Seb Unveils Lighter Yet Stronger GEN 2 Joystick Bipod
Seb Lambang of SEB Coaxial has revealed the GEN 2 version of his revolutionary joystick bipod (aka “Joy-Pod”). The latest version is lighter yet more rigid. The GEN 2 design features a longer handle plus built-in cant adjustment. Seb’s first-generation Joy-Pod was tested last year in Great Britain. Laurie Holland has been testing a modified version of the GEN 1 design, and he reports that it is working great.
The GEN 2 design incorporates lessons learned with the first prototype. It offers more reach and less weight. A clamp on each leg allows for easy coarse height adjustment.
Importantly, the head unit now allows +/- 14° of cant adjustment. This allows the shooter to fine-tune the cant of his rifle to suit the terrain, or his preferred rifle orientation. Currently cant is adjusted with a screw on the Joy-Pod head unit, but the production version will adjust cant via a handy locking lever.
Lighter Yet Stronger Design
Seb tells us: “The GEN 2 design weighs just 20.6 ounces (584 grams) — very light for a joystick bipod — yet the new design is more rigid than my first prototype. This new design can accept about 50 pounds of weight with almost no flex.”
Seb has experimented with a variety of bipod configurations, including an offset design (shown below) with asymmetrical arms. One horizontal arm is longer than the other. This moves the rifle’s mass to one side (so it is not centered between the two feet). The goal of the offset design is to counter torque and rocking when the gun is fired. Will the offset design work? No one really knows yet.
Seb plans to offer a variety of feet/sled options — including round bases, plastic runners, and aluminum cone-style bases with spikes. In addition, at our request, Seb may experiment with large, cylindrical style feet, like those used on the Jennings chassis with integral bipod.
Seb’s joystick bipod is still in the prototype stage, so no price has been set yet. However, Seb hopes to have production versions available before the end of 2013. Perhaps a few pre-production units may be ready in time for the F-Class Worlds in Raton, NM in August.
