Re: Central Texas transplant trying to get into SRF
Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 11:51 am
One end of the arm restraint attaches to the lap belts and the other typically goes over your forearm. The challenge with the forearm is there a tendency to slip off (lost a race once when it slide off my arm and over the shifter and had to finish the race one-handed). The use of the d-ring on the elbow of the suit eliminates that problem.
You want enough slack to signal, but not so much that your elbow goes past the side of the roll-bars braces. Most racers keep too much slack (if you can put your arm straight up it's too loose) by putting it on the upper arm rather than the forearm, which defeats the purpose.
I found another solution which I've used for a number of years. I bought a set of gloves with a d-ring sewn into the cuff. I have both restraint straps wrapped in a d-ring together and the strap goes behind the crotch belt. That allows some slack if needed left-to-right (e.g. to reach the master switch), but it also keeps the arms tighter inside the cockpit. Since they're permanently attached to the gloves I avoid the 'crap, I forgot my arm restraints' problem on pre-grid! The only issue I'm finding is that it's rare to find these gloves anymore so next pair may require me to add the d-ring to the cuff myself.
You want enough slack to signal, but not so much that your elbow goes past the side of the roll-bars braces. Most racers keep too much slack (if you can put your arm straight up it's too loose) by putting it on the upper arm rather than the forearm, which defeats the purpose.
I found another solution which I've used for a number of years. I bought a set of gloves with a d-ring sewn into the cuff. I have both restraint straps wrapped in a d-ring together and the strap goes behind the crotch belt. That allows some slack if needed left-to-right (e.g. to reach the master switch), but it also keeps the arms tighter inside the cockpit. Since they're permanently attached to the gloves I avoid the 'crap, I forgot my arm restraints' problem on pre-grid! The only issue I'm finding is that it's rare to find these gloves anymore so next pair may require me to add the d-ring to the cuff myself.