I saw a guy in hood river who had modified a ride engine chest harness (Offshore Pack Harness – Ride Engine) in 2 ways:
- Replaced the rigid hook for an ozone hook to allow it to flatten if pushed from the side (to avoid board damage)
- Extended the hydration pack sleeve to make it big enough to carry a spare parawing (he had a drawstring I think, but a fold over top probably better to get all the air out)
I think this would be a great product for a number of reasons:
- high hook with a proper harness is great for parawing upwind legs, and keeps the waist area for stashing in an ozone style belt
- avoids the problems with backpacks where they ride up when you are in the water and knock the back of your head - plus more robust than some of the current solutions on the market where the straps fail with big impacts
Anyone have thoughts on this and/or know of anything coming to market?