A stash belt is a waist-worn belt with a pouch or mesh pocket that stores a collapsed, packed parawing while you ride. It is the piece of gear that makes the sport's signature stow-and-glide loop possible: depower the canopy, wrap the lines around the bar, stuff the bundle into the belt, and ride hands-free until you redeploy. Most brands sell their own version, and some integrate the pouch into a spreader-bar harness.
One job. Hold a packed parawing on your waist through wipeouts, and keep it where one hand can find it for the next deploy. Most brands now ship their own version, and they differ more than the product photos suggest.
A plain belt weighs less and goes over any harness, or over nothing for a short wave session. Integrated systems like Ozone’s put the pouch where the bundle wants to land anyway. Whichever you run, rotate the harness hook to your back before stowing so the lines have nothing to catch on. That tip comes from FoilGraham; Green Hat’s stow-and-deploy tutorial walks the full sequence.
Riders lose stowed wings after crashes. Multiple reports, same story, expensive swim every time. The other failure is a sloppy wrap that leaves lines outside the bundle and guarantees a tangle on redeploy. If your stow is slow or sloppy, drill the sequence on land before you trust the belt in surf.
Technique walk-throughs: stashing mid-ride and redeploying on water. All terms: glossary.