Para Gear
Para Gear Equipment Co. Inc., founded in 1960, is a privately held U.S. direct-to-consumer retailer selling parachutes, harness/container systems, headgear, instruments, rigging equipment, and accessories to individual sport skydivers, certified riggers, dropzone operators, and military customers across 150+ countries through paragear.com and the world's largest skydiving gear catalog.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1960
- HeadquartersSkokie, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Para Gear does
Para Gear Equipment Co. Inc., founded in 1960 and headquartered in the Chicago metropolitan area (Illinois, USA), is a privately held direct-to-consumer retailer of skydiving and parachute equipment. The company sells exclusively through its own e-commerce storefront at paragear.com and ships to customers in more than 150 countries, marketing itself as the world's largest in-stock skydiving gear superstore. Its product portfolio spans main, reserve, and military parachutes; harness/container systems; headgear including Cookie G3, G4, and G35 helmets; instruments such as the ATLAS II+ altimeter and Brilliant Pebbles wireless audible altimeter; AADs (CYPRES, Vigil, M2, FXC); rigging equipment, raw materials, and metal/plastic hardware; plus accessories like jumpsuits, gloves, gear bags, cameras, log books, and gift certificates.
The business model is straightforward transactional retail: unit-priced product sales with quantity discounts and coupon incentives (PARA5, PARA10), supplemented by distribution of the world's largest skydiving gear catalog (a 200-page publication, 184 pages in the 2021-2022 edition with 96 color pages). Customer segments are segmented across individual sport skydivers, FAA-certified parachute riggers, commercial dropzone operators, and military/government parachute units. Marketing channels include the printed catalog, email newsletter, and an active presence across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Google Plus. There is no public revenue disclosure, no parent company, no funding rounds, no M&A activity, and no AI or software capabilities; the company's competitive position rests on inventory breadth, catalog IP, category tenure, and global distribution reach rather than technology differentiation.
Para Gear firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Para Gear
- Legal name
- Para Gear Equipment Co. Inc.
- Website
- https://paragear.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1960
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Para Gear Equipment Co. Inc., founded in 1960, is a privately held U.S. direct-to-consumer retailer selling parachutes, harness/container systems, headgear, instruments, rigging equipment, and accessories to individual sport skydivers, certified riggers, dropzone operators, and military customers across 150+ countries through paragear.com and the world's largest skydiving gear catalog.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Para Gear industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Skydiving Equipment
- NAICS
- Sporting Goods Retailers (45911)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Outdoor Navigation, Safety & Survival Gear Retail (CRAMAAAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Outdoor Travel Gear (Duffels, Packs, Dry Bags) Retail (CRAMAAAI)
Keywords
Where Para Gear is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Skokie
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Para Gear business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Product Sales: Para Gear generates revenue through direct product sales of skydiving equipment including parachutes, harness/containers, altimeters, headgear, rigging equipment, hardware, raw materials, accessories, and clothing. Sales are primarily one-time transactions with per-unit pricing.
- Catalog Sales: Company publishes and distributes the world's largest skydiving gear catalog (184 pages, 96 color pages). Catalogs are provided free with orders or can be ordered separately via phone.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Standard retail pricing with volume discounts |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Para Gear product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Para Gear retails parachutes, harness/container systems, altimeters, helmets, rigging tools, raw materials, hardware, and skydiving accessories through a direct-to-consumer e-commerce storefront. The company operates the world's largest in-stock inventory of skydiving gear and serves individual skydivers, military units, dropzone operators, and FAA-certified riggers in over 150 countries. It also publishes the world's largest skydiving gear catalog as a complementary distribution and merchandising channel.
Product overview
Para Gear is a skydiving and parachute equipment retailer offering the world's largest in-stock inventory of parachutes and skydiving gear since 1960. Their product portfolio includes core equipment such as parachutes (main, reserve, military), harness/container systems, and headgear (including Cookie G3, G4, and G35 helmets), supplemented by essential accessories like altimeters (ATLAS II+, VISO II+, audible altimeters), gloves, gear bags (S.O.F., Parasport, Akando), cameras, rigging equipment, raw materials, and hardware. They publish the world's largest skydiving gear catalog (184 pages) and serve customers in over 150 countries. The company sells physical equipment only with no software products or AI capabilities.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Parachutes Main parachutes, reserve parachutes, and military parachutes for sport and military skydiving.
- Harness/Containers Skydiving harness and container systems for parachutes.
- Headgear Skydiving helmets and headgear including Cookie G3, Cookie G4, Cookie G35, and other brands.
- Jumpsuits Skydiving jumpsuits and flight suits for sport skydivers.
- Instruments Altimeters, audible altimeters, and other skydiving instruments for altitude awareness during freefall and canopy flight.
- ATLAS II+ Altimeter Electronic altimeter usable as audible or visual instrument for skydivers, with rechargeable USB-C battery, machined aircraft-aluminum case, and 200-jump logbook.
- Brilliant Pebbles Wireless Audible Altimeter Wireless audible altimeter for skydivers, configurable via smartphone with up to 20 alarms and operating altitude of 0-30,000 ft.
- Skydiving Gloves Summer and winter skydiving gloves with leather palm for canopy handling and protection.
- Skydiving Cameras and Accessories Cameras and camera accessories for skydiving video recording.
- Rigging Equipment Professional rigging tools including packing sticks, closing devices, needles, fids, seal presses, hot knives, and fabric testing equipment for parachute maintenance.
- Raw Materials Fabric, suspension line, webbing, thread, Velcro, tubular nylon, shock cord, and ripstop tape for parachute construction and repair.
- Parachute Hardware Metal and plastic hardware including D-rings, snaps, buckles, COBRA fasteners, and quick-fit adapters for parachute harnesses.
- Automatic Activation Devices (AADs) CYPRES, Vigil, M2, and FXC automatic activation devices for automatic parachute deployment.
- Military Parachute Equipment Military-grade parachutes and equipment meeting military specifications.
- Para Gear Catalog World's largest skydiving gear catalog with 184 pages and 96 color pages, orderable separately or free with order.
Companies that use Para Gear
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Para Gear technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Para Gear partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators3 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Para Gear competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Para Gear social profiles
Digital presencePara Gear financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Para Gear leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Para Gear funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Para Gear M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Para Gear
What does Para Gear do?
Para Gear retails parachutes, harness/container systems, altimeters, helmets, rigging tools, raw materials, hardware, and skydiving accessories through a direct-to-consumer e-commerce storefront. The company operates the world's largest in-stock inventory of skydiving gear and serves individual skydivers, military units, dropzone operators, and FAA-certified riggers in over 150 countries. It also publishes the world's largest skydiving gear catalog as a complementary distribution and merchandising channel.
Is Para Gear a public or private company?
Para Gear is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Para Gear founded?
Para Gear was founded in 1960. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Para Gear based?
Para Gear is headquartered in Skokie, United States, in the North America region.
How does Para Gear make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Product Sales are the primary driver. The others are catalog Sales.
Does Para Gear have an API?
No public API is recorded for Para Gear.
What industry is Para Gear in?
Para Gear's product category is Skydiving Equipment. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAMAAAE, Outdoor Navigation, Safety & Survival Gear Retail, with a secondary code of CRAMAAAI, Outdoor Travel Gear (Duffels, Packs, Dry Bags) Retail. Its NAICS code is 45911.