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http://climbing.com/...base_solos_the_eiger

Anyone have details on this 5 LB Rig?

 I believe built by Pete Swan, and canopy to by Atair.

Thanks.

With climbing harnesses coming in at 9 ounces these days...I think we have a lot of room to decrease the weight of the average base rig.

5lbs with canopy is Sick Though!

Anyone got any details and pics?

From a thread, by a climber/jumper, on SuperTorpo at http://www.supertopo.com/...msg=651731#msg651731

NickD

>>That is bad ass. All BASE jumpers can thank Dean for taking a lead in making BASE gear lighter. The average BASE rig is 14 pounds and his rig is less than half that.

Since BASE jumping comes from a skydiving background, where weight doesnt matter much, everything has been much more bulky and overkill than it needs to be. That is until climbers like Dean push for lighter weight rigs. With the help of Rigger Pete in Lodi and Stane at Atair (who makes the super lightweight canopies) the gear is starting to get lighter!

cant wait till the ultra-lightweight BASE rigs are available to the rest of us.<<

That's just sick.

Well done.

Pete Swan, quiet rigging genius

I believe the rig is basically a "top half" that clips into a standard climbing harness.

I also heard that at least one major manufacturer refused to build a similar rig (they had reservations about the overall harness strength/durability and didn't want to put their name on the product).

For ultra fast/light stuff (or some high end wingsuit flights) I think that stripped down gear is the way to go. For day in and day out wear and tear, I think adding some weight in the interests of durability may suit the average jumper better.

I'm not sure if the rig used in this achievement was the same Dean was using couple of weeks ago but at least that one was not just a "top half" clipped onto climbing harness but a proper rig. It was quite interesting piece of rigging work and the rig was absolutely super slim and super light. I recall Dean saying it weighed around 5lbs (as quoted in the article), canopy used in this rig was 185 Trango from Atair.

Respect to Dean for awesome achievement!

 
Nice work treeboy

Perhaps it's a different rig then. I'd bet that he has more than one. Since the "top half" rig was built for roped climbing, there wouldn't really be a reason to use it on a solo.

Except the the "fit" of the average climbing harness is much for ergo and easier to move in than any parachute harness I have seen.

Rig or not it's especially exciting to have essentially an outsider mix an aspect of BASE, which considers itself to be about as "extreme" as it gets, only to turn the burner up on another sport I personally believe to be lightyears beyond BASE in it's ability to astound even the most jaded veteran.

Fair play to ya Mr Potter!

jon

I saw the rig sitting on the Horner's railing...

Dean said that the leg straps are continuous with no hardware, custom made for his body size, loose enough for various clothing. The chest strap you tie in a knot, as the knot is stronger than the metal hardware anyway. No metal.

To release the canopy in an emergency, you cut the slinks with a hook knife (no metal links, no 3 rings, no cables, etc)

The canopy was sitting in a pile. All white as apparently the color adds weight. Looked more like a skydiving reserve than a BASE canopy in fabric texture and lines... When asked, he said it flew well, had a lot of power in the flare, and would probably last "as long as they said it would." (hinting it's light weight sacrificed longevity for weight)

But I did not ask a lot of questions or take a long look at it.

>>Rig or not it's especially exciting to have essentially an outsider mix an aspect of BASE<<

How is he an outsider? he is a super active BASE Jumper and a super bad-ass climber. THE FUTURE IS NOW! ;-)[/cool]

Nice work Dean!!!

Classic misconception....
Even the ''white'' material is painted in to white, because the color of the raw F-1-11 is ivory white.


That canopy is TRANGO 185 sqft. Well known BASE canopy ( at least in Europe ) made by Atair Canopies Slovenia company operated by Mr. Stane Krajnc