Douche bag of the week
#47
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#48
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According to some posts in this thread,
https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-a...kends-ago.html
a driving suit and full fire gear is a good idea for any racing or DE event. According to this thread, they make you look like a douche. So which thread is correct, this one or the fire thread?
#49
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So what is on the approved clothing list according to the RL racing masters?
According to some posts in this thread,
https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-a...kends-ago.html
a driving suit and full fire gear is a good idea for any racing or DE event. According to this thread, they make you look like a douche. So which thread is correct, this one or the fire thread?
According to some posts in this thread,
https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-a...kends-ago.html
a driving suit and full fire gear is a good idea for any racing or DE event. According to this thread, they make you look like a douche. So which thread is correct, this one or the fire thread?
#51
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So what is on the approved clothing list according to the RL racing masters?
According to some posts in this thread,
https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-a...kends-ago.html
a driving suit and full fire gear is a good idea for any racing or DE event. According to this thread, they make you look like a douche. So which thread is correct, this one or the fire thread?
According to some posts in this thread,
https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-a...kends-ago.html
a driving suit and full fire gear is a good idea for any racing or DE event. According to this thread, they make you look like a douche. So which thread is correct, this one or the fire thread?
In DE's, it is a personal choice. As drivers progress with their skills & start adding things to their cars, such as seats, harnesses, roll bars, suspensions etc., extra safety gear such as HANS devices, full cages, fire extinguishers, etc become "must do's" IMO, because the risk of going off track & hitting something and/or rolling the car in a DE is still high, especially as folks show up with higher & higher HP cars. As for wearing a driving suit in a DE? On one hand, it is a great idea. On the other hand, especially for us in hot climates and who are getting in and out of many students' cars throughout the weekend, it becomes an uncomfortable idea at best. Some may disagree with me, but IMO the risk of a fire in a DE has proved to be relatively low as compared with the risk of a collision or rollover.
As a result, I will rarely if ever wear Nomex at a DE. YMMV.
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I wear Nomex only when I have to (racing). Otherwise, I'd rather be cool since I rate the danger posed by a loss of concentration due to dehydration or overheating is a greater risk than fire at a DE. Besides, wearing full race gear for a DE in a relatively stock car makes you look like a poseur
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#55
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For a DE, I never wear a fire suit.
#56
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I've gone full circle on it. I used to smirk at DE guys wearing their bunny suits. But if I was ever to drive my SRF at a DE, I would always wear the nomex, but I can't say exactly why. All the arguments for wearing street clothes in a street car apply to a DE in the race car. It would just look silly being on track in blue jeans and a sweatshirt, in an open cockpit race car.
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Above perspectives about nomex, etc in a Race setting vs. DE are valid. However, in the past 10 years I have seen 2 cars burn at DE. One was a 944 turbo and the other was an aircooled 911. Neither as a result of driver error. As an instructor I jump in and out of at 4 different people's cars at each DE. I don't know whether one of those cars may have a loose oil fitting, or a fiberglass bumper that offers no protection for the fuel tank. It may be a 1/million chance that there could be a fire... but I would feel irresponsible subjecting my wife & daughter to the risk of me being seriously burned when that risk can be so easily reduced by the simple precaution of wearing a suit, etc. Same reason why I wear a HANS whenever I can (i.e. if car has harnesses).
Lady Luck doesn't care that it's "just a DE."
Lady Luck doesn't care that it's "just a DE."
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The car does not care when it crashes if it is a DE or a race
The car does not care when it rolls over if it is a DE or a race
The car does not care when it catches fire if it is a DE or a race
Crashing at speed in a DE will hurt you just as much as in a race
While the risk of contact may be greater in a race, the risk of a crash (with or without a fire) is likely greater at a DE due to a less experienced driver and less experience driver's around them.
I have worked in a burn unit and would never wish that upon my worst enemy.
I started wearing Carbon-X unders at DE's years ago (under street clothes so I would not look like a poseur - not ideal I know but better than nothing) and now that I do more open track events than DE's, I wear a full Nomex suit - even though I do not race.
The roll bar and HANS were added a few years ago and, yes I wear the HANS at DE's - I don't care what people think anymore.
I just started instructing and, if I continue to do so, I will get an R3.
Be safe and don't worry what other people think of you.
Marc
p.s. I don't wear the Nomex suit or HANS on parade laps though.
The car does not care when it rolls over if it is a DE or a race
The car does not care when it catches fire if it is a DE or a race
Crashing at speed in a DE will hurt you just as much as in a race
While the risk of contact may be greater in a race, the risk of a crash (with or without a fire) is likely greater at a DE due to a less experienced driver and less experience driver's around them.
I have worked in a burn unit and would never wish that upon my worst enemy.
I started wearing Carbon-X unders at DE's years ago (under street clothes so I would not look like a poseur - not ideal I know but better than nothing) and now that I do more open track events than DE's, I wear a full Nomex suit - even though I do not race.
The roll bar and HANS were added a few years ago and, yes I wear the HANS at DE's - I don't care what people think anymore.
I just started instructing and, if I continue to do so, I will get an R3.
Be safe and don't worry what other people think of you.
Marc
p.s. I don't wear the Nomex suit or HANS on parade laps though.
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