KaiPL
Enthusiast
With the recent posts on track safety, I thought perhaps I should pass along my thoughts on the Isaac Device.
The Isaac Device is a head restraint system designed to reduce the chance of injury in an accident. It is similar in purpose to the more well known HANS device, althogh the design is quite a bit different.
The Isaac web page is here:
http://www.isaacdirect.com/
I own the intermediate Isaac Device. Although it is called "intermediate" it is their top of the line model, except for the insanely expensive titanium professional model, and as far as I can tell, it is functionally equivalent to the pro model except that it weighs a couple of ounces more.
I've used my Isaac device in one open road race, and about a half a dozen open track events.
Here are my thoughts and impressions to date:
Installation:
Installation was a bit of a pain. I'm not really much of a do-it-yourselfer. I would have preferred not to have to deal with installing the mounting hardware on my helmet. I wish that you could just send them your helmet and have them do it. I would have been willing to pay an extra $100 for somebody else to perform the installation.
However, the instructions were simple and straight forward and if I can do it, probably anyone can.
The most worrisome part was trying to get the placement correct. They supply you with double backed adhesive tape so you can test the fit of the hardware before mounting, but the tape doesn't stick very well. After about a half hour of messing with it (with the help of my very patient wife) I got the hardware in just the right position, which I marked with a pen.
I used the glue-on option, which involved gluing the mounting brackets on my helmet. I used a drill with a grinder attachment to grind off the gel coat layer on the helmet to get down to the fiberglass/kevlar layers so the glue would adhere properly.
Total time to get the mounting done was probably about 2 hours (not including glue cure time.) If I had to do it again, I could probably do it in about a half an hour.
The struts attach to the car's seat belts. I had to permanently remove the Team Tech seat belts' padding (took about 15 minutes) to accomodate the struts. No big deal, as I'm always wearing a heavily padded driving suit with my 6 point belts anyway, so the padding is redundant.
In use:
Getting into the device.
It takes me about 45 seconds to get into, and getting out of it takes probably 2 seconds. When getting in, all you have to do is insert the pins on the strut ends through the holes in the helmet-mounted brackets. I found that it is easy to do this, provided that you haven't tightened up the shoulder belts. It's also a lot easier to accomplish if you haven't yet put on your gloves. So, now I can do it quickly. Getting out just involves pushing on the pin ends and giving them a ****. I can release both sides wearing gloves in about 2 seconds. I practice doing this, in case I have to exit the car quickly.
Ease of wear while driving.
When sitting in the car, you notice that you have it on, but once I get moving, I forget I am wearing it. Head movement is pretty good. I can check mirrors, and move my head all I need to. You can't turn your head enough to check your blind spots, however, so your rearward vision is limited to using your mirrors.
I thought that I would dislike the device and that it would bug me when on the track. I originally bought it thinking I would use it just for open road racing, and wouldn't use it for casual open track events. It is so innocuous, however, that I’m now using it every time I go on the track, whether for practice, warm-ups, testing, etc.
Anyway, I would highly recommend the Isaac to anyone who wants the protection of a head restraint device. After having used it for some time now, I have few complaints, and much praise for this design.
The Isaac Device is a head restraint system designed to reduce the chance of injury in an accident. It is similar in purpose to the more well known HANS device, althogh the design is quite a bit different.
The Isaac web page is here:
http://www.isaacdirect.com/
I own the intermediate Isaac Device. Although it is called "intermediate" it is their top of the line model, except for the insanely expensive titanium professional model, and as far as I can tell, it is functionally equivalent to the pro model except that it weighs a couple of ounces more.
I've used my Isaac device in one open road race, and about a half a dozen open track events.
Here are my thoughts and impressions to date:
Installation:
Installation was a bit of a pain. I'm not really much of a do-it-yourselfer. I would have preferred not to have to deal with installing the mounting hardware on my helmet. I wish that you could just send them your helmet and have them do it. I would have been willing to pay an extra $100 for somebody else to perform the installation.
However, the instructions were simple and straight forward and if I can do it, probably anyone can.
The most worrisome part was trying to get the placement correct. They supply you with double backed adhesive tape so you can test the fit of the hardware before mounting, but the tape doesn't stick very well. After about a half hour of messing with it (with the help of my very patient wife) I got the hardware in just the right position, which I marked with a pen.
I used the glue-on option, which involved gluing the mounting brackets on my helmet. I used a drill with a grinder attachment to grind off the gel coat layer on the helmet to get down to the fiberglass/kevlar layers so the glue would adhere properly.
Total time to get the mounting done was probably about 2 hours (not including glue cure time.) If I had to do it again, I could probably do it in about a half an hour.
The struts attach to the car's seat belts. I had to permanently remove the Team Tech seat belts' padding (took about 15 minutes) to accomodate the struts. No big deal, as I'm always wearing a heavily padded driving suit with my 6 point belts anyway, so the padding is redundant.
In use:
Getting into the device.
It takes me about 45 seconds to get into, and getting out of it takes probably 2 seconds. When getting in, all you have to do is insert the pins on the strut ends through the holes in the helmet-mounted brackets. I found that it is easy to do this, provided that you haven't tightened up the shoulder belts. It's also a lot easier to accomplish if you haven't yet put on your gloves. So, now I can do it quickly. Getting out just involves pushing on the pin ends and giving them a ****. I can release both sides wearing gloves in about 2 seconds. I practice doing this, in case I have to exit the car quickly.
Ease of wear while driving.
When sitting in the car, you notice that you have it on, but once I get moving, I forget I am wearing it. Head movement is pretty good. I can check mirrors, and move my head all I need to. You can't turn your head enough to check your blind spots, however, so your rearward vision is limited to using your mirrors.
I thought that I would dislike the device and that it would bug me when on the track. I originally bought it thinking I would use it just for open road racing, and wouldn't use it for casual open track events. It is so innocuous, however, that I’m now using it every time I go on the track, whether for practice, warm-ups, testing, etc.
Anyway, I would highly recommend the Isaac to anyone who wants the protection of a head restraint device. After having used it for some time now, I have few complaints, and much praise for this design.
