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Are you a Crash Test Dummy? PDF Print E-mail
While flying in my Sup'Air AltiX harness last season I had often reached round and been slightly concerned by how soft the airbag felt, so during a recent visit to the new Sup'Air facility at Annecy we took the opportunity to ask...

 

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Component testing
Sup'Air built their own test rig a couple of years ago and use it for testing structural component (carabiners, buckles, webbing etc) and also for testing the efficacy of their protection systems. My Altix was already being strapped into the rig as Philippe Clerjon, joint boss of Sup'Air explained their new harness protection philosophy:

"We have changed the way we design the protection in harnesses. Nowadays we arent concerned particularly with protecting against small falls on launch or minor mishaps - the Cordura and structure of the harness takes care of this regardless. We wanted to prevent major spinal damage in the event of a serious crash."

"The problem with conventional Bump'Air type protectors and also many of the Cygnus airbags is that they are too hard and transmit high forces to the spine, and you also get a big bounce effect with danger of injury on the second landing"

Sup'Air sought medical opinion on the force that the human spine can withstand. Obviously this depends on many factors such as age, gender and physical condition but a good rule of thumb is 20 'g'. With this in mind they set about redesigning their protection systems and have come up with the enclosed airbag designs now incorporated into the Airtech and further refined on the Altix. The modified Cygnus system on the AltiRando range is also 'softened' by virtue of the valve into the rear storage compartment.

So what about the results? All three of these harnesses achieve about 20g transmitted without any airflow, i.e with just the pre-inflation sheets acting to open the void in the harness. Once inflated (simulated with a compressor blowing air into the valves) they all achieve around 17g transmitted. Whats more, they all have very little rebound, with almost all the shock absorbed on the first impact. This can be seen on the deceleration curve on the video.  Compare this with 38g for a Bump'Air 17cm in a Profeel XC2 harness and you start to see how effective this new generation of protection is. A 17cm Bump'Air is one of the thickest on the market with many manufacturers sticking with 14cm or even less!

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Profeel strapped in ready to go
Watching these tests is sobering. The harnesses are dropped from around 2.5 to 3m strapped to a mock torso. This doesnt sound much but seeing the impact brings one word to mind - OUCH!

One thing is for sure, I am now a convert to the new systems Sup'Air are designing. In the sort of impact simulated on the test rig, I want an Altix under me, or even better - make it two! Not only is this our best-selling harness because of its features, comfort, lightness and low volume, it also offers as good-a-protection as you can find.

Sup'Air are really leading the field here, who is the crash test dummy for your harness manufacturer, I hope its not you! 

To see the video of an Airtech harness being tested on the Sup'Air rig click here
 
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