Topic: Quick question regarding 3.2A/5 suits

So, in the rules it mentions not having to wear long johns if you have a multi-layer suit: "Multilayer suits rated SFI 3.2/A5 or higher are highly recommended and may be worn without long underwear."

So what exactly is okay to wear underneath? Link to the suit I bought: https://www.racedaysafety.com/racedaysa … age-2.html

Re: Quick question regarding 3.2A/5 suits

Nomex, carbon-x or nothing would be the strictest from a safety standpoint.  I usually wear cotton undies and a carbon-x shirt.

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Re: Quick question regarding 3.2A/5 suits

Don't wear synthetics. In a fire they can melt and then stick to your skin making everything worse. Like cheseroo said, best option is still something nomex or carbon-x or basically something designed for racing. Second best is all cotton.

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Re: Quick question regarding 3.2A/5 suits

TheEngineer wrote:

Don't wear synthetics. In a fire they can melt and then stick to your skin making everything worse. Like cheseroo said, best option is still something nomex or carbon-x or basically something designed for racing. Second best is all cotton.

/agree

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Re: Quick question regarding 3.2A/5 suits

I know it says you don’t need, but a set of nomex (etc..) underwear wicks very nicely dries quickly and sits somewhere between cotton and silk for comfort. Unless you’re swimming in your own sweat they are better than cotton. Once your saturated everything that isnt a running coolshirt sucks.

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6 (edited by gunn 2019-06-04 11:37 AM)

Re: Quick question regarding 3.2A/5 suits

FYI - if you do some shopping, you can find good deals without going used NASCAR @ raceimage or paying full retail (~$500/ea).
I bought two suits (both for good prices) for the Mexican 1000.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041 … 8&th=1
This one I picked up for $50. I thought it was a price mistake but seeing as how Medium is selling for $177, it might just be a surplus inventory thing. It came in full retail packaging with tags.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/G-FORCE-Racing … 1137109698
This is supposed to be a tradeshow sample but considering it came in full retail packaging with tags, I again think its a surplus inventory reduction thing.

I honed in on these two suits because they were NOMEX/Aramid vs treated cotton. FWIW, I like the K1 suit slightly better (mostly because of the interior stitching and cuff design).

On a lark, I did buy some CarbonX shirts/shorts w/o SFI certification sold for firefighters. I think a set cost me $100-120 and were half the cost of what the SFI certified stuff would run (about $85-100 each piece). Honestly, it probably wasn't worth it and I'm not sure i'd do it again. They were super thick. If conditions were cold and I wanted extra safety, I'd probably just wear my nomex long underwear I already own (originally bought to use with my first single layer suit) under my 3.2A/5 suit. Otherwise, I'd just rock a tshirt and boxers. Not the safest choice of course.

In buying some additional socks, I also found out that some companies like RacerDirect get their SFI tags because they are private label brands mfg'd by another SFI certified company. If you search, you'll find RacerDirect is a closeout focused company located in the same building as RJS Racing equipment. I picked up a few pairs of SFI rated socks from them for <$20 via eBay.

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