How to Prepare Your Hair and Beard for Skydiving

You’ve got kind of a lot to think about before you go skydiving, so your hair and beard probably don’t seem all that important. But if you leave your hair loose when you’re freefalling through the sky then, trust and believe, the hairs at the top of your head will be at the top of your mind! 

It’s a guarantee that skydiving will involve a lot of hair whipping, so while a #skydiverhairdontcare hashtag would be cute, it’s wiser for your tresses to be somewhat contained. Wondering how to prepare your hair for skydiving? Or maybe how you should prepare your beard for a skydive? We’ll fill you in on all of the skydiver hair information you need to know.

Prep Your Hair for the Air

When you skydive, you should definitely bring something to tie back your hair if you have a lot of hair or a long beard. There are many good reasons why you’re going to want your hair out of the way on your jump. 

First and foremost, your uncontained hair could obstruct your tandem instructor’s view. You will be strapped to the front of your tandem instructor, which means that your instructor’s head will be behind and above yours … prime hair whipping location. They obviously need to be able to see where they’re going and what they’re doing, which means your hair needs to be out of their face. 

You are going to want to see what’s happening too – you worked up a lot of courage to see those 13,500 ft views, so you certainly don’t want to miss out because of your hair!

Last, but definitely not least, having your head or beard hair hanging loose can also be a snag hazard (ouch!). So, it can even be a safety issue to not tie back your hair.

Contain Your Hair, Not Your Excitement

It doesn’t really matter how you contain your hair, as long as you do. Depending on the length of your hair, a low ponytail might be best, or maybe tight braids or a bun. 

Hats and hair wraps are typically not a great solution, because although wearing goggles can potentially help keep coverings on your head, anything not tied down will usually get quickly swept away. If, however, you cover your hair for religious reasons, let us know and we’ll figure out a way to make it work together.

It’s the same deal with beards. If it’s short enough, then you don’t have to do anything, but if you have a longer beard, then you’re going to need to tie it up. It will probably feel funny to wrap your beard in a pony, braid or bun, but it’s a much better option than the alternative of eating your hair on the skydive, and it actually looks less silly in freefall. 

Looks That Will Last a Lifetime

If you’re getting the videos and photos from your jump (pro tip: get the video!) then you’re going to want to look good in freefall. 

You will undoubtedly want to post the photos all over social media to show everyone the super awesome skydive you just made, so you’ll want to look cool and not comical. If you don’t have your hair tied back, then your freefall footage will show your hair going every which way and even covering your face. You’re going to enjoy these photos for a long time – you’ll want the focus of the pictures to be on your smile and not on your hair or beard flying all over the place! 

Your hair might be gorgeous, but it won’t look it if it’s not tied back! Simply tying up the hairs on your head and face can make your smile a lot more visible, and the photos that much better. Be ready for your close-up and get that hair out of the air!

The Aftermath Hair

Nothing goes better with the wild eyes and adrenaline-infused smile you get after landing from your skydive than hair that is all over the place. You can always tell who just made their jump by the mussed hair, and there’s no way to avoid it. 

Freefall is basically a 120 mph blowout for your hair, leading to unrivaled volume! As crazy as your hair will inevitably look when you land, it would be even more insane if it’s not contained at all. When hair is left loose and unrestrained for all of freefall, it’s a guaranteed cluster of knots and tangles when you land. And though you want to remember your jump, you don’t want to do so by getting a rat’s nest on your head. (We have much better souvenirs in our gear store!)

It doesn’t take much effort to prepare your hair and beard for skydiving, but you’ll be happy you did! It will save you a lot of time and a few (hundred) combs through the hair later on. Check out our tandem skydiving FAQ page to see how else you can prepare and enjoy your skydive.