Inside Niviuk's Arrow P: How a Lightweight Pod Harness Balances Comfort, Packability and Simplicity
パラワールド【超多面的パラグライダー情報チャンネル】PARAWORLD
At the Icarus Cup 2023 in Saint-Hilaire, France, a Niviuk factory pilot who also designs the brand's harnesses walked through the Arrow P, a lightweight pod harness. His explanation centred on one question: how do you make a light harness that packs small but still feels supportive and stable in the air? His answer relies on 3D shaping, a deliberately flexible seat structure, and a simple closing system.
A Flexible Seat Frame That Packs Small
The designer started with the seat. The team worked on 3D shaping throughout the seat frame. There are two bars, one on each side, that provide support. To keep the structure flexible, the bars are quite short.
The short bars matter for packing. He showed that the whole upper and seat section of the harness can be folded. When you pack it, the harness becomes quite small, and he said this makes the bag "super small" as well.
Comfort Through Shaping, Not Strap Tension
He said the same 3D shaping carries through the back and upper part of the harness, and that this is where the comfort comes from. The shaping gives good support to the back without the pilot needing to put much tension on the shoulder straps. He repeated the point: in flight there is no need for a lot of tension in that area, so the pilot stays comfortable.
Stability and a One-Sided Closure
For stability, he pointed to the ABS system. When the harness is closed, it forms two separate triangles, which he said help a lot with stability.
The ventral strap is connected to the leg strap, so there is only one side to close. You step into the harness, fit in on one side, and close it on the other. He presented this as a way to keep things easy.
Rescue in the Back
The reserve parachute is integrated at the back of the harness. He called this simple and easy because nothing sits in front of the pilot. He also gave a personal view: he doesn't like harnesses with the rescue in front, because that makes things complicated. With the Arrow P, he said, the rescue is integrated and easy.
Storage for Hike-and-Fly
The harness has several pockets:
- a large pocket under the seat
- a pocket in the nose of the pod, which can be opened from inside when you are hike-and-flying or on an adventure, so you can carry gear there
- a large pocket inside at the back
Getting In and Closing Up
He then demonstrated the closing sequence, which he described as very simple. You put the harness on, place your feet, close only the one side, and secure the safety. Then the second buckle closes the leg cover, and after that you attach the cockpit. He described the cockpit as simple but effective, holding everything you need in one place.
Once that is done, he said, the harness is closed and you can take off easily. He noted that the demonstration harness wasn't his size, and finished by showing the adjustment differences between a closer fit and a looser one.
Okay, so this is the Arrow P. You can see that on this one we really worked on the 3D in all the seat frame. We have two bars to make good support on each side here, but in order to keep something flexible the bars are quite short, and you have the possibility to bend all the top parts of this harness, all the seat part here, like this. When you are packing your harness you have something quite small, and it makes your bag also super small.
And as I said just before, in making the body for a really good comfort, we played with a 3D shaping in all the back part, all the top part like this. You have something very comfortable, you have a very good support in the back without needing to put a lot of tension on the shoulder straps when you are flying. As I say, no need to have really good, really big tension in this part, and you keep the good comfort.
And then for the stability, you can see when we close the harness, the ABS system, we have two different triangles that help a lot for the stability. And the ventral strap is connected to the leg strap. You have only one closing side: you enter, you fit in this side, and then you close on the other side, and it makes things easy.
After, we have the rescue on the back. It's integrated like this. It makes things simple, things easy. You don't have the rescue here, and to be honest I don't like when we have the rescue in front, that makes things complicated. Here it's integrated, easy, and all this.
Then you have pockets on the bottom of the seat. You have one big one here, you have one on the nose here that you can open with this one. When you are in hike and fly or big adventure, you can put material in it. And you have a big pocket at the back inside here.
And for the adjustment, closing the harness, it's super simple. I will show you. You just have to put the harness like this, put your feet here, and then you close only one side like this, and make safety like this.
And then to close the cockpit and the harness, you just have to things this ball, the second one, so cover leg is closed, and then you can fix the cockpit. The cockpit, which is super simple but works well, you have everything you need just in this. And here it is closed, it's finished for you, and you can take off easily.
It's not my size, but you want it like this and you want it more like this.
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