New D4 Delta2p Portaledge
New D4 Delta2p ledge
Hello all--
Just want to let you know the past year I have been working on a radical new portaledge design for two people, where both people can have their head to the wall. There are a lot of advantages in comfort in this design, one of the best is that you always have a solid backrest (the wall) to lean if you want to sit up in your sleeping position. It's also really easy for each person to exit the ledge without a lot of weight shift or crawling over a partner. This new style of portaledge has been a dream of mine for many years, around 20 years ago I made a folding prototype, but it still needed work in the way the frame and suspension work together.
I am happy to announce that my new design, which I call the Delta2p (Delta shape, 2 person--I also plan a 3p version) has exceeded all expectation in terms of ease of setup and stability, thanks to many new portaledge design aspects I have learned with my other D4 design innovations during the past 3 years. It is also light and strong, with a six-piece curved-corner, hybrid diameter frame wth the D4 patent pending bullet joiners, which packs to 36" and is taco-proof by design.
I am looking for product testers who are interested in buying a ledge at wholesale: folks who will use the ledge in the coming months, spend time playing around with it even if not on a wall, and can send photos and feedback. I plan to build a small batch of 8-10 "pre-production" Delta2p's for such folk to get more feedback for the final production version. At least four are already spoken for.
Let me know if you are interested (respond to this email), and where/how you would plan to use it, ideally wit pictures of intended big wall objectives. I am offering this initial batch for $900USD, plus $125 international shipping ($50 for Australian orders). Product testers need to understand that this is a prototype, and that I always stand by my products and will fix, refund, or replace any defects in my design or manufacture, but also to be prepared to deal with any issues--I personally think that this design will be the future of portaledges, but have learned in my 30+ years of designing and dreaming of portaledges, that new designs always take some getting used to, and that there are always tweaks on the path to perfection. Next availability will likely be spring/summer 2020 at the earliest.
Size is 79" x 56"/33", and weight is less than 8 kilos--very similar in usable space and weight as the D4 Alpine Double ledge. Note that this design does not have the A5 divider fins--the delta shape allows the bed to be tightly tensioned, and although there will be some "friendliness" with two people, it is suitable for people who are happy with simplicity (less straps and tangles).
If you have been following D4, you will note that I live in Australia, and usually around this time, the end of the year, is when I start offering new designs. This is for two reasons--1. it's summertime here! and the shop is warm (winters are too cold to make stuff), and 2. I work as a teacher during the Australian school year (Feb-Dec), so have less time during the main northern hemisphere bigwall seasons.
If you would like to see some of the Delta2p development, check out my instagram (bigwalldeuce) and facebook (bigwallgear). Also please follow my twitter (also bigwalldeuce) as I often seem to delete my Facebook and Instagram accounts, especially around election time, but plan to keep using twitter to keep up with events of the world. I also plan to continue publishing open source info at the BigWallsForum.
You can see this new ledge's stability in Steve Pearce's video. (note this was the first 80% scale version, the current version is much bigger): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apR678UpA8E You can also see the instant frame setup here (with fabric, there is always a bit more guiding of the assembly): https://youtu.be/sS31FEQ8TiE
Some photos also below. Super thanks for your interest!
John Middendorf
D4 Portaledge/BigWallGear
_______________
