My Dad just purchased a locust kit car which we are going to sprint and hill climb next year. So I've a few Qs on MSA regs for safety gear as I don't have an up-to date copy of the handbook .

First of all could someone with a 2007 copy please post the list of approved helmet standards. It's Q10 in the handbook, my copy is 5 years old so thought I'd better check if it has changed since.

Also does anyone know what standards of race suits are suitable for sprinting and hill climbing to MSA regs? In my handbook (2002) it just says, "Where MSA/FIA regulations specify the wearing of protective clothing the labels of overalls and upper underclothing may be verified by the organisers."

Last of all, any recommendations on helmets? Fancy an Arai but probably out of my price league, can get one locally for a good price but has been airbrushed with a horrid colour scheme!

Keiran

Haven't got my rule book to hand but I know Snell SA2005 and a BS one is certified. The Sparco Challenger (I think) is certified to the BS, not sure which, I'll check on mine

EDIT: It's BS6658-85 A/FR. I have the blue Sparco Challenger 2. Nice helmet, quite good looking standard paint job, but its £270 from Demon Tweeks. I don't know how much your budget is but I'd advise not to go for a 2nd hand one.

Helmets

International & all MSA events:
FIA 8860-2004
SNELL SA2005
SNELL SA2000
SFI 31.1A, 31.2A
BS 6658 A/FR

All MSA Events:
BS6658 - 85 Type A (Type B NOT acceptable)

International and MSA National Kart events:
SNELL K98 and K2005

For sprints/hillclimbs, you'd probably get away with the cheapest Proban suits. I'll have a look and see if I can find anything specific about suits for sprints, but I doubt it. It's mostly, iirc, down to the scrutineer on the day.

Get a rough budget, and see if you can try some on. I have an Arai, and it's comfy. But some people find Bell's a better fit. Fit is more important (in many ways) than the manufacturer. For some reason I don't trust Sparco lids, and OMP lids just look cheap and nasty. But I guess both are probably okay if they have the right numbers on them.

Thanks Tristan! The list has changed.

Yea, I'll need to pop round some places in town and try some helmets on and see which I prefer. My feeling is to spend as much as I can on the helmet rather than the suit as chances are if I ever happen to go off I'm more than likely going to get a face full of branch

The season is pretty much over this year so realistically we're looking at next year, so that gives me enough time to put money aside for a decent lid .

I'd also recommend a motorsport helmet over a motorcycle helmet. Not only are they a bit safer (tougher testing requirements), they tend to be a bit lighter, and have shapes more suited to being in a car (from an aerodynamic point of view). And they have thicker visors.

I don't know what windscreens/aeroscreens/deflectors you have, but less buffetting and more safety sell it for me. The downside - pretty much all only available in white. although Bell have made some coloured ones (but they haven't produced all the ones being advertised).

Quote from tristancliffe :

they tend to be a bit lighter

You sure about that?, I was under the impression car lids were heavier, one of the reasons the Simpson helmets aren't suitable for bike use, that and the lack of field of vision.........

Not 100% sure no. But I was under the impression that Arai and Bell were lighter in motorsport form. Maybe Simpson are different/heavier? I dunno.

Who'd buy a Simpson anyway? You'd immediately get branded a Stig wannabe, and get laughed at.

I wanted a Bell, as I'm allergic to white helmets. But Bell didn't get round to making any Helmets this year until last month (!!!), so I ended up paying more for a white GP5-K, as I wanted/needed HANS posts.

Quote from tristancliffe :

I'd also recommend a motorsport helmet over a motorcycle helmet.

Quote from danowat :

You sure about that?, I was under the impression car lids were heavier, one of the reasons the Simpson helmets aren't suitable for bike use, that and the lack of field of vision.........

Motorbike helmets (road helmets at least) are lighter (and cheaper) than car helmets for the simple reason they are much thinner and don't offer as much protection, whilst when riding on the road in a relatively low risk environment where visibility is important and you don't really feel like falling off this maybe better for motor racing (if you can get away with it) it's a different issue. In the end of the day the helmets there to keep you safe and from what I've seen in club racing (I have literally T-cutted tire marks off a helmet before) I'd of thought spending the money on a good helmet may be well worth it. As for helmets they should all do pretty much the same job in terms of safety, main options are HANS pegs, visor options (there are some much more expensive visors available made out of tougher materials that massively reduce the chance of something coming through the visor, which is a low but real risk) and carbon fibre helmets, that are much lighter and nicer to wear but if your only doing short runs with a limited budget I'd forget about them.