This Saturday will be my first time volunteering as a corner worker, actually, more like first time at PR since i was a little kid. None the less I'm excited and will be earning credit towards track time. It's being put on by the The Northwest Alfa Romeo club(http://welcome.to/nwarc).

1. One question that i have is, what would you recommend to wear clothing wise?
(See the thing is i started looking in my closet to find i own quite a bit of SYN. clothes.) I'd assume Jeans or Khakis will work for pants, but i only have polar fleece jackets and my snowboard jacket. Also they mention rain gear, and all my rain gear is SYN. too, do i need to buy some wool clothes?

2.One other question i have is, what gloves are good for this job?

Should i go pick up some Nomex driving gloves at speedware or should i just fine some leather ones to get the job done?

This is what the e-mail said
"What to wear -- Be prepared for anything. As a minimum wear loose comfortable neutral colored clothing, cotton or wool, NOT synthetic and NOT Red or Yellow. You don't want to look like a flag. Good sturdy all day shoes are essential. Bring a pair of leather work gloves or Nomex driving gloves. Although most stations have cover be ready for rain or sun. For sun a long sleeved cotton shirt and long pants will save your hide by the end of the day; and I wouldn't want to be without a hat and sunglasses and a small cooler with water or your favorite Non-alcoholic beverage. We run rain-or-shine so don't forget your rain gear and you may want a light jacket for the morning."


Thanks for Your help
~Eric

 

1. Bring any extra layers. A jacket and the snowboarding jacket should be ok.
2. I dont know how cold it is there, but gloves of some kind are always good.
3. ask them if they have colors that are a "no no" to wear one the corner and make sure you stick with that.
4. bring plenty of water and snacks...
5. you might want a hat to help keep the sun out of your eyes.

i'm sure i can think of more later... its better to be over prepared when you are isolated out on a corner; than to be cold, wet, and blinded by the sun.

btw thanks for volunteering.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kaan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">1. Bring any extra layers. A jacket and the snowboarding jacket should be ok.
2. I dont know how cold it is there, but gloves of some kind are always good.
3. ask them if they have colors that are a "no no" to wear one the corner and make sure you stick with that.
4. bring plenty of water and snacks...
5. you might want a hat to help keep the sun out of your eyes.

i'm sure i can think of more later... its better to be over prepared when you are isolated out on a corner; than to be cold, wet, and blinded by the sun.

btw thanks for volunteering. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Orange hunting gloves arte a good choice. White rain gear if you can find it. Tyvek overalls are the right color, kinda water proof and block the wind. Painter pants are good too. They are cotton.
Like Kaan said... when you are on station, you should be prepared for all things so you are confortable. thanks for being a volunteer. It is by far the best seat in the house.

 

the tech shed isnt the best place to watch a race!

btw... if you smoke bring extra cigs...

get a little 20 pack of Advil... between exhaust, sound, and the sun... you'll get a headache eventually... if you plan on doing this alot... i'd make up a little bag thats seperate from your weekend bag... and for the summer you are going to want a little cooler too.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kaan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> the tech shed isnt the best place to watch a race!

btw... if you smoke bring extra cigs...

get a little 20 pack of Advil... between exhaust, sound, and the sun... you'll get a headache eventually... if you plan on doing this alot... i'd make up a little bag thats seperate from your weekend bag... and for the summer you are going to want a little cooler too.</TD></TR></TABLE> In the summer, you will go thru lots of water....forget soda, water or gatorade is far superior and sun block and GOOD shades and a hat.

 

Excellent advice from the gentlemen above. The only other thing I'd suggest is to request a headset to go with your corner station radio, if one isn't automatically provided. Those "big earmuffs" will definitely cut down on the noise/headache potential by the end of the day, especially if the event includes unmuffled racecars.

And like they said... THANKS for being a corner worker!

Have fun,

Jon

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SwedBoy2999 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">2.One other question i have is, what gloves are good for this job?

Should i go pick up some Nomex driving gloves at speedware or should i just fine some leather ones to get the job done?</TD></TR></TABLE>

A cheap pair of thick welding gloves are great for this, especially if you have to pick up any hot items off the track such as a broken brake rotor. They can be bought for less than $10 at many tool stores. Plus, they can be dual purpose gloves if it is cold.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by getfast &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Those "big earmuffs" will definitely cut down on the noise/headache potential by the end of the day, especially if the event includes unmuffled racecars.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'll second this... absolutely bring some sort of hearing protection. Most clubs provide earplugs but I would bring something in case they don't.

Thanks for working and have fun... you will have the best seat in the house!

 

You can spend a lot of money to get the right gear (whites, rain gear, etc)...but you can also do it on the cheap since this is your first time...once you know you enjoy it and are going to do it again (which you will, I promise), then invest in gear.

Clothes: Why white? You are dressing for visibility...helps the drivers see you trackside and also know that you are in your flag stand. White painter pants are the best....but light khaki can work too. A white long sleeve tshirt is good...if it's going to be cold, get a light gray hooded sweatshirt. (Hint: get a long sleeve button-up shirt that is two or more sizes too big...then you can put on as many layers as you need without worrying about the color...just put the button-down shirt on last)

Shoes: You will be standing A LONG TIME. Hiking boots or work boots are best. Also, remember that you could be in the mud, so don't wear your favorites out there.

Raingear: If you know you are going to do this a lot, invest in a good white rainsuit (Frogg Toggs, DriDuds, etc). But, you can get buy cheap on this one for a single event...I used to go to Kmart and get the $6 clear rainsuit...you could see my white shirt through it, so it was good for visibility. Can't say it enough...NO RED OR YELLOW rainsuits...also, no blaze orange...it can look like red from the track.

Gloves: Welders gloves or leather work gloves work fine. When you get addicted and start doing it a lot, you can pick up a pair of orange Mechanix gloves.

Misc: Take a backpack with your supplies in it....sunscreen, pen/paper (for writing notes about on-track incidents)....also get a pair of small binoculars...you'll be surprised how often you use them (checking for leaks, doors ajar, exhaust pipes or brake ducts dragging the track, etc). From personal experience, don't spend so much on the binoculars that you mind dropping them in the mud.

Food?: PACK A SNACK. Track schedules can be very unpredictable...keep a snack or three handy just in case the lunch break doesn't happen at 11:55 like it says on the schedule.

Welcome to the side of the track...best seat in the house (if you can't be behind the wheel, that is).

 

I have a lot of gear, coats, rain gear, gators, nice boots. Since I'm an avid hiker most oh my gear was purchased with weight in mind, and most of the lighter clothing is Synthetic.
They specifically said "no syn. clothing."

So basically what I'm asking is what type of coats and rain gear is there that is non syn?

Again sorry for the noob questions.....

 

I highly recommend "Mo's unofficial SCCA web page" on corner working on what you need, what to expect, and what to do (with the one caveat that these days you only have two workers on each station not four):

http://home.earthlink.net/~mrmo/

Two years ago I had the pleasure of working with Mo at the Petit Lemans on turn 3. Very nice guy.

Buy whites if you can. Painters pants at Sherwin Williams paint stores are very cheap. Keep your pants and shirt cotton. I don't care if the forecast says 100% no chance for rain. Bring rain gear. Also bring enough layered clothing to keep you way warmer than the forecast. Believe me they get it wrong a lot more than you would think and being miserable due to not enough clothes just plain sucks. Ask me I know. Very comfortable boots. Leather. Not synthetic. As to wind shell and rain pants well you just can't get around the fact they they will be synthetic but then that is why they have EV. To put out the big fires. I only know one or two corner workers who have invested the $$ to purchase fire retardant rain gear/windshells. None of your rain gear/windshell should be yellow or red because a racer may see you out of the corner of his eye and think it is a flag. That is a no no. Safety orange is fine which is what I use for warm gear and wind shell. A small spiral note pad is necessary if you are yellow flagging to write down which car number and color car goes off/wrecks to call into race control.

At first it is a little hard getting use to looking only upstream or downstream to flag (as in whether you are the yellow or blue flagger) correctly but once you get trained you know why it is so important. Have fun.

Barry H.


Modified by apexinghonda at 7:10 AM 10/13/2005


Modified by apexinghonda at 7:11 AM 10/13/2005

 

Thanks for the great link, and my dad is a career painter/ paint salesmen so we have a lot of pairs painters pants around the house.

 

something else to note that i haven't seen mentioned. bring stuff with salt! if you simply drink water all weekend you will run low on salt and be in trouble. i usually bring a bag or two of jerky to solve that or some gatorade. i'd also recommend buying your water in gallon jugs. way cheaper that way!

 

Go to Home Depot and get one of those 5 gallon buckets. Then get seat top for it. Great way to carry your gear, keep it out of the sun or rain, AND you have a seat for between sessions rest.