Head and neck restraints

I made a commitment to myself to never skimp on safety while on the track; but I never got around to investing on a head and neck restraint system, mainly because I really didnt think it was necessary at my level (beginner). So far I am averaging a hard crash about 60% of the time out. My car is getting close to race condition again after the last wreck, and I want to have as much protection as possible next time out.

My question is, can any of you who use a restraint system give me your opinions on HANS or Hutchens? I do not feel either one is more safe, so it really is a comfort / ease of use / ease of exit issue. The olds Hutchens system looks very cumbersome to me, but the newer ones look much better (Hybrid in particular). My main concern is getting out of the car when its upside down and engulfed in flames ( I dont have a door like some of you, its out the window for me), and how hard it is to put the gear on (I'm usually in a rush because our loudspeakers suck and I can never hear them call our group). Freedom of movement is not really an issue. I drive a dirt car (late model) and already can't see jack side to side, and barely out the front.

 

I just started this year, and havent been out many times (I will never be any good, just trying to learn and have fun). I have sat out the last 2 months due to the car being mangled after I got collected in another wreck. Its probably going to be the middle of August before I can get back out (No time to work on it). My original plan of putting around in the back and learning to drive before trying to race didn't work out. I discovered that no matter how much distance you put between yourself and the other cars, one can always find you and wreck you.

I have not noticed a single driver at any of the tracks I have been wearing one. I know there are probably some that do, and I see the guys running the national series (outlaw) with them, but in my opinion they are for the most part non-existent in local saturday night racing. Not even everybody wears those neck brace collars (which is what I was using before).

Tommy -- it sounds dumb to me now too, thats why I am asking this. Because of the low speeds (4/10 mile track), and the fact that pretty much nobody wears them, I didn't think it was really needed. As for "hard", I might be calling something hard that someone else might not. I have seen some really bad crashes where the car was a writeoff, that might be your definition of hard, thankfully mine have not been near that bad. I am calling it a hard lick when frame tubing gets bent or when it hurts.

TopElement -- sometimes it is a demolition derby, first race I was in started 20 cars and 5 finished.

b-mak -- I'll check that out, the big dirt forum I used to use recently switched to new software, erased all history, and all logins. I havent't posted there because its a pain to register and then they spam you with ads.