Niviuk's Rumor 2P: A String Harness Built Around Comfort
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, Tim, a Niviuk test pilot and harness designer, presented the Rumor 2P, the brand's new lightweight harness for hike-and-fly. It is a minimal "string harness" with, in Tim's words, nearly nothing on it. His central claim is that minimal doesn't have to mean uncomfortable. The team's stated goal was to make the most comfortable light harness, and he believes they succeeded.
Almost Everything Changed From the Previous Version
Tim said that compared with the previous Rumor, the team changed nearly everything. They wanted a harness that was very light and also very comfortable, and the redesign centers on two things: how the wing connects to the harness, and how the seat and back support the pilot.
An Integrated Soft-Link Connection Instead of Carabiners
The Rumor 2P uses Niviuk's new soft-link system. The demonstration harness had carabiners attached, but Tim explained these were there only to make testing easier. In normal flying, the wing connects directly to the harness and no carabiner is needed, because the soft link does that job.
He walked through the connection:
- Open the connection point on the harness.
- Place the riser into it.
- Close it, which does the job a carabiner would.
- Pass the line through the ring to close the harness.
Once that is done, the pilot is ready to fly.
According to Tim, the benefit is that you save the weight of the carabiners. He said the harness's safety and strength are unchanged, because the system has been tested and gives the same strength and safety as before.
Elastic Shoulder Straps
The shoulder straps are elastic. Tim said they are there only for comfort and to keep the harness from falling off during takeoff.
A 3D-Shaped Seat and Back
For comfort, Tim said the team used the same approach as on another of their harnesses: the whole seat and back were designed in 3D. Seen from the side, he said, the harness looks like a mold, fitting the body closely everywhere.
To save weight, all the foam parts were removed. Structure now comes from nitinol rods in the seat area: one U-shaped rod under each leg, and one at the back for back support.
Fixing the Old Version's Back-Support Problem
Tim acknowledged a weakness in the previous version. It was sometimes uncomfortable when flying with a big backpack or with skis. He said the new model solves this with higher and much better back support. Leaning back into it, he said, the back does not bend and there are no pressure points. He described it as super smooth and super comfortable, fitting well at every point.
He summed up the design as something simple but comfortable, which was the goal he described at the start.
Okay, so this is the Rumor 2P. It's our new light harness for hike and fly. So it's a very simple one, just a string harness with, as you see, nearly nothing.
On this one, compared to the previous version, we nearly changed everything to make something very light but very comfortable. Our objective was to make the most comfortable light harness, and I think we managed to make it.
On this one we integrated the new soft link system. In fact, we put the carabiner here just for making it easy for testing, but when you are flying, the connection of the wing is integrated directly in the harness. You have to open this. I will show you like this, it's easy.
Here, it's your carabiner. In fact, you don't need a carabiner; this will be used as the carabiner. So you just put your riser here and then you close here, you close the carabiner, and then you just have to use this line, pass it in the ring, and here you close your harness and you are ready to fly.
So with this system you win the weight of the carabiner, as it's lighter like this. The safety and the strength of the harness is not changing, because it's tested and you have the same strength and the same safety as before, and you win weight like this.
I will show you. We have two shoulders which are in elastic, because it's just for comfort and so you don't lose the harness at the takeoff.
And in this one, as I said, we made the same as on the R. We worked all the seat and all the back in 3D in order to make something very comfortable. If you want to see on the side, it's like you are in a mold. In fact, you check on the side, everything is fitted on your body and makes things very comfortable.
On this one we removed all the foam parts to make things lighter. We just put some nitinol in the seat parts: we have one U like this under each leg and one at the back to make a really good support in the back.
Before, with the old version, it was sometimes not so comfortable when you have a big backpack, or when you are flying with the skis. Actually, with the new one this problem is solved because we have a higher and much better back support. You can go like this at the back, it's not bending, you don't have any bad points. It's super smooth, super comfortable in every point, it's fitting well.
And yeah, I think we managed to make something simple but comfortable.
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