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LIGHTNESS stands for an extremely light and very comfortable reclined harness with speedbag, together with its own lightweight rucksack. Both go perfectly together and these quality products weigh just 3 kg all told, making up a compact entity. The LIGHTNESS is best suited to cross country orientated Hike & Fly pilots, travellers or bivouac flyers.
Tried and tested by the X-Alps
The unique LIGHTNESS concept carries the X-Alps spirit wholeheartedly with it and epitomises the original idea of free flight – to gain the necessary metres on foot, then make the most of their full potential in flight. The ADVANCE X-Alps team put the LIGHTNESS well-and-truly though its paces, and Chrigel Maurer won the world’s hardest paraglider race with it.
Top level comfort – in the air and on the ground
The harness does not have a seatboard, and thus can fit the body perfectly. The comfortable hammock principle succeeds in giving an even more direct feedback from wing to pilot. The many adjustments are used to fit the harness precisely to an individual’s requirements, and the whole body is therefore ideally supported. The exceptionally compact rucksack also offers the highest degree of carrying comfort.
Uncompromisingly light and sophisticated
Thanks to the workmanship shown on the highest quality lightweight materials, and a convincingly simple concept the harness with speedbag, front container, instrument panel and comfort foam weighs only 2.3 kg; the rucksack around 700g. The LIGHTNESS system can therefore compensate for the weight of a normal paraglider. This means that, without resorting to a light wing, all your equipment can add up to only just over 10 kg - helmet and light reserve included.
The ADVANCE LIGHTNESS components have been developed with an uncompromising eye on low weight, and are intended for specialist owners. This puts decidedly high demands on their use and care. A comprehensive understanding of the product and its qualities is essential. Due the choice of materials and their construction the rucksack and harness are definitely more susceptible than normal ADVANCE products to wear and tear resulting from improper use.
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The LIGHTNESS is just as comfortable as an IMPRESS, otherwise Chrigel Maurer couldn’t have made his ten hour flights during the X-Alps and the preparation for it. The biggest difference is the weight. A LIGHTNESS M harness weighs 2.3 kg, an IMPRESS 2 M a little over 7 Kg. The LIGHTNESS pilot pays for the 5 kg difference, however, with somewhat less user-friendliness, less protection and a shorter lifespan:
- Less user-friendly, because most of the adjustments cannot be made in the air, and the reserve can only be carried in a front container.
- Less protection and safety, because the LIGHTNESS harness has only a thin and small comfort foam.
- Shorter lifespan, because of the lighter materials used. They do indeed show very good robustness for their weight, but when it comes to long life, resistance to wear and UV they will not come close to the value of normal materials.
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The LIGHTNESS works like a hammock, which fits the body perfectly. The remarkable compromise of low weight and high comfort was mainly achieved by using this concept. Chrigel Maurer flew countless kilometers with flights of up to ten hours duration during the preparation phase of the X-Alps project. This hammock principle also gives the pilot even better feedback from the wing.
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The components of the LIGHTNESS were designed and built with the focus on minimum weight, down to the last detail. The development target was to use as little material as possible and seriously question the inclusion of every gram. Often a bewilderingly simple solution emerges when the debate is over – like, for example, the hammock principle for the seat surface of the harness, with no seatboard. On the other side of the equation uncompromisingly light materials were used. The speedbag for example is made from high quality, elastic and abrasion-resistant fabric, normally used for practical outdoor clothing - mainly trousers.
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The harness and the rucksack go well together and make a compact unit. The full potential of these products can only be realised when they are used together. The interplay of harness and rucksack paid off perfectly at the X-Alps. Firstly the shape of the rucksack is matched to the harness so that the equipment can be packed very compactly, and the weight lies close to the hiker’s back. Secondly the back pocket of the harness is exactly tailored to the rucksack for a perfect fit. A normal bigger and stiffer rucksack would be a nuisance for the pilot in flight, and leave less room for clothes, supplies, sticks etc. in the back pocket. Compared with a reversible harness however, where rucksack and harness are combined, the LIGHTNESS System has the advantage of much more versatility.
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The compactness and geometry of the rucksack allows the one size to be carried equally comfortably by short or tall pilots. This is confirmed by the experience of the X-Alps - all three ADVANCE participants had identical rucksacks (Chrigel 183 cm, Heli 168 cm and Ramon 163 cm), even though they used different sized gliders and harnesses. Correct shoulder strap setting (adjustable for pilot height), hip strap adjustment and packing technique are important for carrying comfort.
Maximum comfort is only achieved when the rucksack is full and under light internal tension. This tension effectively takes on the function of the supporting frame of a conventional mountain rucksack (usually aluminium) without additional weight. The space inside the rucksack is mostly taken up by a suitably folded glider. The fine tuning at the end is automatically done by the comfort foam, which compresses when packed and expands in the rucksack to perfectly fill the space available. So the rucksack comes without compression belts, saving more weight.
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Foot support in the form of a stirrup is essential because there is no seatboard. The speedbag therefore forms an integral part of the harness because the stirrup is built in to the speedbag for weight reasons.
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The LIGHTNESS is a production version of the X-Alps harness used by the ADVANCE team pilots, in which every single gram was regarded as critical. A built-in reserve system would need extra parts, causing extra weight.
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