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ION have reacted quickly to wing foiling market trends and have released a comprehensive range of wing-specific accessories this season. The Rave is a full featured and super lightweight little harness and wouldn’t appear out of place in ION’s high-end kite harness range; you can see the DNA here. The Rave is their soft shell offering alongside the Rogue hard shell, and the backplate is made from a non-water-absorbent, molded EVA providing more augmentation to body shapes. A sturdy PU coated leash line runs across the back of the harness, much like a kite handlepass system. This would be a sensible place to potentially hook your board leash to.
Entry and exits are a simple affair with a plastic PVC buckle handling the closures, which doesn’t need to be as severely engineered as a kite harness. You simply pull the webbing, which has a shiny finish, forward to tighten and the buckle will lock it off reliably with no fuss. To release it, just flip the buckle away from you and it comes loose.
Around the front, two long ears disappear several inches back into pockets in the sides of the harness planting the spreader bar into the harness both sides and make a good job of integrating the unit as one structure. The plastic front hook sits on some bungees to allow it to slide left and right four inches or so for extra comfort riding toe side. If there’s no force on it, it slides back to the central positional reliably, so you’re always hooking in and out in the same location, without having to look down and check. The hook can also be tucked to one side if you’re prone paddling back to avoid being uncomfortable whilst lying on your board.
A second front leash point is integrated in the front webbing, and can be located on the left or right of the spreader depending on your preference. Inside the harness is a matrix of molded EVA, which makes a great job of gripping to neoprene, and most importantly is extremely comfortable. The soft shell Rave is far less fit sensitive than the Rogue hard shell, so if your body shape is on the less regular size, it’s definitely worth trying on both and seeing which suits. We found it a harness perhaps better suited to freeride and waves than the Rogue, and perhaps being less powered with a more easy going and flexible build. It does a great job of relieving fatigue on longer sessions and transferring that load to your waist rather than your arms.
ION’s foil-specific Protection range has now spanned into warmer weather, with this two-piece long johns and jacket combo. This is a good move from ION and particularly practical in spring conditions when there is some variability to your day on the water. If you overheat, take the jacket element off to cool down, and if it gets cold again in the evening for instance, pop it back on.
The protection is placed in sewn-into pockets in the shins and knees down, with a much tougher finished neoprene employed to take impact and prevent abrasion. All seams have a tough blind stitch with no internal taping.
Whilst designed with foiling in mind, this suit will cross into way more situations. We took it on a hot day wakeboarding, where let’s face it, all impact protection is always a welcome addition, particularly in the shin region, where foils have a nasty habit of making contact. The knee region is also super reinforced with a grippy material, ideal for knee starting whilst wing foiling. Entry and exit to the long johns is super simple, with no zip to inhibit movement, you simply slide the shoulder straps over your arms and you’re in.
The jacket element is a minimal 2/1mm stretchy, tight-fitting neoprene with a full vertical front zip. It’s very simple and quick to get in and out of and its thermal properties are instantly noticeable. The same tougher neoprene as on the lower half of the long johns sits along the back of your elbows and stretches down to your forearms. The wrist seals are a decent tightness, as well as the waist and neck, and we didn’t experience any flushing on bigger impacts.
For summer comfort, the long johns and jacket combo makes a fabulously practical pairing, with the jacket it offers much more flexibility than a standard 3/2mm wetsuit.
