PPo

An open face helmet is about as good as an open face condom...

Bacura

Get the best protection you can. I was one of the track doctors for the Toronto Indy for many years. It wasn't required but I wore a complete nomex suit. Methanol fires aren't visible. You only know you are burning but don't know where to run. I also work in a designated trauma hospital. Trust me, get the best helmet you can afford.

_snowbird_

Good advice guys. Full face shield it is!!

Turbodan

following the same logic as above...you need a cage, harnesses, fire extinguisher system, Hans, and halo seat!
fyi: I like my open face helmet just fine...especially in 90 degree heat and it allows to speak without intercom, which I do have
Snowbird: see you at the track, just relax and have fun

Wild Weasel

Hey snowbird!! Good to meet you over the weekend.

Incidentally, I also rented from Braiden my first track weekend but only because it was last year and I couldn't yet buy an SA2015 helmet. Seemed silly to buy a 2010 when the 2015's were coming out in a few months. UCR requires the helmet be certified within 10 years so the 2010 would only have been good for 5 years.

So... other than doing donuts in turn 5... I have to believe after this past weekend that you now realize you're going to be doing more DE days than you thought and that it's worth it to spend the $650 or so on the new helmet eh?

PPo

Interesting. I bought a SA2010 this year because it was cheaper than the SA2015 helmets. You can get great deals on a brand new SA2010. The spec difference is very minimal.

If you plan on using a helmet for lapping and/or racing every year for the next 5 years, you *WILL* want to buy a new helmet in less then 5 years. I have a shelf with helmets going back to the nineties. I replace them every 2-3 years for many reasons... only dropped one! ;-)

Turbodan

I thought for racing it must be within 5 years so a 2010 would have expired for racing? ppo?

_snowbird_

Not my best moment. Funny thing is once I rode along with my instructor to see how to do Turn 5 properly, the line was suddenly obvious. So glad he did that for me, and it became one of my better corners later in the weekend.

But, yes. I ended up buying a Stilo full face helmet from Braidan. For some reason the Bell helmets didn't fit well on me. But the Stilo is super comfortable on me. I love it.

I was already looking at the Sept DE calendar to see how I could make it work...

goatfarmerdave

I remember you now,seeing your avatar.Who could forget that beautiful car!Glad you had fun.

_snowbird_

Thanks for the compliment! I love the car - glad we made it through the day (nearly) incident free!

Wild Weasel

Many have said this but I'm being stubbornly skeptical. I feel like using a helmet less than 10 days a year shouldn't turn it into a festering germ-fest within 5 years. When I get home, I leave it out so it airs out and dries properly. I'll revisit this when the time comes but meanwhile, I've at least got the option to keep using it beyond 5 years.


I actually think you're quite lucky to have gone through that. Since you weren't driving recklessly or anything, having that experience and walking away with no consequences was just a huge opportunity to learn, and it sounds like you made the best of it.

As for doing it properly... you might find in the future that you change your mind about that. Or you might now. I know I was quite proud of myself back in June for finally getting it right. Then this past weekend my instructor had a completely different approach to it. Now I've been able to do this new one but have no idea which is really better. To top it off, listening to Jesse I realized that you 911 folks have a completely different approach from us mid-engine guys. Yours sounds like more fun, and I suspect is what contributed to your spin. The way he described it you go into the last apex a bit early and then use that rear-engine pendulum effect to bring the back around the turn. I could only wish I could do that.

Really glad you had fun and keep building on the experience in September! I won't be there but hopefully I'll see you in October.

PPo

I don't want to confuse the thread further, because it's a small point, but the SA rating and the date of manufacture are different things. You can buy a SA2010 helmet today that was manufactured last year, and still be good for a long time.

The thing to keep in mind, is that helmet technology improves faster then the SA rating changes. The market also tends to lower cost of awesome features over time as well... For example, CF helmets used to be $6000 or more. Now they are available for $1500 or sometimes less.

When you plan to use integrated headphones/mic, and looking at trends like helmet cooling, release systems, and HNR mounts, I doubt that a generic helmet can be purchased in a few years.

Helmets are already being designed with integrated blue tooth connectivity and battery power. Imagine being able to sit down in a car, press a few buttons on your smart phone, and BAM you have in car intercom. Retrofitting helmets with communications and stuff is a pain...

I am willing to bet that most people reading this far into this post will purchase a new helmet in the next five years simply because the technology is advancing way beyond the SA rating alone. Helmet cooling is awesome!

P

Turbodan

I use chatterbox and it was pretty easy to integrate into the helmet. It would be cool to talk to the other drivers though through wifi.
none of my helmets have gotten stinky over the years. I make sure to leave them in the shade between sessions which makes them cool when I put them on.
It was nice to chat with snowbird, goatfarmer and weasel this weekend

nowakm99

I was at Performance Improvements at Islington and Bloor yesterday and noticed that they had Racequip SA2015 helmets for $284.99. I don't know much about these, but it seemed like a good price for a full-face helmet.

PPo

It's a great helmet for the price!! Good information... thanks for sharing!