Most suits are SFI 3.2A/5 or 3.2A/1. You want a "5". There are "15"'s, but they are very heavy drag suits.
The problem is that this tells you that you have a TPP of at least 19 to get SFI 5. (TPP is the thermal protection value)(divide by about 3 to get the time in seconds to get significant burn on the skin.) There are "5" suits well above a TPP of 19. Some of them are inexpensive (GForce 545 suit at under $400 gets TPP of 23 and is thin and light and well made). Other suits that are well over a thousand dollars are still only TPP 19. Underwear add to the TPP time. CarbonX is interesting stuff. If I had money to spend on new gear, it would have a CarbonX liner. Many of the new helmets have it. I at least will be getting CarbonX underwear this year. jim ----- Original Message ---- From: Chris Greenwald <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 10:17:48 PM Subject: Re: [F500] Driver's Safety Equipment Drivers Suit - Get for the best rating that you can afford. Should something go wrong, and there is a fire, you are buying yourself time to get to safety. One other note on the drivers suit, and this may be just me; but I get blisters just below my shoulder blades due to the gusset at the arms. If I were to purchase another driving suit, I would avoid the arm gussets. Fire resistant undergarments - These not only provide you another layer of protection against fire, but they also help protect your drivers suit. I personally like the Carbon X underwear, others say that it is not as breathable as the more common Nomex. If you don't have a helmet already, consider getting one specifically for open wheel cars. They will have some sort of aero device which will help prevent lift at speed. Believe it or not, your helmet will lift a little on a long straight. I have the Simpson Valor, which has a small lip on the lower portion of the helmet. It seems to work well. Head and neck restraint. I did not purchase one last year when I started racing, but I should have. My reasoning was that the SCCA would be mandating something, and I didn't want to get stuck with a piece of expensive safety equipment that I couldn't use the following year. The SCCA hasn't yet mandated any head/neck restraint; however you should consider it a mandatory piece of safety equipment. There are a number of devices available, HANS, the R3, Hutchens Hybrid, and the ISAAC device to name a few. -Chris On Jan 23, 2007, at 10:23 PM, Gene Bennett wrote: > Since you'll be in an open cockpit car, you'll need arm > restraints. Have them sewn into the suit - one less thing to > forget at home and they never slip down on you. > > Tear-offs for the face shield (I like the Speedstack ones.) And a > shield protector so the tear-offs don't scratch your shield. > (Pegasus) > > I don't know where you are, but if it gets cold and wet or hot and > humid a Fog City anti-fog overlay for your shield. I used a Fog > City Hyper Optiks one that is also photochromic. These are > available at most decent motorcycle shops. > > Gene near Seattle > > > On Jan 22, 2007, at 11:08 AM, Christopher Eveland wrote: > >> Hi all, >> >> Now that I've found a car, it looks like I'll be able to do a >> driver's >> school in March. Aside from the requirements listed in the GCR >> section 9.3.19, is there anything I should look for in a drivers >> suit, >> and related equipment? I can get a good deal on Alpinestars... do >> they make good stuff? >> >> Thanks! >> >> -Chris _______________________________________________ F500 mailing list - [email protected] To unsubscribe or change options please visit: http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 *** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! *** ________________________________ FormulaCar Magazine - A Proud Supporter of Formula 500 The Official Publication of Junior Formula Car Racing Subscribe Today! www.formulacarmag.com or 519-624-2003 _________________________________ _______________________________________________ F500 mailing list - [email protected] To unsubscribe or change options please visit: http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 *** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! ***
