TraqGear

Not to mention that street cars have interiors that are flammable and burn much more on the inside than a race car. Minimum, long pants and a FR shirt. Cotton will catch fire and burn.

utkinpol

well, only kind of a fire i saw at DE (twice, nevertheless) in 4 years was kinda same issue - one time on a cup car, other time on older race car - tire got on fire after something went bad on a hub or with brakes - it did a lot of smoke as car approached pits and then small flame appeared there after stop and then folks suppressed it with extinguishers in both cases in seconds. in both cases drivers were smart and they drove right to the spot where extinguishers were placed.

for cotton or anything else that does not melt to catch fire is fine as long as it burns outside and not right on your skin. synthetics on torso and legs will melt and go deep into your skin causing skin damage you may not survive.

TraqGear

I'm not sure I'm okay with catching fire at all no matter what I'm wearing. Also, there are synthetics that do not melt nor catch fire that aren't on the broad market yet, but are obtainable. There are some that mimic underarmour and its properties, but will not melt or catch fire. But, you are right that most untreated synthetics will melt and are worse than cotton...not a good scenario on skin. Likewise, fires are rare but not impossible. I saw a street car on fire a couple of months ago that burned to a crisp and a friend in Atl just saw a car on fire in the median a few minutes ago while I was talking on the phone with him. Rare, but happens. I know of no statistics, but I would assume that high performance driving events increase the risk of fire in a street car. Guess that's why many put fire bottles in the car.

Veloce Raptor

LOL! Wish I could afford a Stand21 race suit!

dr_r2r

In the biker's world.....ATGATT. All the gear all the time.

utkinpol

i did not even know such stuff exists. if it is simple and cheap enough i see no reason why one cannot get at least a t-shirt from such material, if it does not suffocate your skin.

you will be surprised how well simple cotton actually preserves skin. when i was in the army a guy who was smoking while pouring gas into a car (a typical thing, do not even ask ) have managed to drip gas on himself then dropped down canister right under his feet and was a human torch for may be 20-25 seconds until we got on him with a tarp. car exploded and it was a lot of paperwork then, no fun at all.

so, places he has burnt most were his bare hands and neck as he was in the usual full body combo with boots over pants and had a hat on which managed to stay on his head somehow while he was rolling over.

Larry Cable

you didnt get the Porsche Motorsport version ???

drl

OT but....wait, what happened to the guy? how did fire start? you can drop a burning cigarette into an open bucket filled with gasoline and nothing will happen. cig doesn't burn hot enough to ignite.

Steve W

Don't underestimate cotton. The nice owner of a major safety equipment manufacturer including driving suits, I think it was Diest Safety once gave myself and a friend the lowdown on the fire resistance of fabrics. While Nomex is great, he recommended 100% cotton attire as a great fire resistant material for the casual track enthuiast. 100% cotton is a self extinguishing material burning at around 410 degrees, with Nomex only about 200 degrees higher. He took a match to a piece of t-shirt to demonstrate that. Dirty cotton soiled with oil like dirty greasy jeans is another thing and will burn. That is why a long sleeve cotton shirt and jeans, along with driving gloves are the accepted minimum requirement in the POC short track and TT series. Anything containing synthetic fibers make of petroleum such as polyester, rayon, or nylon will continue to burn and melt so you don't want that.

Nick Wong

This is very good info. Thanks for sharing it!

aussie jimmy

i wear 100% cotton and drive FLATOUT

TraqGear

Sorry but huge fail. Cotton does not self extinguish none whatsoever. This is incorrect and misleading. I've seen tests on it over and over. Take your lighter and one of you less favorite tshirts and try it yourself. Cotton catches fire and will continue to burn. In fact, a truckload of raw cotton has an extremely low flashpoint and some have combusted during transit and burned the entire trailer. FR cotton has to be treated in order to be fire retardant.

TraqGear

That's the problem. It is a viscose material and it isn't cheap. Probably around $90 retail. Great stufff and cool on the body when worn alone. I've been testing prototypes for a couple of months now. However, I can get FR cotton tshirts that are cool and do a good job keeping you cool and wicking away sweat. But, even the cost on those are in the $65 range.

C.J. Ichiban

I mean holy hell is it that hard to buy some of this just for piece of mind?

http://www.saferacer.com/sparco-carm...?productid=758

CRex

^ Pretty interesting stuff, this. The top even looks half-decent as trackside fashion.