Are your eyes feeling brave? Seeing the Somnium for the first time is like flicking through a car magazine and seeing an advert for strange new Japanese car – perhaps the Kia Soul.
I mean, it looks like a harness, but it’s just a bit different, you know? Best not looked at on take-off when you’re hungover, perhaps. It’d take a brave spirited pilot, or perhaps a pilot who’s never seen a pod harness before, to rush over to the Somnium in a shop and scream “this one, DEFINITELY this one!”
But we like different – or we should. Different is what brought us the the first two-liners, the first seatless harness, the first pod design, the first paraglider, the first hang glider, Leo Dickenson, David Barish, the Wright brothers, Leonardo Da Vinci. So let’s get over ‘different’ as a criticism as embrace it for what it is – creativity. A step into the unknown. To be welcomed.
The Somnium is a totally unique proposition, and it’s unique looks are born from a design brief that’s produced perhaps the best package in terms of protection, comfort and lightweight available in paragliding today…
The full review is in Cross Country 162 (August 2015).
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