this appears to be a better alternative than the hans. but also it is not so popular for some reason.
http://www.isaacdirect.com

 

This was featured in sportscar a month or so back. I personally thought it was a great idea, but they diidn't seen to like it because it bolts directly to the roll cage, and you are forced to disconnect when you get out of the car, which during a firey crash, could potentially mean life and death.

 

If it was better F1 would use it along with many other teams. Unbolt it :U

HANS KISS


[Modified by John Shiels, 3:55 PM 4/4/2004]

 

I found it in sports car mag !! thanks !!! It didn't say too much about it, but I like it. I like the whole Idea about it.
you strap in your body, you should strap in your head the same way. it just makes so much sense.

I once told my buddy, I'm duct taping his helmet to his rollbar!!! it's better than nothing :D

as far as unbolting it, pleeeeeeeeeze. there are 2 pins, probably takes less time to de-pin than to remove a harness.

and the hans is solely dependant on the harness to hold it in place... where as the Isaac is physially attached to the harness webs. The only conflicting information is it's effectiveness. Isaac says it's better than HANS. Sports car say Isaac is slightly less effective than HANS.

over all, I think the Isaac is less cumbersome than the HANS. but that is just from looking at it. for $65 I can try it out for a weekend.

 

larry,if you think it is worth a try then go for it. :thumbs: If we never tired new things , where would we be? If you do try it would you please let us know what your experiences were?

Jim Helm

 

I do plan on it, however I see with HANS or Isaac, race seats are necessary. right now I have stock seats, and with hans the harnesses must be perfect, or they will slip off the HANS.

Hopefully with Isaac, the harnesses position won't be as critial.
they offer a 60 day return policy and a weekend trail period.

and they talk about side load cushioning if the need ever happens....


[Modified by larryfs, 7:00 PM 4/4/2004]

 

Seems like alot of bolt going into the helmet, they also look like they are above the Snell test lines. Its also funny they show it on a Bell helmet who does not recomend drilling any holes in the helmet. Seems like it would slow your movement no matter what you were doing even looking around to check lane next to you. We all know how a shock works. Make sure you research before you get the hot new thing.

 

they said, somewhere, now they use adhesive rather than 4 bolts.

I did indeed see that bell disclaimer. but that applies to HANs as well... maybe because they need to leagally.. or because the SFI rating of the helmet is affect.

we'll see..... I have access to try a hans, and the issac is rentable.

 

What major org, sanctions the issac?

From looking at the pictures again as best as possible it looks more like it keeps your head from rotating not going forward by the angle of the shock which are closer to vertical. In an accident your head goes forward and doesn't really rotate your chin downward. I don't see much data or sled testing with it as they did with the HANS. Turning left to right looks tough also. Let us know how it feels when you test it. The HANS releases in an instant by pulling the two ribbons.


[Modified by John Shiels, 8:05 AM 4/5/2004]

 

"...so when I was getting out of the car a corner of my HANS device snagged on the net. The only thing that released me was that the net melted and broke." - Jeff Altenburg

(from here: http://www.theracesite.com/index.cfm..._article=6482)

A driver can bail with an Isaac faster than they can with a HANS--there's nothing to snag on the way out.

The Isaac system is actually very popular. It's just new, so you don't see that many around yet.

There are only two major sanctioning bodies that do not allow the use of the Isaac system: NASCAR and FIA. NASCAR is slowly reviewing its position, and FIA has over seven years and tons of $ invested in the HANS device. FIA has distribution/license rights in the HANS device, so they will never even test another product, much less approve it.

[Edit: bad spelling]


[Modified by gbaker, 5:08 PM 4/5/2004]

 

I heard and agree with what you mention. Problem is, as usual, politics and money play too large a roll. Also, just because the pros use or don't use something, don't mean DE entrant should follow.
Mike

 

How far can you rotate your head with the Issac's? What distribution/license does FIA have? Thanks.


[Modified by John Shiels, 10:27 PM 4/5/2004]

 

John,

>How far can you rotate your head with the Issac's?

Most drivers don't notice it once they are on the track. It can be annoying if you are checking traffic in the paddock though, but that's typical of most other products also. Some racers' comments are here: http://www.isaacdirect.com/html/Othe...sComments.html

>What distribution/license does FIA have?

I don't recall the details (there was a small article in the European racing press about a year ago), but, in effect, FIA funded the testing necessary to adapt the HANS device to F1 cars and it (FIA) received rights to manufacture/distribute/sell it. I suspect this is geographically limited to Europe/non-U.S.

 

thanks I guess we will start seeing them at tracks soon :thumbs:

 

I've been looking at this device for a while. I've been mainly fence sitting because I haven't decided what pumper helmet I want to get to replace my current standard helmet.

I must say that in doing research, I didn't see much on the Isaac. Most hits are on their site itself. I did chat with Scott from Baucom Motorsports about the Isaac since John has been wearing one (including when he crashed in PR). He likes it and also feels that it has a stabilizing effect, reducing neck strain. Other than that, I've seen no other feedback besides on the Isaac site.

I did see the SAE report on head and neck restraints and it's very disapointing that the Isaac wasn't included. It would have been an excellent forum to validate the product. Looking at that report, the HANS would seem to be the only way to go.

The physics behind the Isaac seem very sound.

I have been wondering about one thing that maybe Gregg can answer... what keeps the belt anchors from sliding over your shoulder to the front of the body on the harness in an impact?

I wanted to have something for the OTC but it dosen't seem I'll be able to decide by then. The safe bet seems to go with the HANS but I worry about getting out of the car with it (restricted opening plus window net) and belt slipage.

Mike :flag

 

Mike,

>I must say that in doing research, I didn't see much on the Isaac. Most hits are on their site itself. I did chat with Scott from Baucom Motorsports about the Isaac since John has been wearing one (including when he crashed in PR). He likes it and also feels that it has a stabilizing effect, reducing neck strain. Other than that, I've seen no other feedback besides on the Isaac site.

Very little is being written about any H&N restraints these days, although several articles are on the shelf and two will be published about the Isaac in the coming months. Most racers are amateurs and there is little media coverage of amateur racers, so if an Isaac system saves someone's life you won't hear about it on TV.

>I did see the SAE report on head and neck restraints and it's very disapointing that the Isaac wasn't included. It would have been an excellent forum to validate the product. Looking at that report, the HANS would seem to be the only way to go.

Our testing was finished after the SAE publication deadline, so John Melvin could not include it in his paper. The SAE, however, wanted the data published so they let us write paper #2002-01-3306. You can compare the two products side-by-side: same sled, same dummy, same crash pulse, same data recorders, same everything.

>The physics behind the Isaac seem very sound.

Newton was right.

>I have been wondering about one thing that maybe Gregg can answer... what keeps the belt anchors from sliding over your shoulder to the front of the body on the harness in an impact?

The difference between the head load and the total body load. A 180# dummy (I'm guessing the weight) will load the belts over 4 tons in a 45G impact. Since the head load is less than one ton, the belt can't be lifted by the damper, it ends up wedged where the belt and shoulder blade meet.

>I wanted to have something for the OTC but it dosen't seem I'll be able to decide by then. The safe bet seems to go with the HANS but I worry about getting out of the car with it (restricted opening plus window net) and belt slipage.

Try a rental package (no charge to you). Drivers typically attach the helmet mounts with double-sided tape, but if you expect true combat we have some helmets you may borrow. What size do you wear?

 

>> Since the head load is less than one ton, the belt can't be lifted by the >>damper, it ends up wedged where the belt and shoulder blade meet.<<
<<<<<<<<<<

I was thinking somewhere along the lines ... the helmet would want to pull the damper straight up, as the head went forward. and thus the belts would obviously prevent that. (rather than the dampers being wedged between the shoulders and belts)

the mounting position of the brackets (on the helmet) are those crictal for the device to work correctly. It would seem better if the dampers went almost straight up, rather than horizontal.

I'm just thinking out loud..... so please comment how you see fit.

 

>the mounting position of the brackets (on the helmet) are those crictal for the device to work correctly. It would seem better if the dampers went almost straight up, rather than horizontal.

>I'm just thinking out loud..... so please comment how you see fit.

The mounting position is not critical, but you want to place it such that the damper points toward, or slightly ahead of, the center of mass of the head. Otherwise the damper reaction will tend to twist the head. The same holds true for any H&N restraint.

 

mike,

you're more than welcome to look at my isaac setup at the otc this year. i was there last year as well using the isaac (team 80)

history. i used the hutchens device for a year (when the only other option was the hans). i switched to the isaac after doing some reasearch between it and the hans. the test results at the time showed very little difference in two key test areas (and right now i can't remember which two). the isaac provides great neck support (getting rid of the neck ring) and equally great side to side support. there are no straps to stretch or deteriorate over time or improperly adjust. the ingress/egress is super easy and fast (vs the hans in a closed car - see greggs post on the car fire, melting net).

any questions i can answer, i will.


[Modified by kevinr, 5:02 AM 4/10/2004]

 

Hey Kevin! I saw the reference to an OTC driver on the Isaac page but couldn't match the numbers! Now it all makes sense!

That Cobra is awesome and sounds terrific. You were pitted next to us a few times and when that thing was running, we couldn't hear ourselves think!

I'll be sure to check out the rig next week. Gregg is sending out a setup with helmet to try and I'm looking forward to seeing the Isaac in action. If it's as good as I think it will be, I'll be ordering one too.

See in a week!

Mike :flag