Brendan Reid has flown with the X Alps harness throughout the 09 season; though this harness was not new when he bought it (the previous owner is contemplating getting another as he now regrets selling it). Brendan has provided an honest account of this harness strengths and weaknesses that we thought we should share.
Straps and Buckles
1) legs/chest straps are the old pass through buckle type. I got these replaced by Supair light buckles but this turned out to be pricier than expected. the originals are a bit fiddly especially if cold or with gloves etc. I have used other pass through type buckles that were easier. (Kitt added- Ava now supply this harness with either austrialpin buckles or the slightly lighterweight charly buckles - the click buckles with one red button in the middle).
2) Strap layout is a separate strap for each leg and one for the waist. There is no safe-t-bar. I think that's fine and in keeping with the "light" target market.
Pod Stuff
1) As with any lightweight pod it isn’t as sleek as a true comp harness but its pretty good. Must be a fair bit better than Altirando xp even with the windsock as this has an airbag bump under your bum
2) Pod is made of light nylon rather than heavy neoprene - it will flap a bit if you don't have your legs extended to keep the shape right but normally is very clean and stable
3) It does a great job in cold weather at keeping you warm (tested up to 6500m )
Weight-shift and comfort
1) when you first sit in it you think hmmnn this is a bit wierd as your bum seems to be off the back of the seat-board but after a few flights this feels ok and works quite well for weight-shift. I would say quite a bit more weight-shifty than a WV x-rated 4 (quite a stable full race pod harness) and less than my old Supair Vamp (a very weight-shifty comp harness with stirrup from 2003 or so). I sat in a Supair altirando xp 2009 version recently (didn't fly it) and it seemed very comfy but very high hang points (poor weight-shift?)
2) Comfort is such an individual thing I hesitate to comment on it here but i am 1.75m and 75kg and multi-hour flights are fine for me and it’s actually better for me than the WV (which I didn't really like).
Durability
1) Overall harness durability is good
2) The harness is designed to be flown either with or without pod
3) The pod is light and is the flimsiest piece but stands up to abuse quite well
4) The pod footplate is supposed to velcro around the stirrup as part of the fly with or fly without pod. Some of the velcro gives up after a while and I sewed it in place. It has now come apart again so will need to sew again. Sewing it up means no hassles with the footplate moving around at the start of your flight but means you cannot detach the pod without undoing your sewing job (not a problem for me).
Safety
1) Reserve handle is at the limit of distance you want it from you.... you wouldn’t want it further away and trying to get it during high g's
2) The mousse airbag supplied with my harness is about 10cm and not worth much. (Kitt added - this has since been updated, the harness now comes with a slightly bigger volume 15cm mousse Airbag). There is considerable space in the harness and have no doubt I could fit a bigger one..... or bivvy kit.... or ballast
3) The pod attaches in a bit of a weird way underneath the harness close to the cloverleaf under-seat reserve. It took some time to get my head round it!
Angle of dangle and performance
1) I have it set up to have my body semi-upright
2) Leg angle of dangle should probably be down a bit for best aero performance but that’s not my biggest concern
3) The harness geometry slides when you apply speed bar (rotating your body back to a more reclined position) and works well but not as well as dedicated race harnesses. If you are a comp pilot on speed bar 50% of time then this would probably get to you.
Other minor stuff
1) The container for the rucksack at the back of the harness in flight is slightly on the small side. Rucksack (gradient) plus some spare clothes plus some water plus is all a bit of a squeeze.... but the zip seems good quality
2) There are lots of nice touches e.g. the Velcro on straps which prevent buckle slippage are very effective - this can make in air adjustments more tricky though
3) You can either do up all the pod straps before you take off (slightly harder to get your legs in and you might need to reach down with one hand to get the first foot in) or leave 2 straps free (easy to get legs in) and then do two plastic clips (needs 2 hands) up in the air.
Overall, I think it’s a good harness (not perfect) and a pretty fair compromise which is after all what it sets out to do.
Thanks Bren for a very honest review.
The harness currently retails for £520 and we get them in on a made to order basis, which means there is a 3 week lag to anyone’s confirmed order. ( we currently have one in stock - large 16-03-10)
