Jason R

I agree that the discussion threads on the Racing/DE forum was pretty good. I'm trying to make the same decision right now and it's between the HANS and the R3 for me.

For reference, here's the link for the info on the R3:

http://www.lfttech.com/

Here's the link for the Isaac:

http://www.isaacdirect.com/

Hope that helps somebody. . .

gbaker

Keep an eye on this: http://www.headrestraint.org/. I expect it will ultimately condense all the available info into one place.

kary993

I like the Isaac for the unencumbered feeling compared to the HANS or R3. That could be because of my long torso but I still think the Isaac is better in many respects. You can see some of the threads in the racing forum on this.

Regarding your question though, You do not have the problem of device angle for the Isaac like you would for the HANS in your situation. Moving the Isaac between the vehicles in your case is as simple as removing the small ring holding the pin on each seat belt and putting it back on the other car belts. I do not think the other manufacturers can say this, not sure about the R3 though in terms of sitting position.

Look into the Isaac, simple and elegant soultion and provides a bit of protection from side hits as well.

K964

There are deals on the HANS out there. I purchased mine from Stable Energies for $795.

Martin S.

Regardless of venue...HANS is the way to go. I have a POC buffy, P-Dilly. He was in a stock car and was hit hard. He suffered a neck injury and has been living in various states of misery dever since.

I am asking Santa to bring me a HANs device along with some new belts and a new helmet....cheap insurance.

IMHO, sonner or later they will become mandatory, only in that event sponsors will face much higher insurance costs if they allow non-HANS equipped drivers to participate in the event, be it race, time trial or DE. It's all about risk and risk avoidance.

Traffic53

can HANS be used with an open-face helmet...or will your face fly through the open part and choke you to death?

KOAN

If the chin portion of your helmet is the part that is holding your head in, then the helmet is not the correct size. The part of the helmet that is covering your forehead is the part which should restrain your head from forward movement in the event of a crash, with a HANS device. I am speaking from opinion rather than from knowledge of test results, but this seems logical to me. When I turn my head to test the HANS, my chin portion of the helmet is out of play. My impression is that the chin portion of the helmet is there to protect you from the outside, not to keep your head in!

kary993

Martin, so are you saying "non-HANS" with respect to people without Head & Neck devices st sll or are you saying people with "other" Head & Neck devices?

The reason I ask this question is I believe that organizations that mandate a certain device, like a HANS, where something happens to a driver with that mandated device and it can be shown that device was deficient compared to another devices would open that organization up to liability they would not want to have. Simply saying that any Head & Neck device is required leaves it up to the drivers to determine which one is best for their situation. Some of these devices do not fit body types well nor do the cars have enough "other safety" stuff to really ensure driver safety from a complete sense.

Obviously there will be approved devices that could be picked from but with all the political posturing around standards and how to test those standards people need to understand there are multiple mousetraps out that that wrok and work well. HANS, or any other device brand are not end alls in their own space.


BTW, you know where Santa gets his belts from don't you..... You know my number

gbaker

No one knows for sure. Labs haven't crashed open-faced helmets in years.

A driver with that style helmet does not have the support of the zygomatic (cheek) bones to assist the forehead in taking the load, so if enough force is applied it is conceivable the head may try to squirt out of the helmet with only the chinstrap holding the lower half in place. This would probably drive the hyoid bone into the throat.

That said, my guess is that every driver is better off with a H&N restraint regardless of helmet style. A throat injury may be bad, but at least your head is still atttached.

You don't want the mandible to take any load. It could be driven into the temporal mandibular joint and induce a basilar skull fracture. In english, the jawbone can be driven though the joint where it connects to the skull and break the bones everyone is trying to protect with H&N restraints. This is the primary reason for using a closed-faced helmet.

We have a customer, a professional racer, who has actually crashed with both the Isaac system and the HANS device and reports that they "feel" very different. They both work, they just load the head in a different fashion, and that's exactly what he was experiencing.

Jim Craige

I currently race Skip Barber and reccommend the use of the Hans device. No one I know has had to "use" it to save their life yet, but it's too inexpensive not to have. I also know a couple of Skippy racers who race in the Grand Am Cup Series. They use the same Hans device (same angle) in both the Skippy and the 911's. I do not remember what angle I bought but the people at Hans knew the Skippy cars and gave me the angle best for them.

I do not know about the visibility issue in a 911. The Hans does not impair my visibility in the Skippy cars, but I can't comment on the 911's.

Good luck!

Paul902

Hi guys,

First off, I LOVE this thread!

Secondly, I started DE this summer and saw that a few guys use H&N systems. I was thinking of looking into it. Can somebody list some harness bar manufacturers that can be used with these systems.

cheers,

Paul902

Thirdly, do I need to get a racing seat or will the harness bar and 5-point belts work with standard seat?

David '96 993

Kary,
I agree with you in that there are several options. What I have seen in POC is their position right now is that they "recommend a head and neck restraint system". They are not specific to which type though, possibly for the very reason you mention above.

I went with the Hans as I found it to work well with my build and my car.

Regardless of what manufacturer that one uses, you can't have too much safety equipment. Regardless of DE or racing, the speeds are high and therefore so is the risk. Just make sure that what you use, you have ALL of the required equipment to make if work...just restating the obvious.