Safety Equipment

D

dende

New member
I am finally getting the spriget on track this year starting with a few hill climbs. I currently in the process of shopping for safety equipment (helmet, suit, etc.) and was looking for some advice/guidance from others. I am curious to what everyone uses, I will be primarily in the northeast this and next year so I will not be seeing the heat that can be found in the south.

I look forward to hear from everyone,
Mike
 
Get the best you can afford. http://www.saferacer.com, http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/

Go out to the SCCA page and see who has discounts for members.
 
You can also find good deals on used stuff online if you don't mind someone else's sweat...
You can regularly find suits for less than 1/2 price on Ebay from pro teams that change sponsors or rent-a-seat pros that run a couple events and switch teams or whatever. As long as you don't buy one that says Scott Tucker on the back, you'll probably be OK. Just be sure to ensure the sizing and condition is good.

I picked up a Sparco FIA-rated suit for $250 from Green Lantern Racing.. These suits were over $1000 new. When it showed up, the only wear was some lint/fuzz stuck in the velcro. unfortunately, the European sizing chart on Sparco's size didn't agree up with my well-fed TX figure, so it didn't fit. I could fit in it, but I wasn't comfortable. I was able to sell it to a slightly smaller friend and get my money back.
 
Mike... Autocross, hill climbs, road racing... done them all. If you don't do anything else, get a HANS, get a good wrap around seat, and put a head restraint on it. Keep the head restraint tight on your helmet and it won't cause any wind resistance... but it will save your neck if you roll the car... go off a cliff... or crash into another car. Other than that, go have some fun!

Bob
 
You can always call me direct at Pegasus.800-688-6946 ext 1225 I'm an SCCA racer and will do the best I can to help out.

www.pegasusautoracing.com
 
Thank you everyone for your input. I have a good idea now of what to get and look forward to seeing some of you on the track in the next few years!
 
If possible get out to some events, see what people are using, and talk to people.

You have to have a HANS device, there are a couple options.

Suits, most you will find meet the same safety ratings but some are lighter.

If you are in the northeast, some events do get plenty warm.

Seeing other cars in your race class can also be a big help, most drivers are very helpful.
 
You don't have to buy a HANS, there are many other solutions that don't support a legacy of shady business practices. Nexgen and Safety Solutions both have awesome products and they didn't sue or legislate the competition out of the game.

I have used a lot of Racequip products and they make some nice reasonably priced gear. My new harness and Helmet are Racequip. I had a new race suit but the large was too tall a friend bought it before I even tried it on. HAHA
 
In total agreement, there are head and neck safety devices which test better than HANS.

Following is test info comparing the HANS and the Safety Solution R3. When one scrounges up data, the Defnder/NecksGen Rev ( the company HANS sued the crap out of and their still doing business) tests equal frontal to the HANS and better at the 30 degree impact. It would be interesting if SFI required all manufactures they verify to the SFI 38.1 certification to provide all included sled test data. Then buyers could make a better decision other than the typical if NASCAR and F1 use a HANS it's good enough for me attitude. Please note NASCAR and F1 also have other mandatory devices which shall be used with the HANS. I'm not saying the HANS is not an ok unit, but I'm saying there are other good units. At the get-go I had an Isaac, I now have a DeFnder and if I were to buy another, it would be a NecksGen Rev. Why, because from the data I can scrounge I believe each of the three provide more lateral protection and require less additional lateral protection stuff.

http://www.ogracing.com/blog/2013/01/guest-post-head-and-neck-restraints/
 
Great info on head restraint devices. After reading that article Safety Solutions and HANS are now one company (Simpson) and the data for the other was not available at the time. I did a very quick search on those three brands and the price point is the around the same for all three. I see the data for safety solutions is far superior to that of the HANS. One question, are there requirements on a helmet to adapt to these devices? When pricing out helmet/head restraint the less expensive combo may be my choice if my safety is near equal in both situations.

Thank you for your input,
Mike
 
All modern helmets will come with the anchor points installed. You buy the hardware for your specific restraint and bolt them on.

it would be interesting if SFI required all manufactures they verify to the SFI 38.1 certification to provide all included sled test data.
Click to expand...

I would expect when HANS coerced SFI into allowing them to write the rule, they probably did force manufactures to do sled testing. They probably figured they could cut some competition by forcing everyone to pay for the sled test. There is a reason ISAAC devices are banned. Guess you can write the rules to limit competition then sue the rest out of business. I like Trevor from Safety Solutions and he was the head engineer who has done tons of sled testing with NASCAR. Plus he wants to share what he has learned with anyone who will listen.
 
Very interesting matrix put together on head and neck restraint devices. Please note HANS doesn't offer much info, zero impact info only. Also found info that in 1998 HANS and Mercedes/Chrysler were doing testing for F1 and a comment was included they were only concerned about zero degree (forward) because for F1 they could use other stuff for lateral impact.

http://www.am-rennsport.com/HNR.html
 
Not disagreeing with Brett, but just wanted to point out that ISAAC did perform and publish sled test results, and had very good straight and 30 degree results. I bought an ISAAC on the strength of those results and was not at all happy when SCCA de facto outlawed it.

I'm very happy with my NecksGen, I think it's better than a HANS in two ways - it looks to provide better lateral support, and also doesn't stick up so high in back (which can cause a problem trying to get out of the car quickly with a HANS in place).
 
No disagreement Al, I poorly worded the reason ISAACs was banned. It had nothing to do with there performance, which was better than those H&N terrorist. I meant to point out that the reason ISAACs devices were banned was because hans wanted to write the rules such that any competition wouldn't be able to enter their market.
 
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