I searched SFI and could not find what I wanted. Here is my dilemma.

There a are million brand and a billion options. Basically I can't decided whats better(safer), a basic product like G force or a cheaper line of sparco, simpson, omp. The G force always seem to have their SFI rating posted but sometimes the cheaper lines of sparco, simpson, omp just say ISO/ FIA or "multiple nomex layers" etc or no ratings at all. I'm looking for a mix of comfort and style (which G force has none) but actual fire protection is the reason I'm purchasing in the first place.

How do these rating compare to one another?
Thanks

 

I would also like to know the difference between ratings.

 

What do you need it for?

Single layer suits are sfi 3.2a/1 rated for just 3 seconds of fire protection and you usually need to wear nomex underwear wwith it. Double layer 3.2a/5 suits give you 10 seconds of fire protection.

 

Tim,

I need it for my own personal well being/safety. It is not based on a sanctioning body. I guess I have found a million great deals on Sparco, OMP, Simpson but it seems rare to get both FIA and SFI ratings unless it brand new 200 gloves (just an example). Here is an example at some of my considerations. Does FIA have anything do to with SFI?

G-force sells a sfi 5 glove for $55, but no FIA.
Sparco Profi 2/ Twister for $65 Fia homo
Sparco twister SFI 5 and FIA for $100
OMP performance or professional for $70 ISO rating?
OMP sport $70 Both SFI and FIA
Simpson Pro series 3 or V grip for $90 SFI 5.

Thanks

 

SFI can go die in a fire (Ironic statement eh?).

Suit: Get a 3 layer. I love my FIA 3 layer sparco. Or get a 2 layer and choose to wear nomex underoos.

Gloves: I'm actually using G-Force gloves (stitching on the outside) but the Sparco gloves are terrific with little alien padding material. Expensive, but the expensive stuff is SO worth it.


FIA and SFI are very different from each other. I hold FIA in much higher regard. I think SFI should go... Well I guess I said that already.

 

Yep, FIA and SFI are completely unrelated. You'd do better to consider the different designs rather than the rating, which doesn't necessarily mean anything. Also, just because a particular product has one and not the other, or no approval sticker/tag at all doesn't mean its bad, it just means it doesn't fit the lingo of that board's rule. See also: ISAAC vs. HANs H&N restraints.

I agree with rice, I think FIA puts more thought into what they consider acceptable, but they are also not infallible. From a practical standpoint, FIA-rated stuff tends to have a longer "shelf-life" for legality than SFI. Even though its the same exact stuff. *COUGH*

Since you're not shooting for race legality, don't worry about having both ratings on X piece/device, that won't matter.

 

The FIA is an international motorsports sanctioning body, where as the SFI is a safety testing company. The SFI tests racing equipment until it fails (or doesn't) and gives out ratings based on those tests. SFI is based out of the US, so US-based series tend to go by SFI ratings, and products based outside of the US tend to have FIA ratings instead, which uses a different numbering/coding system for safety.

 

OP, it's not clear - are you looking for a full fire suit, gloves, shoes, helmet, underwear - or just gloves?

As far as I know you can get better fire proof gloves (for much less) that aren't rated for motorsports. Once a piece of equipment gets a SFI safety rating, the manufacturer can/will mark up the price.

Just something to consider.

 

I don't know that SFI actually does the testing themselves. I thought they made a judgement call based on testing data submitted by each particular company, and about whether that design fit their rule schematic ("1 point of release for H&N restraint" for example).

 

SFI, if they do any testing themselves if FEW and FAR between. If it was the case we wouldn't this STUPID 2 year seatbelt rule. Argh... Just talking about SFI makes my blood boil.

 

My company sends products to sfi for testing . Whether they do the tests themselves or not I couldn't say.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to get a full suit in the near future. I'm just starting with gloves, shoes, helmet. Have a few HPDE left this fall and then going to find a full suit hopefully this winter. I finally read some other restrictions of a few racing bodies and they stated SFI 5 would work, but SFI 3 was a no go. You could tell by the jargon that they thought higher of FIA then SFI 5.

I realized that once they get the FIA/SFI tag the price goes up but, since its regarding safety I will pay that mark up. Its like knock off racing seats, they may be "as good" as a real FIA seat, but they also may be made in some garage in BFE. Its just not worth it. Its to easy for any company to make a flashy product that will sell simple because it looks cool.

Thanks Again, Andrew

 

BSR Products used to ship a video tape with a lot of their safety equipment that showed fire testing of products and what the numbers mean.

It's been many years since I watched it, but as I recall, it goes something like this.
Take an SFI 3.2A/5 rated suit. 3.2A will be the particular standard/testing protocol that SFI claims is applicable to the suit. The "5" at the end signifies the number of seconds the suit can withstand a X-degree flash fire test before the occupant receives burns over Y-% threshold of their body, rendering them unable to extract themself.

Thinking about the standard like this, a suit with a 5/10/20 second rating starts to look a lot better than a 1-second rating. Most of us probably can't get ourselves unlatched and out of the car in 1 second. No suit is "fireproof" but the suit+underwear combo adds escape time before you get turned into bacon.