todinlaw

I have the same issue with safety belts particularly when you buy them new from a vendor but they are a year plus old. so now you have 3.5 years to use them.

I bought a Sparco circuit pro halo seat from Safe racer in 2009 I took a good look at it and the date stamp on the seat was May 2007, how does that work? the date should also start from the date of purchase. Some vendors get that right some don't.

kurt M

I purchased a set of belts that according to the tag went back in time after they were made. SFI permits the post dating of goods made to cover the shelf time.

The entire time rather than actual condition thing is nuts.

Mahler9th

Well, I am not a big believer that sinister forces are afoot.

I checked my files and I have an old communication from someone I trust and respect (his name is Joe Marko), and it has a lot of details about nylon and polyester, and various versions that are used in belts. And why you'd choose nylon or polyester and different types of materials for different stretch for different kinds of cars. This stuff is not trivial.

It indicates that HANS may have changed materials a few years ago... Eurpean HANS made by Schroth had polyester, (e.g., for F1) and US ones had nylon, but they may have switched to all polyester.

It describes why SFI went from 5 years to 2 years on belts a few years ago, and a bunch of other technical details.

I have always found Joe to be an excellent resource on the "why's" of this stuff.

Mahler9th

I would not be surprised if the CCA's rule on tethers was informed by the fact that HANS started with nylon, which according to my notes is susceptible to lots of paths to degradation, where polyester is apparently superior in this regard.

Matt Romanowski

Mind sharing the paths of degredation for both? I would like to see what they say about each.

JerryW

I wouldn't have had a problem with having date marked tethers and replacing on a REASONABLE interval , but having to send the whole appliance back to be "Re-Certified" does seem to be yet another reach into the racers pocket. Especially as the tethers ARE user replaceable.

Peter Carroll/Toronto

I was cleaning out the garage last week and found my old window and center nets. Ouch. The material has discoloured a lot and they don't look safe to me. I picked up an old helmet bag a while ago and the handle came off in my hand. It seems nylon webbing is not a long lived material.

I would prefer that the spec say they need to be made of a better material. I suspect the 2 year limit is appropriate for the current materials. If they were made from seat belt grade webbing, then I suspect the price would go way up too. So what's the difference?

fatbillybob

Since HANS and others also carry FIA certs the SFI38.1 issue is basically impotent. The current SCCA position makes this issue even clearer and I suspect other key organizations will follow.

http://scca.cdn.racersites.com/prod/assets/RM_11-10.pdf

User 52121

Sun?

I store all my stuff under UV lights!

67King

Hey, that's a goo idea! Hemp tehters!

Auto_Werks 3.6

FYI this is SCCA's current position on the recertification of the devices:

http://www.scca.com/assets/RM_11-10.pdf

http://www.scca.com/assets/RM_11-10.pdf

Lemming

Just checked with Simpson on getting my R3 re-certified, $75 and that includes all new harness and buckles.