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BIG Bounces, HUGE surfs, Elevated Freestyle
The Unprecedented Freestyle Highline Experience
Quick Specs:
| Stretch | 14.35% @ 6kN |
| Material | Nylon |
| Weight | 44 g/m (2.96 lbs/100 feet) |
| MBS | 22.2 kN (5,000 lbf) |
| WLL | 7.3 kN (1,667 lbf) |
Style
Playful
Stable
Best Tension
0kN
2kN
4kN
6kN
8kN
10kN
This is the single length pieces of Paradigm. If you are looking for a Freestyle Kit, you can see them here: Paradigm Freestyle Kits
We set out with a clear goal: To make the best freestyle highline webbing imaginable.
Now, after a year of testing, and multiple prototypes later, we believe we have finally hit our mark.
In collaboration with Ian Eisenberg, Balance Community is truly proud to present:
Paradigm
A lightweight, high-stretch, abrasion-resistant tubular nylon webbing, designed for an unprecedented Freestyle Highline experience.
Paradigm was designed from the ground up to be the perfect balance between high-performance, comfort, durability, and weight. Dubbed "The Cheater Line", Paradigm offers a sublime line experience, unlike anything you've ever felt before. With its soft, bottomless bounce, powerful acceleration, and super-lightweight construction, you will truly float on this line.
Paradigm is the first of its kind. Following a year of rigorous field-testing and highly-detailed feedback from none other than Ian Eisenberg, we have been able to produce a webbing that is truly remarkable. Paradigm is the only highline webbing available that has been designed from the ground up alongside one of the strongest freestyle athletes in the world, to give you an unparalleled bounce experience.
Paradigm was made BY Freestyle, FOR Freestyle.
Made in the US.
Freestyle Focused
Built from the ground up for Freestyle Highlining
Paradigm was built from the very beginning to be optimized for freestyle. What does that mean exactly? A good freestyle webbing has a number of characteristics that set it apart from off-the-shelf webbings:
1.) Stretch
The first spec that most people look at when considering which freestyle webbing to buy is the raw stretch of the webbing. However, there is much more to stretch than just % of elongation at a given tension. In freestyle, a highliner will typically bounce the line many times over and over, increasing and decreasing the tension of the line as they push into each bounce. At critical moments within the bounce, stability and power are needed. To achieve this ideal line behavior, we need a steep stretch curve - The change in stretch as the tension changes. Bouncing on a webbing with a less-steep stretch curve, we experience a hard "floor", or resistance at the bottom, causing shakiness and instability. With a steep curve, the entire range of motion within the bounce is fluid, and it never really feels like there is a bottom.
Paradigm brings that feature straight to the front. The stretch curve is very steep in the critical tensions that freestylers use (2 - 5 kN), resulting in a super-stable, yet deep and powerful bounce.
Adding to that, Paradigm sports a very low optimal tension (1.8 - 2.2 kN), making it a breeze to tension, even while rigging alone (using a compound or multiplied Buckingham tensioning system).
2.) Weight
A more recent discovery in the freestyle world is the effect of line-weight on one's ability to do certain tricks. A lot of freestyle tricks require that the webbing moves in a large ellipse around the highliner as the tricks are executed. A heavier line creates a ton of momentum, making it much harder to stop and steady the line, causing a much higher difficulty in sticking “feet-to-feet” tricks. Whereas, a low line-weight allows the highline to be moved around much easier and much faster, giving more potential for more technical and more dynamic tricks. Remember that a single gram per meter increase in the main and backup webbings on a standard 70m freestyle line adds 140 grams to the total line weight!
Paradigm comes in at an industry leading weight of just 44 grams per meter
3.) Durability
With how dynamic and frequent the interactions between the highliner and the webbing are on a freestyle rig, durability of the line is paramount. We will discuss this feature much more in-depth in the below section.
Durability as a Feature
From a coating, to a trick zone, to the specific weave
As we discussed briefly above, freestyle highlines have a ton of interaction between the highliner and the highline, as well as between the leash + ring and the highline. For this reason, we made durability an absolute priority in the design of Paradigm.
It starts at the weave itself. The general style of weave that Paradigm uses is similar to most other freestyle webbings - a plain tubular weave with colored marker yarns somewhere on one or both faces of the webbing. However, if we look closer at the building blocks of that weave, Paradigm goes a step further. We use twisted yarns in the construction of Paradigm. This means that every single strand of yarn in the weave is twisted together with another yarn of the same size and type. This limits the surface exposure of each individual yarn, giving it a much better resistance to abrasion damage.
Second, after Paradigm is done weaving, we apply our signature LineSkin Resin Coating. If you haven't heard of this coating, it's incredible at providing a barrier for abrasion. This coating is not just a liquid that is put on the webbing - it's actually nano particles that latch on to the individal yarns and act as a shield for anything coming in contact with the webbing. It repels dirt, water (Paradigm floats), and provides a buffer for direct abrasion.
Third, the trick zone! This deserves its own full section. See below.
The Trick Zone
Extra protection where it's needed most - where you bounce!
One of the defining traits of a freestyle highline is that the highliner typically stays in one area of the line for the duration of the session. This is usually just a few meters right in the middle of the line. This results in a huge amount of leash falls and a LOT of abrasion concentrated in one small section of the line.
To combat this, freestyle highliners have begun using tubular "sleeves" in the middle of their lines to protect their webbing. With these things in mind, we have developed our own version of this sleeve. The Freestyle kits that we offer on Paradigm come with a 5m sleeve that is prethreaded onto the end of your rig. Our sleeve is unlike a lot of other sleeves, in that it sits on the double webbing very tightly. It's 32mm wide, so it just barely fits over the main and backup lines, preventing the sleeve from feeling loose and "slippery".
On our Paradigm kits, the sleeve is free floating, it can be slid to any location along the length of the line after the line is tensioned. It it recommended to do the sliding when your line is tight, as it will be much easier to move this way. It is also recommended to mark where you set your static anchor on your mainline once your sleeve is set to your desired location. This will make rigging the next time much easier.
Do not remove the protective sleeve from your rig. Choosing to do so is done at your own risk - voiding the warranty on your kit.
X-Flip For The Win!
Stitched in the middle and fully flippable!
Freestyle webbing stretches a LOT, particularly modern tubular freestyle webbings. For this reason, the backup line needs to be considerably longer than the mainline, especially since it acts as further stabilization for the highliner during these massive dynamic tricks.
With such a long backup, often times 18 - 20% longer than the mainline, the risk for a massive fall in the event of a mainline failure is quite large. For this reason, we have opted to add a middle stitch in our Paradigm freestyle kits. This "X-Stitch" provides a hard point between the mainline and backup line, positioned directly in the center of the two lengths of webbings. This hard point acts as an absorption of fall distance, drastically reducing it compared to a non-stitched line.
In the event of a mainline failure, there is still half of a tight mainline on the opposite side of the stitch that can absorb some of the slack from the brokenhalf's backup. This will significantly lower the fall distance in this very dynamic event.
One of the key benefits of the X-Stitch over other stitched backups is that it allows you to flip your rig and use the backup line as the mainline. This is great for the longevity of your rig as you can extend the life of the full setup considerably by flipping it every couple of rigs.
It is recommended that you flip your setup every 2-4 sessions to maximize the length of time you can use the rig. As soon as either of the webbings are showing signs of degradation, the entire rig needs to be retired.
Safety
Some safety considerations for freestyle rigs
Inspect Your Rig EVERY SESSION
There is a LOT of potential to damage your line during a freestyle session. It is imperative that you check every meter of your line before AND after each and every session. Retire if there is ANY doubt of safety. Paradigm is a low strength nylon webbing that is tubular in structure, giving it less durability than a multi-layered flat webbing.
Limit UV Exposure
UV and Nylon do not mix. There is a very steep decline in the strength of nylon tubular webbings after prolonged exposure to UV. Do not leave Paradigm perma-rigged or rigged for longer than a few days at a time.
Only trick in the Trick Zone
Freestyling on your line causes significant abrasion and can lead to mainline failures if done outside of the Trick Zone. Keep your freestyling on the tubular sleeve.
Do not remove the tubular protective sleeve
The protective sleeve that is meant for the trick zone is there to protect your webbing. Removing it will expose the delicate nylon tubular webbing beneath, subjecting it to further risk of damage. Do not remove the sleeve - doing so will void the warranty on your freestyle kit.
Retire your rig if any of these things are true:
- Obvious fading from prolonged UV exposure
- Damage to any of the warp yarns (fibers going along the length of the webbing)
- Excessive fuzziness on the face or edges of either webbings
- Stiffness when not rigged. If you can hold up a foot or two of webbing without it falling over, it's time to retire this rig.
This is not an exhaustive list. Please use your better judgement on deciding when to retire your rig and take the above precautions to extend the lifespan as much as possible.
Testimonials
A message from the man himself
"After nearly a year of studying webbing behavior and testing various prototypes with Balance Community, I am very happy to present Paradigm, a next-gen freestyle webbing that I'm proud to put my name behind. Effortless Yoda Rolls, huge, stable bounces, and insane 'pop', this truly is 'The Cheater Line'. Get ready to take your freestyle game to the next level with Paradigm."
- Ian Eisenberg
Tech Specs
Dimensions
Width – 25.4 mm (1.00 inches)
Thickness – 2.3 mm (0.09 inches)
Weight – 44 g/m (2.96 lbs/100 feet)
Strength
MBS – 22.2 kN (5,000 lbf)
WLL – 7.3 kN (1,667 lbf)
Abrasion Retention – 0.65
Webbing Anchors
AWL4 Mean Strength – 23.7 kN (5,328 lbf)
AWL4 MBS – 22.3 kN (5,013 lbf)
AWL5 Mean Strength – 22.4 kN (5,035 lbf)
AWL5 MBS – 19.6 kN (4,406 lbf)
AWL6 Mean Strength – 23.0 kN (5,170 lbf)
AWL6 MBS – 22.9 kN (5,148 lbf)
MightyLock Mean Strength – 23.0 kN (5,170 lbf)
MightyLock MBS – 22.1 kN (4,968 lbf)
Webbing Grips
LineGrip Slippage – No slippage up to 100% of WLL (15 kN)
Wafer XL Slippage – No slippage up to 150% of WLL (15 kN)
Wafer Slippage – No slippage up to 150% of WLL (6 kN)
Sewn Loop
Mean Strength – 21.2 kN (4,766 lbf)
MBS – 20.2 kN (4,541 lbf)
Thread Type – 208-lb Bonded Polyester
Walkability
Style – Optimized for dynamic movements at all tensions. Best with a lightweight backup.
Optimum Tensions – 1.8 - 2.2 kN (404 - 500 lbf)
Preferred Lengths – 15 - 100m (50 - 330 feet)
Material
Raw Materials – 100% Nylon
Weave Structure – Plain Tubular Weave with colored edges
Weave Zoning – Single Zone
Walkability
Style – Optimized for dynamic movements at all tensions. Best with a lightweight backup.
Optimum Tensions – 1.8 - 2.2 kN (404 - 500 lbf)
Preferred Lengths – 15 - 100m (50 - 330 feet)
Highline
Approved – Yes
Backup Length – How long should the backup be with a Paradigm mainline?
- 50m main - 59m backup
- 60m main - 70.8m backup
- 100m main - 118m backup
- 120m main - 141.6m backup
- Other lengths - Backup 18% longer than main
Stretch
1 kN – 1.58%
2 kN – 3.52%
3 kN – 6.93%
4 kN – 9.94%
5 kN – 12.25%
6 kN – 14.35%
7 kN – 16.02%
8 kN – 17.61%
9 kN – 18.95%
10 kN – 20.13%
11 kN – 21.23%
12 kN – 22.17%
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