The Sock – #KeepYourSockOn

They were laughing. He liked to talk to her about paragliding because she always had those fantastic ideas coming from nowhere. He was presenting her their new pod harness and was kind of hoping secretly that she would help to name it.

She was looking at him. He was so passionate when he talked about paragliding. His eyes were shining and she knew that he was kind of looking for her approval.

– “This harness is so comfy, it is tight everywhere, it makes me think of a climbing shoe!” He said.

– “Come on!” she interrupted him: “You cannot talk about a climbing shoe to present something as comfortable!

– “And why not?”

-“Because when I think of climbing shoes”, she made a face, “I only see painful toes, that’s why!”

He scratched his head, he looked a bit disappointed. For him, the image of the climbing shoe stuck well to the product: stiff and comfortable, and above all so precise! Yet he suddenly had this terrible vision of his feet after a multi-pitch route. She was damned right.

She could feel he was annoyed. He was thinking while looking at his feet. She noticed he was wearing mismatched socks. One was covered by bright limes, the other was blue with fluffy clouds. She looked at her socks. They were decorated with red strawberries.

She had an idea but decided to create a diversion. She kissed him and said with her sexy French accent: you can keep your socks on…

The Sock – The pod harness that fits

How to describe The Sock…

…in one word?
comficient ^^

…in one image?
This sigh of satisfaction while putting on your favorite socks

…in one dream?
Put on your sock at sunrise and keep it on until nightfall

Designer’s words…

The specifications for The Sock were as long as top model legs but we wanted a harness as simple as flip-flops. Sticking to our philosophy, The Sock is light, comfy and robust. An everyday pod harness that will take you from your all-day long XC, hike-and-fly training, XC competition to your Bivy project. The Sock is a versatile product offering the most efficient feel in the smallest packed volume.

Nicolas' interview
What was the idea behind the Sock harness?
We wanted a light pod harness but an everyday one. Light (and compact) enough so you’re happy to take it for hike and fly or the occasional bivy project, but robust enough so you’re not scared to take it out of your rucksack even on rough grounds. So we wanted to be below 3kg, with robust materials. Light and durable as always at AD.

Would you say it’s a stable harness?
We wanted it stable and agile. Stable when you hit real turbulent conditions, or have to stall your glider for a recovery without losing control, agile because we like to carve our turns, we like the feel when you weightshift and the glider obeys. We reached that with a stable geometry but a relatively stiff back, hip flanges, and a particular connection of the leg straps: all your movements transfer directly to the risers for a great connection to the glider and efficiency and precision in your turns.. The opposite is true but on some unwanted glider moves, the front triangulation dampens/stops the moves: you never experience the feeling of falling with this harness.

By the way, why did you name it “the Sock”?
The idea is that you’re in close contact with your harness from armpits (or shoulders) to your knees. You’re not « floating », you’re not « squeezed », so you have the contact but not the drawbacks. This gives you the best possible feel, comfort and weightshift efficiency. And it’s unlike all other types for pod harnesses (seatboards, hammocks)… You can also very easily and safely pilot seated (legs bent). For safe top landings for instance or during a flight incident. And it makes it a great first pod harness when you seat a bit upright.

Could you please give more details about its storage capacity?
We wanted plenty of storage and options. More and more pilots go for small bivy adventures, once in a while, they would need it and don’t want a specific harness for that. And it’s always convenient to grab your sandwich or GoPro easily without searching.

What about the protector?
No compromise about safety, that’s our motto. The inflatable protector provides the best ratio shock absorption / volume. We went for that. With great certification results. You can even keep it when you partly fill the volume up with your sleeping bag on a bivy, and fill up the rest with a bit of air. The rescue container: right in front of your eyes. No risk for unintentional opening, always on sight. Rescue ideally pulled out with right hand (egonomically oriented handle and right side rescue risers to the shoulders), but if you have the bad luck to have your right arm stuck, left hand will work too.

If you had to sum it up in few words?
Well, instead of making a superlight harness you can sometimes use for XC, we thought we make a comfortable XC harness you can also use for hike and fly and bivy. That’s the Sock!

You are a XC pilot, could you share your experience with the harness?
I flew about 200 hours with it. I’ve always been a fan of very light pod harnesses, but was limited with airtime. After roughly 6 hours of being myself the harness structure, I was exhausted and/or ending with a painful back. Now I have a harness with a structure. and that’s a big change! So I’m staying fit longer and can fly over 8 hours, landing in good shape. Mission accomplished if the harness had been just for myself!

Construction & Features

The sock-fit-concept: tight everywhere around you, but seamless, no pressure point, no blisters.
Light and robust materials for everyday, every terrain use.
Stability when you need it, authority when you want it.
High efficiency AirPillow, inflatable back protector (from thighs to upper lumbar area).
Super simple and safe 4 point clip-in system.
Stiff and comfortable 3D-shaped back (is your back full flat?).
Front rescue container with ergonomic handle prehension, shoulder connected risers.
Large side pockets, huge back container, battery pack mesh sleeve and zipped nose pocket.
And so much more!

Technical Specifications & Colors

Total Harness
Weight
Pilot
size (cm)
ColorHarness
Certification
Impact Pad
Certification
The Sock S2.60 kg150 - 170FlameEN1651 /
NfL 2-565-20
120kg
CE 1013230801/OE
35 G
The Sock M2.75 kg165 - 185AzurEN1651 /
NfL 2-565-20
120kg
CE 1013230801/OE
35 G
The Sock L2.90 kg180 - 200LimeEN1651 /
NfL 2-565-20
120kg
CE 1013230801/OE
35 G
The choice of your harness size is important. The chart will help you to choose but we recommend that you try the harness at one of our dealers.
50 kg55 kg60 kg65 kg70 kg75 kg80 kg85 kg90 kg95 kg100+ kg*
150 cmSSSS
155 cmSSSSS
160 cmSSSSSSS/M
165 cmSSSSS/MS/MMM
170 cmSSS/MS/MMMMMM
175 cmMMMMMMM/LM/LL
180 cmMMM/LM/LM/LLLLL
185 cmM/LLLLLLLL
190 cmLLLLLLL
195 cmLLLLLL
200 cmLLLLL

* Maximum equipped pilot weight 120kg

Special Colours desired?

The color combinations made on this simulator do not take into account the effects of transparency. They are only indicative and allow you to give the information of choice of color to your dealer.

The sock – #KeepYourSockOn package

Delivery

  • Edelrid Foras Carabiners
  • Inflatable AirPillow Protector
  • Superlight Rescue Risers
  • Inflating / Packing bag
  • 3-Step Speedbar