Need a Paragliding Wind Meter?

You've come to the right page if you need to choose a paragliding wind meter. Particularly important in mountainous areas where you might strictly decide not to fly if the wind speed is gusting to more than a particular value.

There's a whole bunch of little, light devices with electronic readouts and functions for wind measurement. Over the years they have been getting smaller and lighter. This page will focus on those that just readout wind speed, although some show air temperature and chill factor as well.

If you are a Hall-type pilot, I'm sure you will still enjoy reading about all the others! On the other hand, gadget freaks wouldn't be seen dead with a Hall, I can imagine ;-) My personal preference would be for anything without batteries... someone should do a solar paragliding wind meter!

Some Anemometers From 2007

I did a scout around in mid 2007, for new units, and here's what I came up with. Hope you find something interesting here, at least until it all goes out of date.

The anemometers below are in order of price. Prices just a guide of course, and dollars are US dollars. And all the meters are hand-held, meaning you could in theory take them up with you to double as airspeed indicators!

The Hall Wind Meter, for $45.

• simple, rugged, reliable
• the unofficial standard paragliding wind meter, and other air sports since 1976
• very accurate, since individually calibrated
• smaller of the 2 models measures in the range 7 to 30 mph
• calibrations other than mph are available
• mounting brackets are available if required

The JDC Skywatch Fun Wind Meter, for around £40.00.

• no frills, smallest paragliding anemometer in the world, they say
• manufactured in Switzerland, reliable as a Swiss watch har har
• adjustable scale for mph, kph, m/s, knts
• measures 10 second wind speed average, readout on LCD display
• can do up to a million such measurements, depending on lithium battery
• waterproof
• impeller accurate to +/- 3%
• impeller housing can be rotated for full protection
• measures 3.0 x 8.3 x 1.0 cm (1.20 x 3.28 x 0.38 inches)
• weighs 23 grams (0.85 ounces), about as much as a really heavy feather :-/ wow
• note: you might be able to get the Xplorer 1, an earlier model, much cheaper!

The SkyMate Wind Meter, for around $90.

• electronic pocket-sized paragliding wind meter, measures temp and wind chill too
• adjustable scale for mph, kph, m/s, knts, fpm, Beaufort (how about that!)
• wind speed, average speed and maximum speed readout on LCD display
• highly visible, floats and water resistant to 1 meter (3 feet)
• supplied with lanyard and threaded for tripod mount
• replaceable plastic impeller, accurate to within 3%
• 400 hour lithium battery life
• dimensions are 14.0 x 4.4 x 1.9 cm (5.5 x 1.75 x 0.75 inches)
• weighs 103 grams (3.2 ounces)
• warranty? ask the manufacturer

The Kestral 1000 Pocket Wind Meter, for $95.

• electronic pocket-sized paragliding wind meter
• adjustable scale for mph, kph, m/s, knts, fpm
• wind speed, average speed and maximum speed readout on LCD display
• waterproof
• slip-on hard case for damage protection
• replaceable anodized aluminum impeller, accurate to within 3%
• 400 hour lithium battery life
• dimensions are 11.7 x 4.6 x 1.8 cm (4.6 x 1.8 x 0.7 inches)
• how bizarre is that, look again at those 2 sets of numbers!
• 12 months warranty

The Flytech Windwatch, for around $105.

• electronic portable wind gauge, measures temp and wind chill too
• adjustable scale for various units, probably mph, kph, knts at least
• absolute and measured period peak wind speed, readout on LCD display
• average and current wind speed, readout on LCD display
• water resistant to 5 meters (16 feet)
• probably 400 hour lithium battery life, they say 'approx. 4 years'
• small and light, no specs sorry
• 2 year warranty

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Last updated: 7 Dec 2007

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