Helmets, life jackets and cut suits...

[Andrew 4CE]

Could some quote the current APBA rules regarding what specs, makes and colours are legal for SO.

Helmets: how much has to be orange, is yellow legal, is a mix of yellow and orange legal. Is DOT legal, etc...

LifeJackets: What qualifies a legal racing jacket? What colours?

Kevlars: What qualifies cut resistant? is there a spec? being devils advocate, jeans are more cut resistant than skin.

I just read the CBF rules (mailed on CD in word files) and they don't seem current... like maybe someone issued an old set by mistake or something. Has no mention of yellow at all or any other spec beside Snell 75 for helmets... there are several other racing specs for helmets out there now a days. We have 6-8 new people up here looking for gear and I want to make sure they are getting the right stuff.

Thanks

[kws]

helmets
page sr-1
rule 3.A
helmets must meet the specs set forth by ANY of the following:
department of transportation,American national standards institute, Snell, military specification helmet designed for military aircraft- Mil-spec(cgf la 100,lh 050,lh 150,lh 250; gentex hgu84p)and peltor helmets (rally pro helmets en ecu 04 or 05) are acceptable.

3.A.b for a participent who races unrestrained in an open cockpit the upper 50 percent of the helmet must be fluorescent red, yellow or orange



life jackets:
3.B.a
all lifejackets must be constructed in compliance with the APBA Life jacketbasic manufacturing specs. dated april 8 1991. available from APBA nat hq.
3.B.b
All racing life jackets must have a permanent affixed manufactures label that indicates:
1. the date of manufacture or the date of recertifacation
2.the manufacture's or recertifiers company name
3.the catagory type
gen. safety rule 3.B.c page SR-2
color requirements: All life jackets shall have at least 70% of the upper surfaces above the waist ,both front and back, international yellow or orange in color
I have yet to find specs on cut suits in the '06' rule book but be advised that the race ref. can deem you and or your equipment unsafe and not let you run.
Did i miss a cut suit rule anyone?

[Andrew 4CE]

Thx KWS...

Yeah, I've seen people wear "cut resistant pants" for chain saws while racing. My understanding of these is there is a layer of something inside them design to tear up and clog the chain saw blade and stop it almost instantly. They are MUCH cheaper than racing cut pants but look similar. If that is the way they work I would think they would provide little to no protection against a propeller. (Their leg I guess though...)

Chain saw pants...

So wondered what the specific rules are...

[kws]

very true Andrew
the blade might not cut Thru the pants but there would bo no protection from the impact of the blade. As in spreading the force of the impact out over a larger area of flesh to lessen the amout of tissue damage. altho ANY protection is better than NONE at least i Think. of course someone CAN come up with conditions that that is not true. as in i would rather have a clean 3 inch long cut 2 inches deep in the fleshy part of my thigh( grazed by a blade) instead of a 3 inch oval of dead tissue an inch or so deep but im not about to gamble that is the way i would get hit

[Lights]

helmets
All racing life jackets must have a permanent affixed manufactures label that indicates:
1. the date of manufacture or the date of recertifacation
2.the manufacture's or recertifiers company name
3.the catagory type

I thought I heard this recertifacation thing has been droped for SO? Maybe I wrong Can anyone updated us on this?

[sponsonhead]

Various Safety Stuff

Hi Andrew,

Maybe I can answer a few of your questions.

On Cut suits, you are correct; the 2006 APBA Rule Book in the outboard safety rules simply states that cut resistant clothing must be worn. So, the question is, "what is cut resistant?"

I know of one person who has manufactures "cut suits" of their own that are only made of the Cordura outer material, with no kevlar or spectra inside. This person has told me that the Cordura material of a certain denier is considered cut resistant, however in my own research, I have read that Dupont, who makes Cordura, does not consider it cut resistant at ANY weight.

Additionally, I tried to Google a definition of "cut resistant" to get something that would indicate that a fabric of X denier would qualify as "cut resistant" and I could not come up with anything. I did see that Underwriter's Laboratory has come up with a definition of "cut resistant" for the logging industry for those chain saw pants, etc, but that is the closest that I can find to any definition of "cut resistant" by an independent agency:

Where this label appears, these garments have been Classified by UL® (Underwriter Laboratories Inc.) as chain saw cut-resistant leg protection for all Operators of Gas Powered Chain Saws by using ASTM (American Society of Testing & Materials) F1414 Test Method and ASTM F1897 performance standard.


Getting back to those Cordura "cut suits", I am surprised that our safety inspectors allow racers to use something like that. Seems silly to be penny-wise and pound foolish. At the end of the day, a good cut suit is going to save you a lot of change should you wind up in the E.R.

Lastly, a question was raised about life jacket certification. It is true that at present, there is no mandatory requirement for recertification for lifejackets. However, all lifejackets must have a label permanently attached that show the date of manufacture OR of recertification. I can't speak for other manufacturers, but if your lifejacket is sent to SRP for cleaning, repair, modifications, etc, it is automatically recertified at the time the work is done, and your date tag is updated to reflect that.

That said, it does seem that the lack of mandatory recertification has caused a noticible decline in the quality of some of the equipment I see people wear. You can always hope that racers will take care of themeselves when it comes to safety equipment, but sadly, the budget all too often goes to a new propeller instead of a repair or recovering of their lifejacket.

Hope this helps,

R-19

www.gleasonracing.com

[Andrew 4CE]

Thanks Pat!

I guess it comes down to the ref of the race to determine what is "cut resistant". A person with years of sun exposure and skin like leather could be cut resistant... haha.

[Lights]

Thanks Pat!

I guess it comes down to the ref of the race to determine what is "cut resistant". A person with years of sun exposure and skin like leather could be cut resistant... haha.

LOL Hell don't it rain all the time out there? kind off like it's always cold and snowing up here. In des here nort country ah.

Thanks for clearing that up for us Pat.

Mark

[sponsonhead]

LOL Hell don't it rain all the time out there? kind off like it's always cold and snowing up here. In des here nort country ah.

Actually, it's mostly sunny here today, and yesterday it was up in the 60's here. Weather in this corner is a crapshoot, until the second weekend in July when Summer kicks off. Then, it's sunny, warm and drop-dead gorgeous until mid September, and if we've kept our Karma in good order, we get a bonus Indian Summer that runs thru the end of October.

We just tell everyone that the weather sucks to keep the Californians from migrating north

R-19
www.gleasonracing.com

[mercguy]

that's not very nice Pat............

Actually, it's mostly sunny here today, and yesterday it was up in the 60's here. Weather in this corner is a crapshoot, until the second weekend in July when Summer kicks off. Then, it's sunny, warm and drop-dead gorgeous until mid September, and if we've kept our Karma in good order, we get a bonus Indian Summer that runs thru the end of October.

We just tell everyone that the weather sucks to keep the Californians from migrating north

R-19
www.gleasonracing.com

"We just tell everyone that the weather sucks to keep the Californians from migrating north "

..........uh................well.................. ......uh..............

[sponsonhead]

D'oh!!!

"We just tell everyone that the weather sucks to keep the Californians from migrating north "

..........uh................well.................. ......uh..............

Present company excepted.

Shouldn't you be on the road by now, buddy?

R-19

[mercguy]

Present company excepted.

Shouldn't you be on the road by now, buddy?

R-19

gee thanks...............the packing has begun!

[Lights]

Speaking of packing

Daren, Did you get my package shipped?

Mark