Best Regular Harness
by Jérôme Daoust, revised 2006/12/18
Discussion on ParaglidingForum
Please send in comments on your harness (must still be in production). It will help others to shop for their next one.
Unwanted features:
· Footrest / stirrup.
· Side Pockets. I use a flight deck with underside storage to have access to my gloves/food/water...
· Rigid battens (as in the Ram Race). Those things could be damaged during rough transport.
· Safe-T-Bar. The extra leg strap safety device.
My selection: On 2005/7/28, I purchased a Sup'Air / Profeel XC 2 from Fly Above All. See the on-going review.
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Color code: |
Good |
So-So |
Bad |
Unknown |
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Model |
Reviewer |
Ground handling comfort. True legs strap please! |
Easy entry after launch without using a footrest. |
Comfortable cupping
seating position: Reclined seat board + Full back support. |
Speedbar retractor. Must not rely on riser tension (walking). |
17+ cm back protection. |
Can
use quick-links
instead of carabiners. |
Big
rear storage container |
Reserve
location |
Weight. No reserve, footrest or speedbar. But
with back pro-tection and carabiners. |
Extra comment. |
|
Advance / Impress |
Jérôme Daoust |
Jérôme: Ball buster. Ouch! |
Jérôme: Easiest harness to get into,
I have tried. Auto-slip into proper position. |
Jérôme: 75% grade. Limited
upright back angle but acceptable. |
Jérôme: No |
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Jérôme: Front fairing (removable)
with optional (zippered) mini-cockpit. Can use front ballast volume for extra
storage. |
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Advance / Success |
Pietro Nova (dealer) |
Pietro: True leg straps. Not its best trait: The long
seat board doesn't help. |
Pietro:
Easy with little or no adjustments. |
Pietro: Great, long seat board and good back support. |
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Pietro: 16 cm |
|
Pietro: Abundant. |
Pietro: under seat. |
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Pietro: Adjustments: Two for
seat board + back + shoulders. |
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Apco / Finesse Plus Cygnus Airbag |
Deniz Erenler |
Deniz: Staps are A PAIN. You
have to fight with the lines while turning for backward inflation (launch).
Difficult to look up |
|
Deniz: Spectacular comfort +
headrest. Shoulder straps keep falling aside. |
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Model |
Reviewer |
Ground handling comfort. True legs strap please! |
Easy entry after launch without using a footrest. |
Comfortable cupping
seating position: Reclined seat board + Full back support. |
Speedbar retractor. Must not rely on riser tension (walking). |
17+ cm back protection. |
Can
use quick-links
instead of carabiners. |
Big
rear storage container |
Reserve
location |
Weight. No reserve, footrest or
speedbar. But
with back pro-tection and carabiners. |
Extra comment. |
|
AVA sport / Cruiser |
Jérôme Daoust +
Jeroen van der Pol + Jaromir Lahulek (dealer) |
Jérôme: True leg straps. |
Jérôme: Easy to get into. |
Jeroen: Ultra comfortable with great back
support. Jérôme: Medium comfort, see extra info. |
Jérôme: There is a system but it relies on riser tension. Jaromir: there is a bungee cord functioning
as retractor. |
Jaromir: 17 cm. |
Jaromir: Yes, I can remove the AustriAlpin steel carabiners
it comes with. Jérôme: Easy, but no supplied carabiners. |
Jérôme: Long but small volume. Jaromir: I fit all my stuff including tree kit.
On left shoulder there is connecting hole for wires or water from storage
compartment |
Jérôme: Under the seat. Jaromir: More options: On the back (decreases storage),On
side (out of balance). |
|
Jérôme: See extra info. Jeroen: Could be lighter though. Bumps into your legs on
the ground. Jaromir: Cruiser is a more comfortable version of Integral. |
|
AVA Sport / Tangra Cygnus |
Bruce McGuigan |
Not great. Rode up. |
Perfect. The thigh attached leg straps made getting
into it easy. No wiggling required. |
100% grade. Perfect. Easy to adjust. Sliding shoulder straps made changing angle
easy. Shoulder straps did flop around
a bit, I made a chest strap for it. |
Bruce: Yes, but it hung up twice and couldn't be fixed in
flight.
Doesn't work without riser tension. |
Bruce: 17 cm + airbag. |
Bruce: I guess you could. |
Bruce: Huge storage volume. |
Bruce: Mine had a front mount. Side mount is available. |
|
Spectacular
storage. The zippered rear airbag
could even be used as a glider stuff
bag. Excellent
build quality. Fantastic protection. NOT
a weight-shifty harness but my favorite harness so far for its comfort, ease
to get into, quality of contraction and storage. |
|
AVA sport / Tangra Integral |
Monica Mattos + Patrick Hudelot + Bruce McGuigan |
Monica: Amazing leg straps that are
attached to the seat, improves weight shifting. |
Monica: Really easy to seat, almost inevitable.
|
Monica: Really comfortable, good
back support. Angled
seat board that makes you fit inside the harness |
Patrick: Has a build it speed bar retractor. Bruce: Speed bar retractor doesn't work without riser
tension. |
Patrick: 17 cm |
|
Patrick: Storage is big. I can put easily my backpack, a
camel bag, the radio + some clothes |
Patrick: Parachute is located on the rear, almost under
the seat. |
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AVA sport also supplies other manufacturers. Patrick: You have one pocket on each side of the harness. |
|
Model |
Reviewer |
Ground handling comfort. True legs strap please! |
Easy entry after launch without using a footrest. |
Comfortable cupping position
in flight: Reclined seat board + Full back support. |
Built-in speedbar retractor. Must not rely on riser tension (walking). |
17+ cm back protection. |
Can
use quick-links
instead of carabiners. |
Big rear storage container |
Reserve
location |
Weight. No reserve, footrest or
speedbar. But
with back pro-tection and carabiners. |
Extra comment. |
|
Airwave / Ram Race |
Jérôme Daoust |
Excellent leg straps. But edge of long seat board can hit back of legs. |
Requires
ass squiggling to be 75% comfortable (matches most harness comfort). Seems to
be getting easier with time. Pushing seat forward with hand then makes it
very comfortable. Need to re-seat after using speedbar. |
100% grade. Very comfortable when properly seated. |
No |
15 cm |
Difficult to swap |
I wish it was larger |
Under the seat |
|
Aerodynamic rear fairing. Made by AVA sport for
Airwave? Back support straps slip open in flight. Lots of accelerator line travel. Full
Review. |
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Charly / Tube |
Peter Condick + Augusto Espinosa + Geir Dyvik (dealer) |
Geir: The harness comes with 3
different leg strap options. I tried the first option (true leg straps):
No squeezed balls, guaranteed! |
Peter: Getting into it after take off is very easy. Augusto: Can slide in nicely. |
Peter: I find
it comfy, if I pack it carefully. Augusto: OK for
short flights but after 2+ hours my back was aching and I felt exhausted. Geir: Very good comfort in flight for my body. |
Peter: No stirrup or anything fancy to retract the speed bar |
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Geir: Designed by Charly, but produced by AVA sport. |
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Critter / Anarchy |
Dennis |
Not true leg straps. |
Hard to get into + Need to get re-seated after a maneuver. |
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Gin Gliders / Genie 3 |
Jérôme Daoust |
Jérôme: No true leg straps. |
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Jérôme: Yes |
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Jérôme: Yes |
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Jérôme: Under the seat. |
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Scotty
Farnsworth likes his. |
|
Gin Gliders / Gingo |
JC Brown + Klaus Wagner + Susan
Kent + Karl Wales |
Klaus: Leg straps were great. |
Susan: I have to wiggle butt to get into it. |
JC: Very comfortable Klaus: Great back support, weight shift was not bad. |
Karl: Yes, does not rely on riser tension. |
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Klaus: build quality looks
excellent, I like the reserved mounted underneath the seat and there is ample
storage space. |
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High Adventure / ? |
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Ki2Fly |
Anon |
Ball buster. |
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No |
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Side protection. New for 2005. |
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Kortel Design / Karma |
Harri Seppi |
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|
Model |
Reviewer |
Ground handling comfort. True legs strap please! |
Easy entry after launch without using a footrest. |
Comfortable cupping
position in flight: Reclined seat board + Full back support. |
Built-in speedbar retractor. Must not rely on riser tension (walking). |
17+ cm back protection. |
Can
use quick-links
instead of carabiners. |
Big rear storage container |
Reserve
location |
Weight. No reserve, footrest or
speedbar. But
with back pro-tection and carabiners. |
Extra comment. |
|
Mac |
Hugh Miller |
Hugh: Good. True leg straps
and I had no comfort or ball busting issues |
Hugh: OK. I easily get about
90% of the way in, but rely on the stirrup to get myself fully in. |
Hugh: Reclined seat board + Full
back support. Great. More adjustments then you could shake a stick at and no
problems with comfort on long flights. |
Hugh: Yes, excellent system, on
elastic cords to run along stirrup and easy to find in flight. |
Hugh: 16 cm |
Hugh: I guess you could. It
comes supplied with fitted carabiners. |
Hugh: OK, but not great. I can
fit all my kit for a day on the hill in here, but you'd be struggling to fit
more in. |
Hugh: Under seat. |
|
Hugh: Very sensitive and
responsive to weight shift. |
|
Sky Paragliders / Revel |
Bruce McGuigan |
Bruce: Good for round handling. |
Bruce: Relative easy if the seat board angle is adjusted properly. |
Bruce: 90% grade. Very adjustable harness and very easy to
adjust in flight. Sliding should
straps for easy position change |
Bruce: Yes. Works
well and the harness is delivered with a speed bar. Works great without riser
tension |
Bruce: 17 cm |
Bruce: I guess you could. |
Bruce: Storage good (easy to get pack and extra stuff in
there). |
Bruce: Reserve location is under
seat, left or right side handle (flap system, very quick to deploy). |
|
Bruce: Weight shift is good, and
the chest strap opens wide if you want to make it very weight shifty. Build quality is good. The cowl support has Velcro and a hinge,
making it easy to pack up the harness.
Storage is good. I am involved with Sky, for what its worth. |
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Skyline / Phase |
Bernhard Greindl + Øyvind Osdal |
Øyvind: Great. |
Bernhard: Very good to get seated. |
