[furrod1]

I’m interested in getting a new harness this spring and I’d like to graduate out of the Tracer/Z5 class and get something a bit more contemporary and streamlined. I am a casual XC pilot, so I do not need the absolute latest and greatest. I understand that the primary “drawback” to any of the single suspension harnesses is the inability of the pilot to rock fully upright – and I’m willing to accept that.

Here is what I have learned from talking to a few pilots, a few emails, and searching the Oz Report and hang gliding.org forums.

1. The Matrix is kinda the harness of choice in my area (New England), but I’ve just been informed that the price has gone up to $2500, which pretty much eliminates it from consideration, due to cost.

2. Moyes is no longer offering the Matrix XC.

3. The primary negative comment about the Aeros Viper seems to be “build quality” when compared to the likes of the Matrix or Woody Valley. Most of these comments, however, seem to be a couple years old. Has Aeros improved their build quality recently?

4. The Viper also talks about a replaceable outer cover. Is this unique to the Viper? Is it a nifty feature or more of a necessity because of the sort lifespan of the outer cover material they offer?

5. Does anyone know any significant differences between the Aeros Viper and Aeros Myth 2 – from the perspective of a casual XC pilot who is looking for improvement but not every sub-fraction of a point?

6. Wills Wing is about to unfurl a new harness by Jeff Shapiro, but according to them, as of March 3rd 2010, it is still 2-3 months away. Plus, we have no idea of the price, and I imagine there will be delays due to a sudden influx of orders and inevitable start-up problems that need to be ironed out. Due to these uncertainties, I think the WW harness is also eliminated from consideration.

7. Word has it that the Rotor is a fine harness but Nene Rotor is very difficult to contact and his delivery times are all over the place. I don’t think I can bring myself to shell out $2k with a customer/seller relationship like that. Unless this situation has improved as of late, I can’t see myself pursuing a Rotor harness.

8. People seem to like the workmanship of the Woody Valley harnesses (Tenax 3 and Cosmic). Is there much of a Woody Valley presence, here in the USA? Weren’t there a couple fatalities due to Woody Valley harness failures? Has this situation been rectified?
The Cosmic kinda appeals to me. It looks like the cost is considerably below the $2k maximum that I am willing to shell out, and it is reasonably streamlined. Does anyone have any firsthand knowledge of this harness?

Any comments, corrections or additional info would be appreciated.

Rodger Furey
(posted here and the Oz Report forum)

[CHassan]

I know several guys who have old CG1000 harnesses. Not the most streamlined harness, but they all say the comfort is outstanding. Lucky for you they are back in business. They are also fairly priced. Start at $1000 and go up from there. (Looks to be about $1400 fully loaded.)

http://www.flycenterofgravity.com/

[Nibs]

There are quite a few woody valley harnesses here in this part of the country (Southeast). Lookout Mountain is a dealer for them. On the org here, I know that myself, Noman, DesignByDave, and Verzh all fly them. A few of my friends from around here fly them as well. No complaints. Fit and quality are great. I haven't heard anything about fatalities with their harnesses, must have been quite a while ago. Oh, some people do complain about the leg straps crushing their nuts... there are a number of ways around this.

If I were in your position and I had a working harness, I'd definitely wait to see the new WW harness. Jeff has spent a lot of time and effort on it and I would want to check it out and see the price prior to making my decision.

[remmoore]

[Jason]

MY CG-1000 is a pretty nice harness- even if it is old

[jjcote]

Hi Rodger,

Amy (from Cooperstown) has one of the new CG1000 harnesses, and I believe she likes it, but it also sounds like there are some hiccups with the first ones off the line that need to be sorted out (there were some problems with stuff shifting around in the storage pocket, for example). You might want to chat with her about that.

[wilburleft]

I just looked at a 5 or 6 year old Viper with the removable mylar skin. The guy just got a Matrix and said he would be selling the Viper. I tried it on but this guy is thin as a rail and I couldn't close the zipper around my hips.

It seemed like a really nice harness. He takes good care of his stuff. He said the outer skin was original and it looked in pretty good shape to me. He flies a lot of comps so I know it's got some airtime on it. I wish it would have fit cause I would have grabbed it.

If I were buying new, I'd probably be looking at the Woody Valley Tenax 3, but not before checking out Shapiro's harness and the price. It looks extremely clean from the pics in his blog. I hope to check out a prototype at demo days.

If it matters to you, I think the Tenax is the lightest of the racing harnesses.

[Avolare]

Furrod1, I have the same concerns. My time frame is a little further away. I would like to have a new harness by next spring. I think Shapiro will be in FL for demo days, I look forward to finding out more about his harness, and the time frame/cost. My second choice is Wood Valley, then Rotor.
Does anyone know what the cost for a Wood Valley and Rotor harness is?

[lostgriz]

[johnpeace]

I love my Rotor. I have a Vulto that was made in 2000 and it's excellent in fit, craftsmanship and design. Very comfortable and I have a lot of confidence in it.

I think the concern about being 'upright' for landing is a little overblown, most probably from pilots who have hung from a swingset or something in one of the 'comp' harnesses but never actually flown one.

It's true you can't get more than about 45-60 deg upright.

This doesn't negatively affect your ability to flare and land the glider.

If anything, it makes it easier to have a stronger flare. Shorter pilots with shorter arms may have to reach further to get a high enough grip on the uprights. At 6' though, this has never been an issue for me.

Having your CG back behind the hang point helps to produce a stronger flare and that's one of the things these harnesses do for you.

[relate2]

Seeing as though you are not into comps have you looked at the Moyes Contour harness it is around $1500?

EDIT=====> Sorry I missed the streamline part, the contour is very comfortable but I would not call it streamlined.

[hangster]

[Nibs]

Check out Shapiro's blog on the WW website.

[aqua]

great topic!
it's because of Red that I even want a new harness; mines worn out.
I've been looking for some of the same features, but I have a question; isn't a single suspension harness compromising saftey in that a pilot can rotate into the terrain (during a hard WHACK/-beak-in) more than a multi- point setup. I'm not sure if so, just curious..

[DiarmaidMurphy]

I looked at all the comp harnesses in as much detail as possible before settling on the ViperS. Unfortunately I didn't get to try any in person so only time will tell. I'm waiting for it to arrive and I'm pretty confident though

I think the issues with the Viper were with the old one, its has a number of models since then. The most recent, and one I ordered is the ViperS 2008 shown below. The aeros page is pretty useless, I had to get the information from the dealer about the Vipers because the site didn't tell me the differences between the different ones. Vipers are available in the Viper 2 2007 and Viper S versions. The Viper S is available in the two styling design versions: Viper S-2007 and Viper S-2008

I ordered it with two OK34 chutes. One to the biner and one sown into the harness. The mylar to my understanding is just like mylar on your sail, so tough enough, but because its white it can get grubby over time, hence the option to replace it and make your harness like new again. According to Aeros the mylar is the slippiest coating they could find in wind tunnel testing, so very low drag. I paid an extra €5 also for a full length harness bag because I read about the mylar losing some of its 'wow factor' from getting creased when folded!

Personally I think the Viper looks sick! And I figure if your only a noob and cant keep up with the pros yet, at least you can look cool!!! Did I mention I'm gonna have the only one in the country!!!

I'll let u all know what its like when it arrives, but that might be a few weeks yet.

[jspin72]

I may be able to save you a lot of time and $ I'm guessing your flight computer will tell you your average and max speeds? Check what those are for most of your flights. Unless you spend much time over 35mph, a race harness likely won't make a noticable difference for you as a "casual XC pilot". If you're still set on getting one, read on...

[Windlord]

[FPeel]

Add another vote for the CG-1000.

I'm on my second CG, as well as my second decade flying with them. It's a very nice harness for the casual XC pilot. They're comfortable, have lots of storage room and the ability to easily adjust and positively maintain virtually any "angle of dangle" is a huge plus. It's a very solid, proven design.

I'm jazzed to hear they're back in production and hope they stick around.

[furrod1]

Can anyone tell me the difference between the Rotor Vulto and Vulto S?

[HGXC]

I have a S it has an extra backplate. There may be other differences.

Dennis