HANS Device - First Impressions

[zossy1]

So... I have been meaning to post for a week or so on this. Finally have an opportunity now.

I bought one of these:

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorspor ... ans-device

I also ordered posts from Demon Tweeks and it was all shipped to my door in 6 days.

I encountered some issues in that my helmet was not SAH2010 (turned out to be SA2010) so I needed posts with the nutwashers. Managed to finagle a set but make sure your helmet is SAH2010 and if not, make sure you buy the posts with the nutwashers.

POST INSTALLATION - is tricky but not that hard if you have the right tools. You will need a thin HANS post wrench (or similar tool) unless you have a SAH2010 helmet. I did not have the proper HANS wrench but dad had a thin 11mm open end wrench used for fitting discs to a 125mm angle grinder. Worked a treat. I then used a feeler gauge to slide that up to between the casing and the liner and to the holes I drilled in the helmet, and slid the thin wrench (with nutwasher in place) between the feeler gauge and the helmet shell to avoid tearing up the helmet lining. With this method, getting the nutwashers in place and tightening the posts was a breeze.

USE - my first go with HANS was at the club track day back on 7 December. My car has a 3" harness.

Putting on the HANS takes some getting used to but you adjust quickly and it really isn't that hard. I ended up leaving it attached to the helmet like most others do and just putting them on together - but I kept forgetting to put on my balaclava so I need to reform my habits!

Once in the car, tightening the straps down over the HANS is an interesting experience. It can be very uncomfortable if the straps are not in the right place. Again though, you adjust after a few times and it becomes easy to locate them. I did find that my suit collar sometimes got caught underneath and it was important to pull it out to make it more comfortable.

I had a removable padded head rest on my racing seat and had to remove it due to the added depth of the HANS behind my head. Otherwise, the HANS allows good forward and back movement, and acceptable turning with the sliding tethers.

Once on track, I quickly got used to it and by the end of the day really didn't notice it at all.

It is a pain in the pits as it really restricts your ability to turn your head to park the car! I have to use the mirrors which isn't great as my car has poor rear vision owing to the wing. Side mirrors are really my only guide.

Overall, for the safety benefit, I'm very happy with it!

[wasabi]

Good little right up mate!

I've been looking at getting myself a HANS device. To my knowledge, none of my track goings friends have one as yet & honestly didn't even think about the quirks it brings... Suspect most won't as they'll only look at it for the safety portion, which is of course the most important part of it.

[Dan]

Good review and good idea posting, I think encouraging more people to use a HANS Devices is a good thing

Sounds like you already know the downsides of a 3' belt, I changed to a 2' HANS specific sabelt 6 point one which I brought for $250 or something from V-Sport here in Sydney which made locating the guides on the HANS a bit easier.

Also a tip for your issue reversing when you come into the pits, just unclip the belt and then you can turn around as much as you want.

[manga_blue]

Good write up, Chris.

I used a HANS for the first time at the same event and my experience is pretty much the same. I bought mine from RacerIndustries at $500 including posts and post nuts delivered in a day or two from Qld. I fitted the post into an earlier helmet with no pre-drilled holes. There are heaps of youtube how-tos on that. I pretty much dismantled and rebuilt the inside of the helmet because it all turned out to be so filthy anyway and needed a good wash. I repacked and added some padding at the same time so that helmet is better than ever.

I spent a bit of time practising before the event at getting in and out and setting myself up in the cabin but on the day I still found it takes an extra minute or two to get properly set and I did make a few mistakes.

With 3" harnesses it feels a little uncomfortable on the shoulders initially but that goes away as soon as you start driving. It has absolutely no impact on the track, either in terms of driving or vision. It's only when backing into the garage at the end that you find you can't turn your head enough to watch out for other cars.

I had my worst moment ever when I completely lost it at over 150kmh through turn 1. During those moments of a clarity that you get when everything is happening in slow motion I was thinking that at least if I dig a wheel in and go into a multiple rollover then most likely I wont break my neck, many other things maybe, but not my neck. That felt reasonably comforting.

[RS2000]

I found it better to not use the padding that came supplied - the hans was a lot more snug on shoulders & the belts felt better being closer to chest as they passed from hans to chest.

Cheers

[Guran]

I've been using a Schroth HANS for about a year now. Most of the time it goes totally unnoticed and I wouldn't go without it now. Probably the only time the HANS has caused me concern is when I had a spin at turn 15b on the SMP South Circuit. When trying to return to the track, my car was angled such that it was very difficult to see other cars coming in the mirrors, and I simply couldn't turn my head enough to get the view I needed. So I had to rely on the yellow flags warning the drivers and made my way carefully back onto the track.

[mazmad]

Yeah it takes some adjusting to, and as you found a new process can lead you to forget one of the steps like chin straps or balaclava. But you get used to it.

Couple of points, make sure the buckles (or belt adjusters) sit on the lower part of the arms of the Hans. And practice getting out of the car, in case you need to in a hurry.

[little decks]

I always cross the shoulder belts behind the seat as well, I find it makes it more comfortable as the belts hug the HANS tighter and don't tend to slide of when buckling up or tightening the straps. This also depends on where the belts anchor behind the seat obviously.