Paragliding Kit For Cross-Country Flying

The World’s Lightest

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© Ungravity 2018

The world of paragliding has for many years pursued lightness in every detail of the equipment. We have studied products of 37 companies and compiled a list of the lightest equipment in the world. The minimum weight of a full-fledged cross-country flight kit in 2018 came to just 6.4 kilograms!

S o, let's define our goal. Most flights with a paraglider are of soaring type, so we'll be looking for a wing that can lift us to the clouds, without doing too much work on the ground. Let it be a universal kit, EN-B or higher, which is just as good for XC flights as it is for hike-n-fly adventures. It is conven-

ient to carry when travelling, light to climb mountains with, and it does not sacrifice performance for the sake of weight. Long story short, it’s the list of equipment that most of us take for every flight, just the lightest available:

A double-surface wing

A harness with protector

A rescue parachute

A spacious backpack

A concertina

A certified helmet

Two carbines

A flight device For a fair comparison, all of the equipment is calibrated for a take-off weight of 80-100 kg.

Wing

Modern lightweight wings differ from their "standard" counterparts by their lighter materials and optimized design. The most popular material for sewing is the Porcher Skytex fabric, with a density of only 27 g /m2. This is the material entirely used to make the lightest paraglider for cross-country flights, the AirDesign HERO, weighing 3.16 kg in size SM. The EN-D design with short plastic rods in the trailing edge is opti-mized for quick folding into a lightweight 50/50 concertina, which is half the length of a standard one, and only adds 180 grams to the total weight.

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W hile creating this review, we could not omit another wing in the EN-B category. Follow-ing HERO, we expected to see the famous

"combat vehicles" for X-Alps-style racing. But in terms of weight, the runner-up was a modest inter-mediate UP Lhotse, weighing 3.3 kg in size M! Almost as much, weighs the new model of Leaf-Light from Sup'Air, weighing 3.4 kg in size M, and boasting excellent all-rounder characteristics.

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Harness

The lightest option at the moment is the sporting Range X-Alps cocoon from Skywalk. At only 1.34 kg, including the protector, this harness blows its com-petitors out of the water. The second version, due to be released in 2018, will be about 200 grams heavier than its predecessor as to favor aerodynamics and comfort, but it will remain the lightest certified co-coon for long-distance flights. Another interesting option for saving weight is reversible harnesses. Performing function of a back-pack on the ground and of a harness in the air, they may allow one to reduce the total weight of the equipment. Not every reversible is well suited for long XC flights, but the Apco ChairBag V, weighing 2.55 kg with the airbag, is, in our opinion, the lightest option there is.

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The Range X-Alps 2, due to be released in 2018, will be about 200 grams heavier than its predecessor, as to favor aero-dynamics and comfort, and will boast a front reserve container

Photo: Skywalk

Parachute

There is a large number of parachutes of various designs, with a weight of less than 1.5 kilos. It seems that the lightest one that exists is the square-shaped Ultra Cross 75 from Independence, weighing 0.79 kg with an area of just 21.5 meters. However, it will only be suitable for the lightest pilots, while for the 100 kg weight, the title of the lightest goes to three models: the Ultra Cross 100, weighing 0.975 kg, the Backup X from U-Turn, weighing 0.980 kg, and the unusual SQR Light 100 from Companion in collaboration with Advance, weighing just 0.973 kg, which combines the advantages of round and square designs. Among the round parachutes, the lightest one for the weight of 100 kg is the Escape M from Swing, which is only 77 grams heavier than the champion.

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Backpack

A backpack is one of the most important pieces of equipment in the mountains. For a discipline such as vol bivouac, a backpack can’t be made from a fabric that is too thin or has too small volume, since reliabil-ity and spaciousness are particularly important in a long journey. In this review, we only take the weight into account, so the lightest backpack is the Sup'Air Track Light 350G, weighing 350 grams, with the im-pressive volume of 80 liters! Its closest competitor is the UP Summiteer Light backpack, which weighs 380 grams at a volume of 90 liters in size S.

Concertina

The lightest concertinas of Dokdo cloth weigh about 250 grams, but the minimum weight for this type of equipment is shown by the AirPack 50/50 concertina from AirDesign, which weighs 180 grams. Neverthe-less, there is an even lighter solution! The Advance Compressbag Light weighs another 30 grams lighter, which makes it the record holder in our chart.

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Photo: Sup’Air

Photo: Advance

Helmet

T he lightest certified helmet is the Sup'Air School. With a weight of 320 grams, there are only the essentials here; the more "advanced" version, called the Pilot, weighs 60 grams more, and has inserts designed to protect the ears from the cold. It also comes in four colors, instead of one.

However, if you wearing a down jacket with a hood, such inserts do not make sense, so School is our choice. It beats its closest competitor, Transalp from Icaro, for just 68 grams.

Photo: Sup’Air

Photo: AirDesign

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The Icaro Transalp helmet was "invented" during the RedBull X-Alps 2013, when pilots discovered a helmet for paramotoring without ear defenders, which turned out to be the lightest certified helmet at that moment

Flight device

W e expect from the flight device that it will allow us to climb in the thermals, and record the GPS track of the journey. The Ungravity Vario is charged by sunlight, automatically records the track and instantly reacts to changes in vertical speed due to the combination of a barometer and an

accelerometer. The weight of this high-tech minimalist’s companion is 21 grams.

Two carbines

A pair of narrowed Mousqueton carbines from Sup'Air, designed for lightweight harnesses with Dyneema connectors, will “cost” you 136 grams. With the softlinks instead of carbines, produced today by virtually every manufacturer, things look much better: a pair of soft connectors will weigh about 25 grams. They are especially useful for those who don’t like to unfasten the wing from the harness while in storage.

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The results

Wing AirDesign HERO 3.160 kg

Harness Skywalk Range X-Alps 1.340 kg

Parachute Companion/Advance SQR Light 100 0.973 kg

Backpack Sup’Air Track Light 350G 0.350 kg

Helmet Sup’Air School 0.320 kg

Concertina Advance Compressbag Light 0.150 kg

Carbines U-Turn Softlinks 0.025 kg

Flight device Ungravity Vario 0.021 kg

Total: 6.339 kg

The paragliding manufacturers in 2018 delighted pilots with a variety of lightweight equipment. We have studied products of 37 companies and compiled a list of the lightest equipment in the world. The minimum weight of a flight kit for mature soaring came to exactly 6.339 kilograms!

www.ungravity.store

In the upcoming issue: The World’s Lightest Paragliding Kit for Vol Bivouac