Essential Equipment
Everything you need to get started—and nothing you don’t. This guide covers the core equipment every falconer needs, with honest advice on where to spend and where to save.
Getting your essential equipment right from the start prevents costly mistakes and keeps your bird safe. A poorly chosen glove leads to talon punctures, a bad scale gives inaccurate weights that endanger your bird, and cheap swivels can fail catastrophically. Conversely, well-selected essentials create a foundation for confident handling, accurate weight management, and secure tethering that lets you focus on building the relationship with your hawk.
💰 Total Budget: $300-600
This covers the equipment itself—not including mews construction or telemetry. You can spend less by buying used or making some items yourself, or more by choosing premium options.
🧤 The Glove ($40-150)
Your glove is the primary interface between you and your bird. This is not the place to cheap out. A good glove protects your hand from talons while allowing enough dexterity to handle equipment.
What to Look For
- Material: Good leather (usually cowhide or deerskin). Not suede, not synthetic.
- Thickness: Thick enough to stop talons, thin enough to feel the bird’s feet.
- Length: Should extend past your wrist. Some falconers prefer gauntlet-style.
- Fit: Snug but not tight. You’ll be wearing this for hours.
Pro tip: Buy from a falconry supplier, not a hardware store. Welding gloves and “falconry gloves” from Amazon are not the same thing.
⚖️ Digital Scale ($30-100)
You’ll weigh your bird every single day. Accuracy matters. Get a digital gram scale with at least 1-2 gram precision.
Requirements
- Capacity: At least 2kg (5 lbs) for buteos; less for smaller birds
- Precision: 1g increments minimum; 0.1g is better
- Platform: Large enough for a perch or your gloved fist
- Tare function: Essential for subtracting perch weight
Kitchen scales from Amazon work fine. You don’t need a “falconry scale”—just one that’s accurate and has the right capacity.
🪵 Perches ($20-100 each)
Your bird will spend most of its time on a perch. You need at least two types: one for the mews and one for outdoor weathering/travel.
Common Perch Types
- Shelf Perch
- Flat shelf the bird stands on. Good for mews. Easy to clean. Allows natural posture.
- Block Perch
- Round or square post topped with padding. Traditional for falcons but used for all species.
- Bow Perch
- Curved perch that allows the bird to move. Popular for buteos. Good for weathering.
- Ring Perch
- Circular perch the bird can walk around. Less common but some falconers swear by them.
Perch diameter matters for foot health. Too thin stresses the feet; too thick prevents proper grip. Ask your sponsor for recommendations based on your bird’s size.
🔗 Jesses, Swivel & Leash ($30-60)
The tethering system that keeps your bird secure. This is traditional equipment that’s been refined over centuries.
Components
- Anklets
- Leather straps that go around the bird’s legs (tarsi). The foundation of everything else.
- Jesses
- Straps that attach to the anklets and pass through the swivel. Traditional or Aylmeri style.
- Swivel
- Metal connector between jesses and leash that prevents tangling. Quality matters here.
- Leash
- Secures the bird to the perch or your glove. Leather or braided, 3-4 feet long.
Aylmeri vs. Traditional Jesses
Aylmeri jesses are removable—the anklets stay on the bird, but the jess straps detach for free flight (reducing snag risk). Most modern falconers use Aylmeri. Traditional jesses are simpler but stay on during flight.
📦 Giant Hood or Travel Box ($40-150)
You need a way to transport your bird safely. Options include:
- Giant hood: Leather cone that covers the bird’s head and body. Calms the bird, compact.
- Travel box: Enclosed carrier. More room, easier to use, but takes up more space.
- Cadge: Open perch frame for transporting multiple birds. Not needed for beginners.
Many falconers start with a giant hood and add a travel box later. Either works; personal preference matters most.
🔔 Bells ($15-40 per pair)
Bells help you locate your bird by sound—critical when they’re in a tree or on the ground with quarry. Get at least one pair; many falconers use two (different tones, mounted differently).
Bell Types
- Lahore bells: Traditional Pakistani bells. Bright, distinctive sound. Classic choice.
- Acorn bells: Rounder sound. Some falconers prefer these for their tone.
- Bewit vs. tail mount: Bells attach to the leg (via bewit strap) or tail (tail mount). Leg is more common.
Bells are backup, not primary tracking. Modern falconers almost always use telemetry as well—bells alone aren’t enough for serious hunting.
🛁 Bath Pan ($10-30)
Raptors need to bathe for feather maintenance. A shallow pan with 2-3 inches of water works. Many falconers use large plant saucers or dedicated “bird baths.”
- Heavy enough not to tip over
- Wide enough for the bird to spread wings
- Shallow—2-4 inches deep
- Easy to clean and refill
🧊 Food Storage ($50-100)
You’ll be storing frozen quail, mice, and other prey. A dedicated small freezer is ideal—keeping raptor food separate from human food is both practical and keeps peace in the household.
- Small chest freezer (5-7 cubic feet is plenty)
- Alternatively: dedicated section of existing freezer with clear containers
- Label everything clearly
Buy your glove in person if possible, since fit varies dramatically between brands. Test your scale with a known weight before trusting it with daily weigh-ins. Keep spare jesses, a backup swivel, and extra bell bewits in your hawking bag at all times. Many experienced falconers recommend purchasing two of every critical item, because equipment failures always happen at the worst possible moment during a hunting session or training exercise.
Quick Cost Summary
| Item | Price Range |
|---|---|
| Glove | $40-150 |
| Digital scale | $30-100 |
| Perches (2) | $40-200 |
| Jesses, swivel, leash | $30-60 |
| Giant hood / box | $40-150 |
| Bells | $15-40 |
| Bath pan | $10-30 |
| Food storage | $50-100 |
| Total | $255-830 |
This doesn’t include telemetry (strongly recommended, $200-800+) or mews construction ($200-1500+). Budget accordingly.
Where to Save vs. Spend
Worth Spending On
- • Quality glove (daily use, safety)
- • Good swivel (failure = lost bird)
- • Telemetry (not optional for hunting)
- • Perch quality (foot health)
Can Save On
- • Scale (kitchen scale works fine)
- • Bath pan (plant saucer works)
- • Leash (can make your own)
- • Food storage (used freezer)
Inspect all leather equipment weekly for cracks, stiffness, or thinning. Condition leather items with a quality leather balm every few weeks, especially during dry winter months. Replace swivels annually regardless of appearance, as metal fatigue is invisible. Batteries in digital scales should be swapped at the start of each season. Store leather goods away from direct sunlight and heat sources, which cause drying and cracking that shortens equipment life considerably.
Start with the minimum required equipment and upgrade as you gain experience. Many apprentices overspend on premium gear before they understand what features matter most for their specific situation. A good gauntlet, reliable jesses, and an accurate scale are your three most critical purchases. Focus on quality for those items and be practical about everything else until you know exactly what you need from daily use.
learnEquipment.essentials.commonQuestionsTitle
New falconers frequently ask how much equipment costs in total. A reasonable starting budget for essential equipment, excluding mews construction, is $400 to $800. This covers a quality glove, jesses and anklets, a leash and swivel, bells, a scale, a perch, and a basic falconry bag. Premium or specialized items like telemetry systems, custom hoods, and weathering area furniture will add to this baseline as your practice develops.
learnEquipment.essentials.historicalContextTitle
Falconry equipment has remarkably ancient origins. Archaeological evidence shows that jesses, hoods, and bells were used by Persian and Arabian falconers over two thousand years ago. While modern materials like Biothane and GPS telemetry represent technological advances, the fundamental purpose and design of most falconry equipment has remained consistent across millennia, a testament to how well the original falconers understood the needs of raptors in human care.