Food for thought...safety equipment

[Track Junky]

Originally Posted by Damn True

The Gen II devices all have sliding tethers. Turning your head is no problem.

Sliding tethers sounds like the way to go for me and I recommend this style to all. Nothing like not feeling comfortable behind the wheel. I have trouble enough with window nets. I cant stand them.
The Hans also looks like they adjust from 10-40* degrees in 5* increments which will help with different seat combinations.

[Ron Sutton]

I can't say enough about HANS devices & Full Containment Seats. They have saved a ton of lives ... and a ton of hurt families ... since their introduction.

.

[BMR Sales]

Originally Posted by Track Junky

Sliding tethers sounds like the way to go for me and I recommend this style to all. Nothing like not feeling comfortable behind the wheel. I have trouble enough with window nets. I cant stand them.
The Hans also looks like they adjust from 10-40* degrees in 5* increments which will help with different seat combinations.

The HANS that adjusts is the Pro Model. The Sliding Tehers I think come on all HANS now. I've had a HANS for about 10 Years and it gave me the Confidence to get back behind the Wheel of a Race Car after suffering a Neck Injury that required Surgery. I got used to no Sliding Tethers as well as the feel of HANS itself quickly. When I'm Instructing, I will Not get into a Car that doesn't have the Correct Seat & Belts to use with a HANS.

T.C.

[SBDave]

I run a Hans with sliding tethers. Had it for a couple years now and love it. I freaked out before my last race (about a month ago) because I felt like I had too much motion and wondered if I needed a shorter tether. Their website made it sound like I did not. Only issue I have had with mine is that my shoulder belts tend to slide off the Hans. I think the newer models have bigger 'wings' to help with this.

Don't know if this will work or not but here's the race car (Class 10 buggy):
http://instagram.com/p/jYJ_J3Afpy/

-Dave

[Damn True]

Are you running a 3" harness? 2.5" shoulder belts help a lot. I don't like putting 3" shoulder harnesses in endurance cars. Awfully easy when in the course of doing a driver change to have a shoulder belt slip off w/o being noticed in the commotion of a pit stop. A 3hr stint is a lot of jostling around. 3" belts seem to slip off sometimes. I imagine your carcass moves around as much, if not a whole lot more in that rig than a sports car drivers does. (except at Sebring)



Don't know if 2.5" is legal in the OR world. It is in FIA, SCCA, NASA. If you have to use 3", make the most of the graphic below.

Another thing to check is the angle the harness leaves (heading aft) the hans. It should be 1-2" below horizontal. That can be tough to uniformly achieve if you have multiple drivers of differing torso lengths. Key harness config measurements below:

[intocarss]

I've been pushing head and neck restraints for years!! BUT most don't want to listen CAN'T RACE IF YOU'RE DEAD!!

[SBDave]

I'm not sure what thicknesses the belts are but they are set up pretty close to those guidelines. I'm the smallest guy that rides in the car and the other guy in my seat has at least 75lbs on me. Our belts have a chest buckle that I have to run all the way cinched. It helps but I still have some issues. I prefer having the lap belts spread most of the load on my legs and the shoulder belts snug enough to keep pressure on the harness.
Another pic for good measure.

Dave

[Che70velle]

I use a Hutchins device, because when the HANS came out, they were simply too expensive, and I didn't like the feel or fit. I brought my car home in a box one Saturday night, hitting the wall pretty much as head on as you can get, at about 65 mph. The Hutchins device I was wearing did its job. My brother actually bought me the device, right after Earnhardt's accident. The first thing I did when I got back to the hauler was tell him thank you for buying me the Hutchins.
I'll tell you boldly to your face that if your not building a safe race car, and equipping it AND yourself with all the safety features that are available, then your simply fooling yourself. If you race long enough, you WILL crash.
Great thread!!

[71RS/SS396]

Originally Posted by Track Junky

That's a great post True. I've been debating also but the truth is in the pudding right there.
I'd like to see some examples of different Hans devices. The one and only turn off(only from what I have heard) is the limitation of being able to turn your head from left to right.
Hopefully we can get some here to chime in.

You'll get use to it real fast, I don't even know it's there anymore. I wouldn't feel comfortable on a course anymore without it.

[71RS/SS396]

Originally Posted by Ron Sutton

I can't say enough about HANS devices & Full Containment Seats. They have saved a ton of lives ... and a ton of hurt families ... since their introduction.

.

I agree I've seen some fairly minor crashes result in serious injuries due to the lack of safety equipment. I researching seats now that I can install in the car for track use and switch back to the recaros for the street.