HANS... the other shoe's dropped

[mossaidis]

Of course, truly, this all could be a moot point, because if you select an FIA approved device, SFI and their requirements cease to matter at all.

bingo... now, point me to the nearest FIA certified device.

[chuck baader]

bingo... now, point me to the nearest FIA certified device.

HANS....:026:Chuck

[lateapex911]

bingo... now, point me to the nearest FIA certified device.

And thats the 'gotcha"
Lets just be straight here. The HANS people WROTE the SFI spec. They wrote it in a very narrow manner, so as to make it extremely difficult to create a design that HANS can't sue over. See DeFender, who had a product that HANS felt was a rip off, and has sued DeFender out of business, essentially.

So, simply put, HANS is in bed with SFI,
it's a racket.

But wait, it gets better.

"Go FIA!" you say?
Wonderful. That too is a HANS! You are still lining the devils pockets with gold.
"But it's better for me, and I'm what counts, My interests first" you say.
yea, I hear you.
But, isn't it RIDICULOUS that you can buy the SAME freakin thing from Bob, and it needs to be re-certified (New anchors and tethers, please hand over $100, thankyou) but Steve sells it to you and you are free from re-certifying?

It's all a bunch of BS, and sorry, that annoys me. SFI is here to take my money, first and foremost, and they cloak themselves as a "Safety Foundation" to make me feel good.

Well, I don't.
It's a racket.

This is yet another example of their business model. They 'discovered" that belts "fall apart" after 2 years, so now we replace them every two years. Yet none of us has seen two year old belts fall apart, there were no incidents where two year old belts were responsible for an injury. But hey, the belt manufacturers were "Nice enough" to share the "findings" with SFI, and the SFI did "the responsible thing in order to keep us safe" and we now buy belts at a rate of 2.5 times what we used to.

Geee, what angels those belt manufacturers are! They only more than DOUBLED their business!

It's a racket.

Now, this comes along. And in an of itself, it's not the end of the world.

But does anyone REALLY think this is it? When HANS saturates the market, sales will slow. That's BAD. (For HANS, AND SFI)
You KNOW a new SFI 38.1 is on the way. And with it will come language that means any sanctioning body mandating 38.1 will need to mandate 38.1v2014, and we will all get to buy new units. But hey, they will be better! We will all be safer!

it's a racket.
And we bought that racket when we let the camel sniff under the tent flap.

[Greg Amy]

bingo... now, point me to the nearest FIA certified device.

No device can be manufactured to meet FIA 8858 without violating HANS' patent. The FIA spec describes a HANS specifically.

Funny, that.

http://argent.fia.com/web/fia-public.nsf/9BD6FEA5A7446CECC125731500412ACF/$FILE/3_FIA_Stand_8858_2002_Hans.pdf

[Sandro]

I could live with having to change tethers every 5 years, similar to seat belts. (although not excited about it)

Having to send it in so they can slap a sticker on it, just chaps my hide. Just put a label on the tethers like the seat belts have and call it a day.

[Knestis]

...and if you think it won't be something else before 5 years is up, then you still aren't listening.

THIS IS SFI'S BUSINESS PLAN WORKING PRECISELY THE WAY IT WAS DESCRIBED TO ME IN THE LATE 1980'S.

Seriously. Quote whining and take it like a man, people.

K

[tom91ita]

how long before we see something like the following fictional press release

<sarcasm>

News Release from HANS

Effective 1/1/2012, all HANS devices sold will only have SFI 38.1 certification and will no longer be available with FIA certification.

Also, all HANS devices sent in for SFI recertification will have the FIA certification labeling removed.

</sarcasm>

[Knestis]

...or your wheels have to be SFI certified. Or your roll cage.

Yeah, they've got specs for that.

Have fun!

K

[fivedimeracer]

I agree with Kirk, ...it's Creep of a different variety..

JZ

[mossaidis]

lemons or chump car series anyone? It's your only option at this point, and maybe EMRA or other local clubs

[tom91ita]

lemons or chump car series anyone? It's your only option at this point, and maybe EMRA or other local clubs

as i am no longer an scca member, LeMons is exactly where i am headed next year.

[downingracing]

lemons or chump car series anyone? It's your only option at this point, and maybe EMRA or other local clubs

No thanks. For me it is SCCA or nothing. I will never run with a group/club that is for-profit. I've got my reasons and they are all I need to make that decision.

Matt

(Who has not purchased a device yet and am not sure if/when that will happen...)

[Prince Makaha]

Someone needs to make a restraint device called "franz".

It could be anything from arm restraints to puffy knee padding to keep your knees from banging together in case of hard contact (ask geoff brabham).