Safety Equipment

[Bill Huson]

Kevlar breakdown?

Brian,

It is my understanding that Kevlar begins breaking down with exposure to sun and water. So that makes your gloves FAR outdated to be of any use other than gripping the steering wheel, and preventing blisters on your throttle hand.

Water and Sun are kevlars worst enemy. I also think there is a usefull life on kevlar fabric, something like 5 years ? After that it is not as cut resistent. Pat can correct me if I am wrong, but I seem to recall this information floating around somewhere.

I would believe that Kevar might suffer UV damage pending a post of an actual scientific test result to verify that. But water? Hmmmm....

Anyhoo, so what if Kevlar degrades after five years of exposure to brilliant sunlight. A heat last a few minutes, several heats a day = maybe an hour of glove exposure. Race dern near every weekend and one might expose their gloves 50 hours a year, a long way from 5 freaking years of constant exposure. And I wouldn't sweat (no pun intended) Kevlar sun exposure in the cut suits, they're covered with ballistic nylon. Oh wait, nylon degrades as well, so drivers should keep their suits in the shade when they're not using them for what - maybe 40/50 hours a year?

On another sublect, should we let our pretty female racers wear RED LIPSTICK? Contains LEAD!!! OHMIGOD!!! Lead exposure!!!

[Brian10s]

Brian,

It is my understanding that Kevlar begins breaking down with exposure to sun and water. So that makes your gloves FAR outdated to be of any use other than gripping the steering wheel, and preventing blisters on your throttle hand.

Water and Sun are kevlars worst enemy. I also think there is a usefull life on kevlar fabric, something like 5 years ? After that it is not as cut resistent. Pat can correct me if I am wrong, but I seem to recall this information floating around somewhere.

Dave,
You are probably right - I actually bought a replacement pair this summer but have not used them yet. Those old ones are finally broken in and really comfortable. That and I hate all the green goo that comes off the first year you wear a new pair. It takes forever to get that stuff off.

But the new pair will be the only ones used in 08.

[Dave M]

Green Goo

Dave,
You are probably right - I actually bought a replacement pair this summer but have not used them yet. Those old ones are finally broken in and really comfortable. That and I hate all the green goo that comes off the first year you wear a new pair. It takes forever to get that stuff off.

But the new pair will be the only ones used in 08.

Lay off the apple pucker and you won't need to cover your mouth while racing...

Bill, I see a lot of people wearing their Kevlar all day, and those that don't don't usually have it in the shade, it is in the boat all day waiting to race.... maybe 10% or less actually keep it in the shade all day, at least at the races I go to.

[T Chance]

For what its worth I Googled Kevlar:

Kevlar's strength comes from its molecular structure. Long carbon chains consisting of alternating aromatic rings and amide groups are crosslinked by hydrogen bonding. The covalent bonds between the aromatic rings and amide groups are much stronger than the hydrogen bonds, which is why there is such a great difference between the longitudinal and transverse strengths. Kevlar is highly resistant to chemicals, moisture, and heat but does show a tendency to degrade in ultraviolet light. In situations where Kevlar will be exposed to light, it is covered with UV resistant coatings.

I would think Kevlar fabric with have UV coating, or maybe we need to coat it with sunscreen.

[sponsonhead]

More on Kevlar and life expectancy

Dave is basically correct that after about 5 years, Kevlar's cut resistance diminishes. Exposure to UV, sunlight, water (mostly repeated getting wet and then drying them out in the sun, hanging on the trailer) can all take a toll on the and the protective qualities of cut suits. And, it goes without saying that proper storage (READ: Don't throw the stuff in the back of the trailer where it comes into contact with gas and oil!) is essential for long life of your Kevlar.

Regarding UV coverage, remember that the actual Kevlar is not the stuff that faces out on your cut suit. The Kevlar is the yellow colored material that is INSIDE the suit and is against your skin. That orange, red, black, blue, green or whatever color that is on the outside of your cut suit is Cordura Nylon. Cordura is the same material that is used on the outside of lifejackets, and offers a level of abrasion resistance and some UV protection to protect the Kevlar underneath.

Please read that last sentence again: Cordura is the same material that is used on the outside of lifejackets, and offers a level of abrasion resistance and some UV protection to protect the Kevlar underneath.

Cordura is NOT considered cut resistant. I have seen cases where someone's well-meaning mother, grandmother, wife, girlfriend, aunt, or whomever made something that looks like a cut suit for their beloved racing family member that looks like a cut suit, but is only made of Cordura. THIS TYPE OF SUIT WILL NOT PROTECT YOU any more than a long sleeve T-Shirt and Jeans. Inspectors and racers alike need to be on the lookout for this sort of thing.

Lastly, let's talk about buying and selling used Cut Suits. Obviously, this is probably the kind of line you would expect to hear from a guy who sells cut suits for a living, but most of the time, I try to discourage people from buying used cut suits. With lifejackets, you can always get them recovered and refurbished and make them look like new; in fact, sometimes I encourage racers who are on a budget to find a tired old lifejacket, send it back to me, and I will get it recovered for less than a cost of buying something new.

But, Cut suits are a different animal altogether: Anyone who has raced knows that a cut suit over time gets to be like your favorite pair of jeans...once you get them broken in, they wear and fit and become part of your shape. It's not going to fit the same on somebody else. And that may be a safety issue in the form of improperly fitting safety equipment. Granted, there are exceptions to this, when you have J kids that are growing out of cut suits every year, or you are fortunate enough to find a cut suit that has only been used a couple of times and is pristine. that Cut suit that has handed down from kid to kid over 10 years of racing probably should replaced, even if it looks clean on the outside.

The bottom line I like to tell people when they call me asking if I sell used Kevlar (which usually elicits a 'EEEEEEEUUUUUUUUUUUWWWWWWWWWW!' response) is this:

"You wouldn't buy used underwear, would you?"

R-19

[Brian10s]

"You wouldn't buy used underwear, would you?"
R-19

Depends, Who's ya got to sell? Not that I'm interested, it's for a friend. Xmas is coming up you know.

[T Chance]

Hydroracer strikes again. Just sent off an e-mail to Pat Gleason. Going to spend more money on my safety equipment than I did on everything probably for my first five years of racing.

[scorer]

Safety

That's good Tim, cause you ain't going to heal as quick if you hurt yourself, and you are going to be racing a lot faster than you did your first five years. How long ago was that anyway?

[hydroboyv9]

I would definatly go with Security. Rumor has it, that Lifeline actually uses plastic pockets of air for their built-in floatation. Is a plastic bag going to withstand a 65+MPh crash? I dont think so. SECURITY ALL THE WAY

[sadiemydog1]

Lifeline Jacket

Lifeline sent a prototype lifejacket to the NBRA meeting this past weekend. Was very impressed 360 flak protection very lite weight no where as bulky as they were in the past.
Art K

[Fast Jack]

Cut protection

I took my sons pro jacket apart to wash the shell and I was surprised at the material that is used for impact . The plastic is just sliped in before the floatation foam...at 120$$?? I looked up the material and it is not expensive ,also there is no cut protection offered in the life jacket. I took the impact panels and had Kevlar "Quilt "sewn on to them. I feel the makers of these jackets should put Kevlar or spectra in them, and keep the cost more related to the material and labor cost with a reasonable profit margin.

[T Chance]

I am going to buy all new safety equipment before next year, Life Jacket and cut suit. Separate pieces. I have an all-in-one right now and I hate it.

Lifeline? Security? Price is about the same, a little on the high side of $1,000.00. They are both advertised on Hydroracer. Does anyone have an opinion if one is better than the other and why?

Delivered yesterday. High side of $1300.00 actually and well worth it. I bought Tuff-N-Lite from Security and I heartily recommend it. It is so comfortable, and it is not stiff. Thank you Pat Gleason. - Tim Chance