Prolimit Vapor 2018
Reviews / Mens Harnesses
6,739
At a Glance
The Vapor is a semi-rigid harness from Prolimit, it uses an internal load plate, which is very stiff vertically but has quite a bit of flex horizontally. The harness can be used with either their Universal Rope Bar or the Fat Bar traditional hook set up. It’s always great to see choices like this with a harness of this standard.
Both the hook options are well made and feature a generous EVA spreader bar pad to reduce any pressure on your ribs from those heavy hangtime sessions. They also feature the Slide In Barpad technology, which firmly integrates the spreader bar into the body of the harness and stops it from rising up.
Inside the harness, there is a generous helping of neoprene for comfort as well as a moulded EVA skin for comfort and to stop the harness sliding around. The whole harness is 3D shaped and uses a reasonably low profile. The goal of the hardback is to offer similar levels of support to a harness with a much higher profile.
Getting the harness on is easy with the simple Velcro belt fastening first, then it’s just a case of clicking in the Fat Bar system and cranking up the webbing. Four webbing straps are used to help hold the spreader bar down, and with the integrated Slide In Bar Pad technology the spreader bar stays locked down even on those crazy boosting sessions.
The comfort levels are very high, and over an hour or so we didn’t notice any real pressure points or discomfort. On longer sessions of over three hours we did start to feel the harnesses presence, a little like Darth Vader; however, this was only slight pressure on the hipbones of the tester.
There was nothing uncomfortable about it, and I think this is due to the lateral flex of the harness allowing it to pull in over time. Of course, it is this very same lateral flex that allows the harness to fit a wide variety of riders and makes the harness extremely comfortable when you first put it on.
We loved the Universal Rope Slider bar and found this fitted on some other brands of harness too.
Overall
The Vapor is a very comfortable harness, which should suit a wide range of riders. The lateral flex makes the harness comfortable in the first instance and also allows it to fit lots of different body shapes compared to a rigid design. The Fat Bar click in spreader bar system works well and is easy to use, and we loved the generous EVA spreader bar pad, which added to the comfort levels.
The spreader bar locks in place exceptionally, and the harness stays low on your body and doesn’t rise up. It also hugs you and doesn’t twist. If the rigid harnesses out there don’t fit your back or body shape, then the Vapor offers the advantages of a rigid design with a more forgiving fit.
For more information visit Prolimit
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By Rou Chater
Rou has been kiting since the sports inception and has been working as an editor and tester for magazines since 2004. He started IKSURFMAG with his brother in 2006 and has tested hundreds of different kites and travelled all over the world to kitesurf. He's a walking encyclopedia of all things kite and is just as passionate about the sport today as he was when he first started!
