Intro
Fall Zone Coverage
Many climbers new to climbing outdoors face greater fear due to insecure landing zones. Without partners or a surplus of pads, this can dissuade newcomers or cause injury if safety is not properly addressed. The Orbit crash pad system aims to provide an answer the question: How might we facilitate safe outdoor rock climbing environments when fall zones are irregular?
This project was done under the facilitation of the Creature LLC design team.
Skills
Design Sketching
Digital Drawing
Solidworks Modeling
Keyshot Rendering
Time
6 Weeks
The Challenge
Unexpected Hazards Increase Chance of Injury
Bouldering outdoors is more dangerous than climbing indoors due to an increased number of hazards paired with a decrease in number of pads. Rocks jutting out, or nearby trees create hazards in landing zones which cannot always be comfortably protected either due to odd shapes or a lack of pads.
The Solution
Filling in the Gaps
This modular, customizable crash pad system covers main landing zones as well as peripheral hazards using closed-cell foam pads and inflatable satellite pads. Increased modularity in the system allows for customizable obstacle coverage, providing individualized safety for each climb.
Concept Exploration
Initial concepts at this stage were directed towards means of connecting multiple pads and covering previously hard to cover fall zones.
Concept Refinement
A system that aimed to protect climbers from falls on irregular landing zones was chosen as this provides the most value previously unseen in the current crash pad market. More pads can always be gained through additional climbing partners, but it is currently difficult to protect against tree and rocks surrounding a route.
System Features
The system includes two rigid foam pads, two inflatable pads, and four pieces of velcro tape, but more can be added for maximum protection. All units are packed together for easy approach hikes.
