Great review thanks.
Iām also thinking about bringing a 3 piece paddle with my Parawing. Can you post a few pictures of your paddle and the paddle attached to your vest?
Forgive me if iām too lazy to walk down 100m through the snow in the dark to the parked car to pull it out to make some pics to upload;)
I guess this should do as well.
I asked for a Foil-X with the 3Piece shaft, see below.
I put it into this bag
And then strap it to the back of the vest with one strap through the handle strap of the bag and the blade side above so it can not slide down. Havenāt tried it yet though but seems good. Only problem might be the bag soaking a bit of water but itās relatively thin, so i hope this shouldnāt matter much. If it does i can still add a lightweight waterproof rolltop bag or similar.
In theory there are some velcro straps on the back of the vest to strap the paddle to diaggonally but not sure how this works on crashes.
The Waterpocket on the bag should fit a different size spare Parawing if needed.
I guess you could also try this. I personally prefer the vest as it sits high enough that i can still wear either the brm belt or this harness belt with the hook.
Not sure about the BRM belt, i will try sewing some sort of an elastic kanga pouch on the front and maybe also back of a rashie. Probably open to the sides, not sure. Michi from ensis suggested two different pockets for wing and bar.
Hope that helps?
BRM on sale, 20% off for the next few days I believe. Code BF2024
Very cool to see more paragliding companies joining the fray! Makes sense - parawings are just very oversimplified paragliders!
p.s: It seems I canāt edit the original post anymore. So no more updates to that first post
Since this thread seems to have captured the most attention I figure its as good a place as any to put my review/early experience with my 5.1 BRM
Background: 195lb rider, experienced winger, kite foiler on FS Peaks, and frequent Foil Driver(Sorry prone line up, I promise to get back to prone some day). Primary use case for the parawing is downwind runs, I want to collapse the parawing and just ride.
Board choice: I have had the 5.1 for a 2 weeks but finally had the perfect weekend to test it with consistent side/side off winds all weekend in the 15-20mph range. I picked up a 6.1x18 70l mid length that I figured would be my go to parawing board, and spoiler alert I am now questioning if such a narrow board is ideal for me. The mid has been perfect for me for light wind wingfoiling. Slightly more difficult to balance on but not a big issue on wing. But I had two failed runs on the parawing where I just could not get to my feet as the balance is so different so I had to dust off my first wingfoil board which is a 95l 5ā4 26 wide Fanatic and then the starts became super easy. Ideally I would probably go for similar dims to my 6.1, but probably go 20 wide to make for easier starts.
Which brings me to the feedback on the start, the information is out there but until you feel it its hard to comprehend how little low end these parawings have. It feels like it would have a ton of power on the beach. but on the water you have to start it by gradually building speed downwind and pumping the board/foil up similar to a dw board paddle start. Its not as easy to use it as a counter balance like you can with a wing. I will add that the bridle mod is a must. Its easier to control the power and use for balance with the update. Difference between a 2 line and 4 line kite its that dramatic.
Once up though, its pretty darn cool and I see a lot of potential for dw runs. Riding one handed is awesome, you have great visibility. Jibes were easy, you just have to make sure you line up your turns with the parawing otherwise it will stall and and collapse.
I managed to collapse the wing and redeploy a few times and was gaining confidence and then the excitement happened. I was surfing downwind with the parawing collapsed and bunched up in one hand, starting to get comfortable and then I breached and wiped out. My coil board leash and the bridles got tangled up and I was toast. The bridles pretty quickly got tangled around my foil and I was really toast. I had to swim in with what was a pretty effective sea anchor. I thought I was going to shred my new toy by the time I got to the beach but it turned out it was fine. I leveraged my Single Skin Peak experience to calmly untangled the bridles and in 10min I was ready to go again.
Anyway, stoked to be a newb again. Just wanted to share my experience for those considering trying this new discipline. I donāt think this will be for everyone, certainly not for just riding in place. But for dw runs and collapsing and just surfing outside swells its got a ton of potential. I would definitely not want to have it in the water on the inside though as bridles and white water are not a recipe for fun. I think having a large board will definitely help you learn faster, and also enable you to go with a smaller parawing. But I am confident that with some more practice I will figure out my 6ā1x18 midlength eventually.
I talked with the designer of the Flow parawing at the beach the other day. The have a new profile coming soon, should have the first protoās any day now.
So cool to see new innovations at a local level, some of our locals are helping with the design process by giving feedback after use.
Is that a new profile thatās different from the protos already seen? Or are you talking about the same one linked in the original post?
Iām keen on the Flow parawing because itās gaudy and Aussie
Yes, a new thinner profile for better upwind performance.
Great write up and description of the difference in balance and start procedure compared to a wing, feels similar to meā¦itās more of a board pump on a broad reach than a wing pumpā¦
Also, coiled leashes snag PW lines, kind of annoyingā¦I just got a custom calf coiled leash by XM where they used this stiff plastic ālongneckā at the calf and then kept a longer straight bit about the length of my calf before the start of the coilā¦idea is to have the coil floating at a bit of a distance from your knee when sitting on the board and handling the wing on your lap where the coil always snags the linesā¦obviously might still happen on a fallā¦when standing the coil basically lays on the board so tangling should be okā¦i am yet to try, will let you guys know how it wentā¦
I use a coiled calf leash and havenāt had any problems with tangling with the coil. I have had the bridles snag on the calf leash swivel while riding with the wing collapsed in my hand and sort of dangling down next to my leg. I think a little rubber/neoprene sleeve over the swivel would cure that issue. My leash is 4ā coiled and 4ā bungee/dyneema so maybe the short coil is less prone to tangling?
element has their preorder string wing on the websiteā> https://element-kiteboarding.com/shop/
@Erik is it possible to unlock the original post for more edits? Iād like to keep updating with the latest on the new brands
Sad to see them change the color scheme. It used to be full rainbow and it looked awesome.
Super stoked to see 3 different bridal line colors. This will make unsorting much easier.
People are definitely jumping on the craze! I used to fly the Triple7 paragliders - very impressed with their quality and designs. I hope they donāt rush this one.
BRM beginning to look old tech now?