Lighten your load

By Paul Hutton

Why?

Why the move to lighter flying kit? Why give up my comfortable heavy-weight harness? The answer is hills and planes.

Hills because until I started flying in Wales, the Dales, and the Lake District I had not had to walk any significant up-hill distance with a Paragliding rucksack on my back. Once I had done a few one-hour-plus walks up steep hills, I got the message that I needed to give up flying 30Kg over body weight. Why 30Kg? To put me in the middle of the weight range on a large wing instead of max weight on a medium.

Planes because explaining to your partner that you want 75% of their luggage weight allowance because all yours and half of theirs is taken up by the Paragliding kit can become difficult.

Coincidentally lighter weight kit seemed to be ‘coming of age’. There was now a range of lighter harnesses that were made for everyday use, included provision for a reserve and good back protection. It was also time for a new wing and I decided I wanted to fly light enough get one of the new DHV 1-2s in size medium. I had heard that they could now be flown three quarters of the way up the weight range without significant effect on the sink rate. So that left me with 10Kg to loose. I was aiming for 7Kg off full XC kit and 3Kg off of me. As it turns out it was 6Kg off
the kit, so it needs to be 4Kg off me, but that will not do me any harm :-)

Some Choices

I liked the look of the Woody Valley Peak and it has the same leg-strap system as the Gin Genie. I tried it for size, but neither the medium, or large quite fitted me. I then looked at the SupAir range.

I tried the Altix for size and the medium was just right for me (you may have seen me having a lengthy ‘swing’ at the Par-Avion BBQ). This is the harness I chose. It weighs just 3.4 Kg (with a carbon seat plate – an optional extra) and folds flat which makes it very compact compared to a ‘standard’ harness. It has a double airbag, one under the seat and one around the outside of the rucksack storage. It has an integral under-seat reserve holder. This is possible because the airbag is pre-inflated by sucking air through a scoop on the side as soon as you put on the harness. This is accomplished by a combination of a flexible ‘plate’ that unfolds as the harness is picked up and the weight of the reserve. It has ample rucksack storage which is easy to access via a simple double zip arrangement. It even has finishing touches like a pocket for a water reservoir within the rucksack storage and elastic loops on the shoulder straps to hold the drinking tube. The speed-bar system includes easily adjusted shock-cord (bungee) to keep the bar against the harness when not in use. Plus all the usual SupAir adjustments to get things comfy.

altix harness

I also tried the Altirando, but I did not find this quite as comfortable for me personally. It would also have meant having a front mount reserve. This has the advantage of being the most accessible of all the reserve placements and provides an integral flight-deck, but for me feels more encumbered. With a flight deck I have the option of leaving it on the ground - something I would not be happy to do with my reserve. However, I was tempted to get this harness, but the main issue for me was that with a medium sized standard wing I could not get all my kit in the integral rucksack.

The compact integral rucksack of the Altirando may of course be a really good reason to get one. It would concentrate the mind on keeping kit to the minimum. You also get an almost 2 Kg head start on the AltiX when comparing like for like (Altirando, plus reserve bridles and reserve ‘pod’ with integral flight deck compared to the AltiX with carbon seat plate, plus small (115L) rucksack and light weight flight deck).

If you fly a small wing, or go the ‘whole-hog’ and get a special light weight wing, you can still get all you need (reserve/flight-deck/instruments, helmet/gloves/flight-suit) in the integral rucksack of the Altirando. With an Altirando and a special light weight wing Jamie has got his rucksack weight down to 11 Kg.

In Use

I have not flown with the Peak , or Altirando – see below for reviews from others. I find my AltiX very comfortable in flight and on the ground. It was initially more difficult to sit back in after take off than with the Genie (and not because of the stirrup which I did not need for sitting back), but I found that this was just a matter of getting used to the SupAir / Standard style leg straps. All I needed to do was lengthen the shoulder straps and tighten the leg straps. This set the leg straps further down my legs at take off, so that I am now further up/back on the seat plate when I lift my legs to sit back in the harness. I find weight shifting very effective and I quickly found that I did not miss the stirrup that I had on the Genie and now prefer the simplicity and slightly more upright position without it.

Look around when next on the hill. You are likely to see examples of some of these lighter harnesses in use. Just within our club I know of two using the Woody Valley Peak, three including me using the SupAir AltiX and two using the SupAir Altirando.