Javelin Odyssey's New "Stabilized Lateral System"

[tsf 0]

Does anyone have experience with this relatively new option on the Javelin Odyssey? Is it the real deal and something that makes the Javelin an option to more seriously consider over other options (assuming here that cost is not a factor)? Or is this new lateral system just marketing fluff and nothing remarkable?

[pchapman 279]

Looks like the solid lateral design we've seen on Vectors since at least the early 1980s?

Funny how they seem to omit that in their ads.

Or is there more to it?

I can see it to have a role in reducing rig lift when sitflying for example, although most companies haven't gone that route.

At least it gives people an option, as not everyone likes the same things on rigs.

[RiggerLee 61]

I've seen that stiffener on vectors cause wear over time. It's a stiff peace of plastic that can't bend and shift with every thing else. It can cause a point load at the corners wearing on the fabric of the container over time. Look at any old ass beat up Vector 2.

What's the point really?

Lee

Lee
lee@velocitysportswear.com
www.velocitysportswear.com

[pchapman 279]

Agreed -- at least on the way they were implemented on Vectors, they could start to rip fabric at the corners of where they met the container. Haven't looked to see how the detail design might be better on a Vector 3.

On a couple old Vectors, where the laterals were quite short as they often were in the 80s on many rigs, I have cut off the stiffeners to allow for more flex in the harness, opening up the harness a little.

[Boogers 0]

If you just get adjustable laterals, you pull the darn backpack against your back tight, and that's as stable as you can get. If it's loose enough to wiggle back and forth, and up and down, then the laterals are too long. You shouldn't have a gap between your back and the rig anyway. And adding stiffeners is treating the symptom, rather than the disease.