Lightweight Paragliding Gear
for Mountaineering, "Hike and Fly"

Some subjective notes from Paul Klemond, Feb 2000 - September 2006
Disclaimer: Do your own homework and don't rely on any of this information to prevent injury or death.

• Wings
• Harnesses
• Reserve Parachutes
• Packs
• Other Gear

Good reasons to consider lightweight gear:

• Travel: reduced bulk and weight makes all paragliding travel easier,
• XC Retrieve: flying XC usually involves a hike out, and normal gear is heavy.
• Mountains: lightweight gear may let you hike higher and farther, reaching launches you might not reach hauling normal heavy gear.
• Ergonomics: this gear requires less volume than normal gear, for better pack ergonomics. Keeping as much weight as possible as close to your spine reduces the moment-arm and some muscle strain as you rotate your body + pack.

Strength: While heavier gear can be stronger and more durable, it's not always that simple. Some really smart people work on lightweight gear and find designs that are both lighter weight and stronger than their heavier counterparts.

Color: For backcountry flying I look for brighter yellow and orange colors, higher visibility just in case you need rescue. A white wing or parachute against snow is practically invisible from the air, as are dark-colored clothes, harness etc amid forest and rocks.

Wings

Note about Lines: line material has a big effect on weight. Unsheathed lines (kevlar or dyneema) makes for the lightest wing possible -- just over 3kg / 7lb. Unsheathed lines are more susceptible to failure due to UV-degradation, abrasion, kinks and bends. I fly a lot from unimproved mountain launches with lots of scree/rock and brush, and into rough LZ terrain like clearcuts. Line abrasion is more of a potential problem than at groomed grassy sites. Competition pilots often fly with unsheathed lines -- their smaller diameter gives lower wind resistance and better performance. Unsheathed lines have to be handled carefully, inspected and replaced more often than sheathed lines. Launching from smooth snowfields and glaciers may pose minimal abrasion hazard for unsheathed lines, but dyneema shrinks measurably in the presence of moisture. Kevlar fibers break when kinked or bent at a sharp angle, so sleeping in your wing is not ideal with these lines. A few wings are made with unsheathed dyneema on just the uppermost lines, above the cascades. Dyneema is more UV-resistant than kevlar and its fibers do not break quite as easily when kinked or bent at progressively sharper angles, though sheathing is still useful for taking abrasion. There's a lot of better general line material info available elsewhere. One last tip: unsheathed dyneema lines are a lot less stiff than normal sheathed lines, and so they tangle a lot easier/more often. Nothing you can't clear in the usual ways, just a minor hassle.

Older Wings

Discontinued wings you might be able to find used:

Tandem Wings

Tandem gear is lighter, per person, than solo gear. Two harnesses and helmets are the same weight (per person) as solo harnesses and helmets, but a tandem reserve is lighter than two solo reserves, and one tandem wing is lighter than two solo wings. Here are some lighter ones. These are small wings so high sink rate and high brake pressure. For hike-and-fly, I prefer to use straps instead of spreader bars. Most dealers or manufacturers can provide these.

Mfgr	Model	Weight	Cert	Weight Range	Cells	Notes
Dudek	Bi-Light	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	coming
	Bi-Light Zip	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	zips in half! share load with your passenger!
Gin	Yeti Tandem	7.1kg	DHV	120-180kg	TBD
Nervures	Stromboli 38 Montagne	5.2kg	No	105-200kg	46	Weight includes spreaders.
Swing	Everest 30 Twin	5.2kg	DHV	105-165kg	37
	Arcus XL-Twin	6.9kg	DHV	105-170kg	48

Harnesses

Lots of harness manufacturers now offer lightweight harnesses. Most of these are nearly identical and offer no real innovation. Some criteria to consider:

• Buckles:  Some of these harnesses have no buckles. Besides saving weight, you won't forget to buckle your leg straps. (Sounds silly but every year this kills a few pilots worldwide.) Flipside is you might have trouble if you ever need to escape from your harness if you land in water.
• Comfort: Some pilots demand comfy chairs, but I'm perfectly comfortable flying for hours without a seat-board. Most of these harnesses are just fabric and webbing and support you like a hammock.
• Handling: Weight-shifting and "feeling" the wing loading are definitely reduced by the lack of a seat-board.
• Back Protection: Lightweight harnesses offer four types of back protection: 1) none, 2) removable foam, 3) removable airbag, or 4) permanent airbag.
• Reserve Bridle Attachment Points: Most lightweight harnesses are not designed to allow attachment of a reserve parachute bridle to your shoulder straps, nor any means to keep a bridle secured behind your arm. If you attach bridle(s) to the point(s) where the shoulder-straps attach to the top of the harness, you would end up leaning far forward if you ever deployed, and would have a potentially more dangerous landing. If you attach your reserve to the wing attachment carabiners, deploying would not automatically raise you from a normal in-flight sitting position to a standing position the way should attachment points do, again resulting in a potentially more dangerous landing.
• Cargo: Some of these harnesses don't have attached cargo pockets, so you always have to wear your pack over the harness. Make sure to clip the waist belt around the lower-back section of the harness if not your waist too, to stabilize the load.
• Reserve Container: None of these harnesses has an integral reserve container. Lots of manufacturers make front containers, but they're all mediocre in one way or another. More on this below.

If you get a harness with a cargo pocket, consider modifying it to add "lash tabs" along one or both sides. These are useful for attaching bulky stuff like an ice axe, pickets, snowshoes, hiking sticks, or small skis. Expanding the volume of the cargo compartment is also a good idea if you expect to be carrying bivouac gear.

Gin's YETI Harness/Bag combo

The XIX WildART and Gin YETI were the most innovative. Each combined a harness+backpack, though in different ways: XIX's WildART shares one set of shoulder straps and body for both purposes. Minor drawback: you can't leave your reserve container mounted in place while using the WildART as a pack, so add that to the setup and pack-up times. The Gin harness does allow you to leave your reserve mounted in place while in backpack mode in theory, however the pack is too small to contain both a reserve and a wing. Since then many other manufacturers have begun producing models with similar designs, most with bigger packs of ample volume.

The Gin, Sup'Air/Nervures, and Woody Valley offerings feature a backpack and harness sewn "back to back" without sharing any straps. When worn as a pack, the harness sits inside the pack, sewn to the inside back of the pack. Turn the pack "inside out" to expose the harness side, and the pack's shoulder and waist straps are now inside the "pack" which now serves as the cargo compartment of the harness. The design shows promise but the early Gin model has these shortcomings:

• The pack volume is way too small to be useful, like a day-pack really: only the smallest wings folded too tightly (abusive) will barely fit in there with no other gear (helmet, reserve, clothing, etc.) It's impractical for most flying.
• The ice-axe loop is too far under the pack and does not work when the pack is full.
• The ice-axe loop is only present on the "pack" side, which is turned inside when it's used as a harness cargo compartment. Good luck fitting your ice axe inside the small pack with thin fabric when flying.

The ideal pack+harness is not rocket science and would fix the above shortcomings, plus add:

• Lash tabs inside and out for poles, snowshoes, etc.
• Load stabilizer straps,
• A beefier zipper...

Older (Discontinued) Harnesses

Thin Red Line (formerly Mescalito) has apparently disappeared in 2001. Maxim De Jong of BC, Canada was the founder and genius behind this, and made awesome minimalist harnesses and other great gear. I own and regularly use a Mescalito Alpine 700. It's light (0.7kg), compact, comfortable, well-designed and built. Same for his external reserve container -- it's brilliant. Thin Red Line's product line included three more harnesses: the Alpine 600, the Scorched Earth, and the Vapor. These became popular just before TRL vanished, and some owners don't hike much -- you might be able to find or coax out a used one.

Reserve Parachutes

A ton of good info has been written about reserves. Here's what I've accumulated over the past decade.

• Weight: The reserves listed below are lightweight, right around 4 lbs. Most other manufacturers' reserves tend to be heavier. It's hard to get lower weight than 4lb for solo. And compromising any of the below criteria could be fatal.
• Size (deployed): This does matter. Some people think bigger is always best, but smaller chutes weigh less and (generally!) open faster than bigger ones. And when you deploy 150' off the rocks, microseconds matter. It might make sense to accept a slightly faster descent rate for some faster opening time. Also, bigger chutes do not always have a better (lower) descent rate.
• Oscillation: some designs are better than others at reducing oscillation. Oscillation can "spill" trapped air and increase your descent rate. Also, it's best to not be swinging under your chute when you land.
• Porosity: commonsense suggests zero porosity is ideal, but this is probably not correct. A little bit of porosity reduces oscillation and helps the chute stabilize. Chute design especially including bridle length affects oscillation the most.
• Terminal Velocity: Not all chutes have been tested to reliably open when you're falling at terminal velocity. This is unusual among paragliding reserve deployment scenarios, but it does happen. For instance a French national team pilot experienced a "zipper" complete (unsheathed) line failure of his paraglider during aerobatics. When he deployed, the "larks-head" (girth-hitch) knot joining his reserve to his harness burned through. He was killed. Kevlar is incredibly strong and lightweight but it is not elastic, so if deployed at terminal, will transfer the opening shock to the stitching holding the lines to the canopy, causing them to fail! So said Betty Pfeifer. So her chutes (High Energy Sports' Quantum series) splice kevlar lines into nylon throughout the last 18" below the canopy. The Metamorphosi chutes appear to have been tested at a faster speed than I expect to ever hit (short of complete separation from my wing.) Do your own homework if you care about this criteria.
• Steerability: This does not enable you to ask while coming down under reserve, "how can I hit that LZ?" Instead think, "can I avoid that powerline or freeway?" Some is better than none, but in general the concept of steerability is oversold.

Some manufacturers and models to consider:

• Free Flight Designs - Lara "Gold" Series (lighter weight series have all kevlar lines -- no splice. See "Terminal Velocity" above.)
• High Energy Sports - "Quantum" Series -- have kevlar lines spliced to nylon below the skirt.
• Metamorphosi - "Conair" Series
• Sup'Air

Packs

Here are some things to look for in a good paragliding pack:

• Compact, Density: the more compact your pack is, the closer its center of gravity will lie to that of your own torso. Most packs suck -- your CG is way out behind you. It's too easy to lose your balance, get sore, etc. Look for narrow, taller packs. This is especially important when you're rock climbing or on skis and have to ski down because the wind wasn't good for flying.
• Back Support: some people demand stiffeners in the pack against your back. That has never seemed very important to me -- the pack contents usually stiffen the pack enough to keep the shoulder straps loose up on the top of my shoulders.
• Waist Belt: this is where most of your load should ride, on your hips via your waist belt. Make this extra padded and comfortable. Some packs have inadequate stitching where the waist belt is sewn to the pack. I've had packs fail here before. One nice feature here is adjustable webbing to cinch the pack to the waist belt at the back of each of your hips. Also, look at the waist belt buckle/fastener. Is it beefy? I've had these break before (Apco). The pack's "torso length" is critical to getting the load off your shoulders. This this the distance from the top of the waist belt up to where the shoulder straps attach to the pack. 99% of paragliding packs have a one-size-fits-all torso length of ~18", which is horrible for a lot of people. Start demanding the right torso length in your pack. (Critter packs come in several sizes -- I'm not aware of any other PG packs that do. I'm not compensated by any gear manufacturer.)
• Attachment points: if you like mountaineering, some packs do offer ice-axe loops, ski loops, etc. Some people like using hiking sticks, if so it's good to have a place on the sides of the pack for attaching these, especially if you fly a minimalist harness and wear your pack in-flight.

Here are some paragliding packs to consider:

Critter Mountain Wear (run by Colorado paragliding pilot Richard Kocurek) makes some packs that friends of mine really like, the "Sky Trek" (4 lb 10 oz) and "Sky Trek Alpine" (3 lb 14 oz) packs. Richard has written some expert commentary about packs, and about really lightweight winter clothing -- click here to read it. I've tried his pack on but never hiked with it. My perception is this would be a great choice for someone with heavier bulkier "normal" paragliding gear, but otherwise I much prefer the taller narrower design of this Advance Comfort pack (below; ~3 lbs; discontinued.) It's really narrow and tall, pulling the center of gravity ("CG") in closer to the spine than any other PG pack I've ever seen. That seems a lot more important to me than any other feature. My complete compact kit barely fits in there. Bigger modern normal harnesses probably won't fit.

Non-Paragliding Packs

Some people use non-paragliding packs made for backpacking. This is one way to get a good ergonomic fit that you can bear for long hikes. Most paragliding gear is relatively bulky for its weight -- low density. This is at odds with typical backpacking payloads -- the makers of those packs rightly presume that voluminous loads are very heavy, so the packs tend to be beefier and heavier to carry heavy loads.

Ultralight or fast-and-light backpacking is starting to become really popular. Almost all packs in this category are intentionally small, consistent with the fast-and-light ethos of carrying less stuff. Almost no packs in the this category are suitable for carrying paragliding gear. There are a few that you could barely and abusively squeeze your wing into, but I won't list those here. I contact three manufacturers (Gossamer Gear, LWGear / Equinox, and Six Moon Designs) but none were willing to make a bigger model of their cool ultralight packs big enough for carrying PG gear (70-80L). One manufacturer has a very promising new pack on the horizon: CiloGear has announced a 75L pack. Their 60L pack extends to 90L and may be a good choice right now. I will report more on these here if/when I learn more.

Tumplines: Ancil Nance has a good article about tumplines - padded webbing that runs from the pack across your forehead, to take some weight and stabilize the load. I've never tried this but it seems like a good idea. Anything lightweight that spreads a load even temporarily seems like welcome relief on a long climb.

Other Stuff

Helmets: Bike helmets and climbers' helmets don't seem substantial enough for paragliding. I like open-face helmets for low-bulk and light weight. Icaro used to make a really great relatively light certified one.

Clothing: This can really add a lot of weight! You really pay if you have to be extra-warm, or if you're paranoid and contingency-oriented like I am. Bad weather sucks. Snug clothing takes less fabric and weighs less. (Duh!) Some fabrics have better warmth-to-weight ratios than others. For cooler spring/fall flying and going to high altitudes (yeah!) I wear a down jacket (Helios from Feathered Friends, <1 lb.) It's windproof, packs into a tiny stuff-sack, and the warmth-to-weight ratio is fantastic -- much better than fleece.

Richard Kocurek passed on some good insight about clothing and sleeping bags, click here to read it.

Radios: I like the Yaesu VX-1R. It's the size of a deck of cards, and it weighs 4 oz. It has only one AA battery and 0.5 watts of power, but for most line-of-sight that's plenty. It's smaller than some speaker-mikes.

Bivouac: "Downwind" Dave Kruglinski experimented with this, it worked okay so I do it occasionally: on big trips where you have to sleep, consider leaving the sleeping bag behind to save bulk and weight. Instead, stuff your wing into your bivy-sack. It's not as warm as some bags but it's warm enough. Make sure to snug the wing up close all around your body for best warmth, by minimizing the empty air your body has to heat. It took me a chilly hour to figure out that part one night up on a glacier. I like to load the wing and groundpad into the bivy before starting the climb. Try folding your wing such that your body isn't tangled in among the lines, i.e. the wing's topsurface should lie against your body on the inside of the roll, and outside against the inside of the bivy too to reduce abrasion on both the lines are the bivy's inner surface (gore-tex?) Roll the whole thing up together so you can sleep right away when you camp without having to lay out your wing in a windy icy place to get it ready.

Satellite Beacons and Phones: Starting July 2003, a satellite network will now relay special emergency radio signals to ground-based rescue authorities in the US. These beacons weigh about 1 lb, and some can take GPS input (by cable) and relay your coordinates. This could save your life. One problem: the only signal you can send says "come save me." Say you're not injured just delayed, going to bivouac and be home a day late. You can't communicate that over a beacon. For versatility some people prefer to carry a Motorola Iridium phone (also ~1 lb), so you can inform someone "I'm fine but I'm not able/willing to hike out tonight" or "Please deliver a pizza to my remote camp." One drawback with this is that you have to pay for ~$1/minute for airtime that expires annually and cannot be rolled over into the next year. Think of it like an insurance premium, and it might make sense for you.

DISCLAIMER: Do your own homework and don't rely on any of this information to prevent injury or death! 
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