don’t mind that it doesn’t fit you like a glove, then you don’t need to buy a brand new one that’s made to measure. You can find used suits on Facebook marketplace for around £100. If you do care about fit (and, as we touched on before, I believe most people with goals should), you’ll need to spring for a new suit. If you want to pay under £300 for that new suit, you can order up a totally fine specimen from Vertex or Jedi Air Wear, both of which are known for serving price-sensitive jumpers with reliable, custom suits for a variety of disciplines and deployments.
These suits are perfect for the weekend skydiver that occasionally goes to the tunnel. Not only are they affordable, but you can customise pretty much every panel to fit your personality. If you’re the kind of flyer who is unlikely to bust the 100-hour mark in a suit, that’s a great choice, but don’t expect a suit at that low price point to keep body and soul together much longer than that.2 With that in mind, the aficionados out there, the dedicated tunnel monkeys, the coaches, the competitors, will probably want to spend more at the outset with the prediction that they’ll spend less on replacements in the long run.
I definitely qualify as an aficionado (not only am I a dedicated tunnel monkey, but I am also a coach and a competitor) and the suits that I personally choose to fly are much more expensive. Why? High-level flying demands a suit that’s not only tight – so you can fly fast – but is also made of material that retains some resistance, so it doesn’t feel “slippery” in the wind. For fancy flying, a suit has to have a range. My favourite company, DEEM, makes beautiful examples of this kind of suit. I personally compete in one.
Tonfly makes great suits at this level, too, proven via the best test for a suit’s quality: instructing in it. Instructors wear a suit for 12+ hours a day, five of which are spent right in the punishing wind, unzipping and zipping it back up a dozen times between clock-in and clock-out. The suit I wear for work, a Tonfly Flex, is more than two years old and, after all that daily abuse, shows very little in terms of wear. Most suits will mangle over four or five months of instruction; Tonfly suits, however, seem to last as long as we want them to.
Time to suit up
Once you’ve asked yourself the necessary questions, you’re ready…to get a second opinion. Seriously, ask around! Every drop zone and every tunnel have instructors that are knowledgeable in this area. The main thing to remember is that, while it’s important to triangulate your choice through the expert opinions around you, there is no right answer but the answer that you determine to be right for you.
…But if you don’t choose DEEM, you’re wrong. Pop the discount code “Hello_Willbondbodyflight” in for 10% off. You’re welcome. DEEM forever.3
Will Bond has been flying in wind tunnels for more than a decade and has been working as a full-time instructor for four years. Currently an IBA Level 4, Will teaches and spots all skills on the IBA progression pathway and also coaches in the sky. Nothing gives him as much joy as a stinking angle jump to wake himself up in the morning. He’d be stoked to get help you level up, indoors or outdoors, so give him a shout on Instagram (@will.bond1) and he’ll get you shredding in no time.
1Multiple companies make FS suits. I wouldn’t have an opinion on these as it’s not the discipline that I fly. If FS is your intended target, I recommend that you ask some of the great coaches on that scene: try Brian Cumming or Fleur Jones at Fly with Fleur.
2Also, a word to the wise: learning high-speed HU and HD orientations becomes difficult and dangerous when the suit isn’t up to scratch. If your zip opens on you with the tunnel set to 95%, you’ll be on the roof before you even notice your unaccustomed nakedness.
3This promotion reflects the position of the author and does not reflect the official position of British Skydiving, which loves all suit manufacturers equally.
