List ---- while we're on the subject--
One aspect of safety gear that deserves serious consideration is making it as
easy and foolproof as possible for the driver to get suited up and settled in
the car. In many racing venues, especially with and experienced driver and
crew that's not a big issue. But for us LSR guys we are often in pretty hot
conditions and wait as long as we can until suiting up. In the last 5 minutes
before you push off any number of little things like a seatbelt that won't
tighten properly, a misplaced arm restraint or whatever can throw off
everyone's timing and frazzle the inexperienced driver. These are the
conditions where we forget to pull out the fire bottle pins, turn on the water
pump, lose a dzus button, take the rag out of the air inlet, etc. For
example, go for contrasting colors on the suit, harness, gloves, arm
restraints so they're easily visible while your crewmember's eyes adjust from
bright sun to the darkness of a tight cockpit. You ain't going to be on the
cover of Sports Illustrated so color coordination shouldn't be a big issue.
Another thought here is think about how visible you'll be to rescuers climbing
out of your car while being a mile away from anyone with heat waves rising off
the salt or lost in El Mirage dust clouds. You might want to rethink the idea
of a red firesuit to match a red car.
Ed Weldon
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