The Harness Files: part 2

Bastienne Wentzel takes a deep dive into the latest developments in harness back protection

You can find part one of this series here

Honeycomb protectors are fairly new in paragliding harnesses. These absorb energy by deforming, as opposed to displacing air like foam or inflatables. Koroyd, the green material that looks like fused plastic straws, has been around the longest. Recently, two new developments appeared on the market. Alumina from Nova is similar to Koroyd but made from aluminium instead of polymer. Orikami from Niviuk, technically not a honeycomb, looks like a hard plastic version of the Japanese paper art.

All have pros and cons, but being so different from the foam pads and airbags that we are used to, there are a lot of questions around these protectors. Let’s look at the most important issues.

First developments

Paraglider pilots first heard of Koroyd when...