New Inflatable Portaledge Technology

Almostrad - paddling with haul bag works well. See video here:  youtu.be/Ltfp3Y30qhY?si=xV4…

Daniel S. - the new rainfly design is 84 inches long so it has room for head and feet without touching the fly.

Erik Harz - I’ll check that out, thanks!

Flava Flav - I tried the roll bag and sitting on it, but it still couldn’t get the pressure high enough, maybe there is a way but seems like a bigger engineering project. By the way, the pump works after being in the freezer all night.

Rprops and Climbing Weasel - yep, but you need at least >80 grams of C02 to pressurize a Multiledge, so how many tanks would you wanna bring with you?

Glowering - the ledges connect together at the D-rings with a carabiner keeping them solidly connected.

Grayson G - soon! Its looking like end of March or early April now.

Wake and Bake - the G7 pod is an amazing product, kudos to Nathan for bringing the pod to life. Freebird R&D Mountain Equipment respects the IP of climbing companies, and would not design a product that infringes a valid patent. We want to see G7 succeed and get the pods back on the market because they are a great tool to have in the wallosphere toolbox.

Since drop stitch is unbaffled and since there is no discrete suspension web on the Multiledge, it doesn’t fall under the scope of the G7 patent. Not to mention that the Multiledge is a unique design with separate technology (its a drop stitch sup with straps, not a baffled thermarest with straps). If you are curious, have a look at the patents for single point suspended inflatable platforms that came before the G7 pod (Shulze WO 2018/132021, Yandle US 2010/0299837, Haro 1994 US 5,283,916) and possibly others.

This figure is from the 2018 Shulze patent, and shows that inflatable portaledges are not a new concept. Who is stepping on who's toes depends on who’s toes are most sensitive and how one interprets the ownership of ideas.

You will see that there are only small differences in technology between these patents. The Multiledge is now patent pending, and supporting our company is supporting innovation, not duplication. The other comments by folks indicate that people see the Multiledge as an innovation and not duplication (thanks everybody!)

Developing this product for you all has been a full time job. If it was a duplication of anything it wouldn’t need all the testing I’ve done. I look forward to bringing more innovations your way, and I hope to do so with other companies that also want to in innovate and collaborate (Skot’s Wall Gear and High Mountain Gear, to name a few so far). 

Climb on and keep innovating!

Nick

Freebird R&D Mountain Equipment

Excellent comments Nick

As noted upthread I have no skin in the ledge game and did a cursory search on the USTPO based on info i scraped from the G7 website-may the best ledge win!

LFG

Stoked!!!

Multi ledge in hand…    Now who wants to team up three? 

 this ledge needs a mutli week el cap test to see how it holds up to being dry humped by ptpp 

Psyched to use this! 

Grayson G wrote:

Psyched to use this! 

Looks like a camper van workshop!!!  Nice!

Skot Richards wrote:

Looks like a camper van workshop!!!  Nice!

Its in progress, I'm a carpet walker while I work on the van, then back to the homeless pro max life. 

My new favorite piece of gear. It's so light weight and yet it stays perfectly flat and rigid which is a game changer when you have a back injury. Definitely a step up in portaledge tech. 

I took the multiledge to the big stone last week. It worked great for me (solo test drive)  

My mods: I added a grab loop (1" tubular webbing with 5" of a 3/4" PVC piping from home depot) and keeper slings to the loose parts (pump + bags). I set it up with the Gordito fly from High Mountain Gear (fits OK when you cinch the suspension straps of the ledge harness a little bit).

Wanted to add this to the discussion as a possible smaller/lighter pump alternative 

small packraft pump

I've used this with my packraft. I dont own a multiledge (yet?) or know anything about the valve, but possibly with this pump and one of the adapters it would work. 

James D wrote:

Wanted to add this to the discussion as a possible smaller/lighter pump alternative 

small packraft pump

I've used this with my packraft. I dont own a multiledge (yet?) or know anything about the valve, but possibly with this pump and one of the adapters it would work. 

Thanks for the suggestion. That lighter pump only goes to 2.5 psi, so it won’t work with the multiledge even with a compatible valve. The multiledge needs to get up around 7 psi to have the rigidity that makes it so great.

Multiledges are available from my website or HowNOT2!

Loving all the feedback, keep it coming! Anyone else on this forum used their Multiledge yet?

Haven’t used it in the real world yet; but will be taking it up the Cap’n next week. Psyched!

In the meantime; it has served as a plush heckling platform at the local plastic palace. 

Just as a disclaimer, I am a good friend of Nicks. 

When Nick offered a me a multiledge to be used for my trip on my trip to the Red River Gorge, I struggled to find a use for it in the beginning(It is the red after all). In the end, I used it as maybe the most comfortable sleeping pad in the world when lightly inflated. But after a night of heavy storms, I woke up and my partner was absolutely soaked from a leak in the tent, yet me being elevated left me perfectly dry and ready for another day of falling off my project ten times. This, combined with the ease of set up on the wall as a lover of Zions gorgeous walls, has led me to truly believe in this product far beyond just being a friend of Nicks. Portaledge tech has been almost stagnant for years, so to see someone bring true innovation to the game is breath of fresh air, and I can not wait to see what he comes up with next. 

This ledge is truly badass, and I can not wait to float some cool rivers on the way to my next wall.