Noctu is a company founded out of necessity. Years of wear and tear on the body under the weight of body armor and packs led to the desire to look at load carriage from a completely different angle. From that, the Flex System was born.
Designed to carry loads from 60-80 lbs, the Flex System allows you to shift the burden from your shoulders to your hips, on-the-fly.
It’s offered as a full system complete with flex belt (which is recommended for full load carriage support) or as the Thoracic Flex which is essentially that back panel alone. Due to different torso lengths, it’s sized Small, Medium, and Large. It’s important to note, neither system is rated or intended for climbing, fall arrest, rappelling, or any load-bearing use that involves suspending body weight.
Rather than introduce yet another armor carrier into the fray, Flex integrates with most front panels available.
How It Works
The core of the Flex system is the Feather Frame crafted from 3-D molded carbon fiber which is both light and rigid. Next are the Shoulder Wraps; padded for comfort with built-in channels for comms cabling and adjustable Fidlock posts for Rapid Access Kit retention.
At your waist is the Belt. Made from laser cut Cordura laminate, it offers plenty of PALS slots and is sized for proper fit. Padded, it uses Cobra buckles for reliability and durability. At the rear of the belt is the Removable Pivot Joint which serves a socket for the Link. Remove the Link and the belt and Thoracic Flex are independent and can be used alone.
The Link attaches to the Thoracic Flex which mimics the spinal column, rear ribs, and accessory muscles to take the load off of the torso and transfer it to the hips.
Both the full and Thoracic kits incorporate the Rapid Access Kit (RAK), a backpack system which is intended for loads of 20-40 lbs. Ferro Concepts has also developed an interface to allow use of their zippered back panels on the frame.
The RAK (Rapid Access Kit) utilizes Thoracic and Lumbar Frame Sheets which are PALS compatible and made Tegris. These sit atop a carbon fiber frame which interfaces with Stainless Steel and Aluminum components (for corrosion resistance) to attach the load. This is facilitated with either single or double pull of Release Actuators.
Here you can see the entire kit laid out with all of the components.
Availability
Current lead times are just a few weeks but that is sure to increase as they run through their initial supply of components. As a small business, each sale funds the next.
Learn more at www.noctu.co.
