STANDARD vs POD Paragliding Harness
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
- STANDARD vs POD Paragliding Harness. How to choose The Right Paragliding Harness?
There is a bewildering choice of paragliding harnesses available. How do you compare the market when there are so many different styles, so many features, and so many brands? We set out the fundamental principles of choosing the right harness so you can develop a clear sense of what suits your flying skills and aspirations.
Paragliding harnesses can be divided into two main categories:
- Standard harnesses
- Pod harnesses
STANDARD HARNESSES
Standard paragliding harnesses are open, your legs are free, and the sitting position tends to be more upright.
These are ideal as a first buy and suit many recreational pilots. There is a fallacy that buying a pod at the beginning of your flying career saves you money because you don’t have to buy again. This is like buying a Sports Class wing ‘to grow into’: it fails to acknowledge the increased risk you create by doing this during the learning phase. Wise gear choices should reduce your risk, not increase it.
Get the equipment that matches where you currently are in your progression, so you can build your skills on a solid foundation. Confidence is the cornerstone of all flying development. You can always sell your ‘starter’ harness again to someone else who shares your understanding of progressing step by step.
POD HARNESSES
Pod harnesses have a leg fairing - known as the speedbag, cocoon or pod - which encloses your legs, and the sitting position tends to be more reclined.
Pods are best suited for ambitious cross country pilots or regular fliers with at least a year of flying experience. Although more difficult on the ground and more unstable in extreme situations, pod harnesses are comfortable and offer more performance during long flights. They keep you warmer and reduce drag while flying, but you carry a little extra weight and bulk on the way back (depending on models, comparing like for like).
The reclined flying position takes some time to get used to. The lower karabiner position usually means more responsive handling (it feels more tippy), although this can be counteracted when a seatboardless design is used (which usually calms things down and makes a harness more wallowy). Turning requires a coordinated pressure on the footplate and seat area, and can often feel a bit awkward, one of the reasons why acro pilots favour the traditional upright harness with a seatboard. Pilots new to pods may find themselves being more unstable in rough air with more motion (yaw, pitch and roll) to contend with.
The performance advantage is dependant on setting the harness up correctly, so it’s important to spend time adjusting the angle. When correctly balanced, a well-trimmed pod harness can provide the added secure feeling of being completely supported.
In the past, pod harnesses were heavy and bulky, but modern designs have optimised the weight while retaining durability. You should expect a reputable harness to outlast your wing. However, when choosing the right harness you should pay attention to the fabric of the pod itself, as it is a high wear area where your boots drag on the speed bar and repeated leg extensions stretch the fairing.
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Agree with most comments except for nr 3. Speed bar in pod is extremely easy to catch when you're in it, just scrape the bottom of the cocoon and you got it, as opposed to an upright harness where it is dangling in the airflow somewhere below you, and having to choose between a foot stirrup and speed bar. Right on the longevity, I flew my harness on 5 wings before replacing it, so worth investing some research, time and money in finding the right harness.
About the speedbar - in this video we are looking at it from "beginners" perspective 🚀 but like you mentioned - with everything correctly adjusted, everything should be smooth ✅ Thank you for watcing! More vids soon 🦅
I fly a pod mainly to stay warm. Also, the reclined position is very comfortable on my back on long soaring sessions (2hr+). The speedbar is easier to grab, since it's already pre-stretched and exactly where I expect it to be. On my open harness I need to get my hand down the accelerator lines so I can hook it with my foot...
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Totally agree about accelerator - if correctly adjusted it is super easy and efficient 🥳 Looking from beginners perspective and all other factors combined it is still the best bet to start with standard open harness and progress from there 🚀🚀🚀 Safe flights and happy landings 🙏
NEXT VIDEO WILL BE THE ORIGINAL VOICEOVER 😍😍😍
welcome in the AI times
I agree an open harness is good for the first year(s) of flying but for me personally, the pod transformed my enjoyment of the sport. The added comfort and being in a supine position feels far more natural to me. Additionally, in winter it makes a huge difference to my overall warmth and thus how long I want to spend flying. I have a Delight 3 and the speed bag rarely gets in the way when ground handling plus it seems to be one of the easiest pods to get into after launch once you finesse the technique a little. Only negatives I have experienced are dealing with the additional yaw, the additional cost and they're a bit more fiddly to get setup correctly to start with.
Progressed to a pod about a year ago.
It does take some getting used to but now I never use my open harness.
I do struggle to get my legs in at times (i do have long legs) and am currently experimenting with a bungy attacched from pod to foot.
Another issue is getting tangled with the speed bar.
I can sort it in flight, but it can be a hassle. Making sure it's hanging correctly before launch is now part of my pre launch check list.
Its faster, warmer and a bit lighter than the open harness.
In rough air, i can sit more upright to stabilize it.
Fair points 👍 Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! This might be very helpful to other pilots 🙏🙏🙏
Not a huge fan of the android voice-over
We are working on a big variety of new videos 🙏 Will stick to our original narration! Thanks for supporting us 🦅
Soooo was this written with the help of AI - or a giant elephant in the same room?
Gen Z isn't into paragliding yet, but when they get here then maybe I'll understand the tiktok robotic voiceover. I don't think we should have to tolerate it just yet.
@@dougtnitchie The content itself is original Flybubble content, not AI generated - we would of course never do that! 🙊
@@glvcox Thanks for your constructive feedback on our 'little experiment' using a computer generated voiceover for the first time for this video. 🙏 We'll try to always do our own voiceovers going forwards.👍(If you're interested, I've explained why we tried this 'little experiment' in another reply to another comment.)
What is your choice and why? Standard, pod or both? 😏
Don‘t think I could fly a normal harness at -17C here in the Swiss Alps for an hour. Pods save delicate anatomy…..😂
🤓😁👍
Is this narrated by a computer? 👀 Miss yer lovely voices.
@@flybubbleparagliding sooooo...yes? AI generated videos now? I echo styx85.... I prefer your actual voices (great content as always, thank you 👍)
@@BrentHandy77 Will be sticking to orignal voiceovers! 🙏🙏
Will stick to our original narration 🙏🙏🙏 Thank you for your support!
Thanks for your constructive feedback on this 'little experiment', using a computer generated voiceover. 🙏
We'll try to always do our own voiceovers going forwards.👍
The content itself is original Flybubble content, not AI generated - we would of course never do that! 🙊
The idea was to bring pilots more useful content - even if not ideally presented, because of a lack of time/resources. ⏲
Nancy and I have been exceptionally busy recently, taking care of business and in our personal lives, so didn't have time to record the voiceover for this. So rather than publish nothing we thought we'd give the computer generated voiceover a try and see the reaction. Despite overwhelmingly positive feedback (98.2%, similar to most of our videos) it's clear some viewers would prefer to hear our, human voices. So we'll try to always do our own voiceovers going forwards, if possible.
Question for you: Would you rather have:
a) more new original Flybubble content, but some with with computer generated voiceover; or
b) only human voices but less new Flybubble content?
@@flybubblecarlo b! Quality over quantity 😍
Very good and instructive. Just don't agree with point 3. I use both and find it easier to get the speedbar on the pod.
Thank you so much! It is all about the right adjustments and correct approach 🙏
uuuuugh really???? AI voice overs????? My very favorite paragliding channel just got lazy and impersonel..... I dont mean to be a sad sack but Flybubble is my go to channel for the personalities aswell as the content.
Thanks for your constructive feedback on this 'little experiment', using a computer generated voiceover. 🙏 The idea was to bring pilots more useful content - even if not ideally presented, because of a lack of time/resources. ⏲ We'll try to always do our own voiceovers going forwards.👍(If you're interested, I've explained why we tried this 'little experiment' in another reply to another comment.)
Love the videos generally, but I can't stand the narration.
Thank you for your feedback! 🙏 We're just working on new videos and doing some tests 🎙 👌 Stay tuned 🦅
POD Harness has much better performance in transitions, reduce drag on at least 7%
The most important thing is to set it up correctly ✅
Pods are warm. And allow to relax you foot. No other advantages :)
Very good points!! 🚀😍
No difference in weightshifting in pod and open harness? It is sad.
Flying an advance success 4 with stirrup. Thinking about changing to pod. I can not find much relevant info about stirrup vs pod.
We highly suggest to check out our match service for a personalised professional guidance to find the perfect pod for you 🤩 It is effectively FREE 👉 More info on our website 🪂 Fun flights and happy landings!
Why pod? Because of the wamth and because of very easy handling with speed. How can you say upright harness is better for quick speed handling??? Complete opposite is true!!
Warmth is definitely a big factor! 🤩 Regarding speedbar - we're looking at it from beginners perspective combined with all other factors 🙏 Of course with correctly adjusted pod and little bit of skills it can be super easy 🚀 like you mentioned above 🦅
@@flybubbleparagliding speedbar is always easier in a pod harness than open harness, because it is out of the wind and always in the same place in the pod, ready to be caught by the foot. On open harnesses the speed bar is either flying in the wind or just under the knees where you can't grab it with the foot. We have to use the hand to put it on the foot.
@@niconico3907 thanks for your constructive input to the conversation. 👍 Whilst this is your experience - and I am sure also the experience many of others - from speaking with very many paraglider pilots about their flying gear over the years, many who change from a standard to a pod harness actually find getting their foot on the speed system harder. This is probably because every harness and speed system is different no matter what the type, every setup varies and each person's dexterity varies. From my personal experience of testing very many harnesses of all types, I think it should be just as easy - and I would say even easier - to hook your foot on the speed system on an open harness *IF* the harness and speed system are well-designed and everything correctly set up! 🤓
All certifications are done in seat upright harnesses because pod harnesses will decrease the safety rating.
For me pod harnesses are a no-go because they restrict the view down. (Leaving aside another problem: most pods are tapered in front and blunt in the back which is exactly the opposite of what aerodynamic flow wants, it's like a digital SLR: an oxymoron.) Last but not least, they look simply awful.