What and When Was Your First High Quality Stafety Gear Purchase

My current Arai helmet has only got another year before I'll need to replace it. They are running about $900 these days.

This got me thinking about my first Arai helmet I bought back in 1986. It was a Freddie Spencer replica costing a mere $285, which is $817 in today's money. 

That same year I bought a set of custom race leathers as well, they set me back $585 which in today's money is $1,700.

I was so stoked about buying that helmet and those leathers, so much so they are hanging in my garage this very day.

I have no idea how I paid for that stuff then because I made nothing at the time.

I bought a Bell Sport II SA-95 helmet in 1999 for my first-ever track day (a Miata school at Thunderhill).  IIRC it cost about $300, which was as much as the track school.

Snell rated helmet when I first started doing HPDE and autocross about 15 years ago.

For budget reasons it was an M rated by HJC.

My helmets (including SA) for autox, HPDE, track days, and motorcycling (gear) have not noticeably lacked in quality, but have all still been toward what I consider the 'budget' side of the spectrum. 

For me, I'd consider my first 'non-budget' gear to be just this past spring getting into endurance racing. It's a big buy-in having to do all of the safety gear at once, so I splurged the most on the stuff that should last the longest and (I hoped) make the most difference in driver comfort. Sparco Victory 3.0 with Sparco X-Cool underwear... It blew the budget a bit, but was sooo worth it when I barely cracked a sweat on or off the track in it during a 95* mid-summer race weekend. I actually felt cooler in that than shorts and a T-shirt, and almost too cool in it at the first race of the season.

Just bought a SA2020 helmet for $300 a few years ago.... my usual safety stuff is on the vehicle and even that is minimal because I'm slow af.

Upgraded to a Bell helmet two years ago due to my head shape and my old one expired, it makes a difference.  Stilo and Bell fit an oval head better.

Race Image for racing suits, Seven years ago.  Nice high quality suits for the price of a basic suit.

When: early 80s (1980s)

Where: Riverside Int’l – SCCA Solo I (time trial)

Very first . . . helmet was a Bell full face (probably a Star), firesuit was a borrowed military helicopter flight suit (a size or 2 too big), gloves military surplus, shoes leather moccasins.

Soon after I got a Simpson firesuit and Filler brand race shoes.

I have no idea how much I paid for any of it but I do know I was not really able to “afford” it. The addiction is strong like that.

Bell Mag4 RS in 1989. I want to say it was like $159-169 or so, which was a LOT of tables at Chili's at the time. 

After racing in Chumpcar for two or so years with some very budget level suit, shoes, gloves, and helmet and tired of sweating my nuts off in an overly thick 3-layer fire suit at Sebring. I strolled right into the wine country store there and bought a nice fire suit for close to $1k. Shortly after I bought, what was an upgrade to me, Roux helmet that had the built in speakers for the radio and drink tube, and then bought some nice Alpine Stars gloves and shoes to complete the upgrades. Probably close to $2k in 2018 and it's about time to upgrade again as that stuff is starting to show it's age after 6 racing seasons. The cheap stuff was falling apart after two years, the more expensive stuff is showing its worth but at nearly the same cost per year use price. 

I bought a Hans device the year before they were required for SCCA.  Carbon Fiber, because that's all they had back then.  If I remember right, it was about $850.  Had it recertified a few years ago, and still in use to this day.

When I first started, I had a Shoei motorcycle helmet I got from a pawn shop for $20, and a Bell Racestar suit I got from Tommy Kendall minutes after the factory Spice team he was driving with dropped out of the 1990 12hrs of Sebring with transmission issues.  The Simpson gloves and Bell shoes were new, but I think they were about $100 combined.

I'm generally not into buying name brands for the sake of name brands. My first real splurge safety item was a carbon fiber helmet about 3 years ago.

I did buy some lifeline harnesses earlier this year on a good sale though. A Schroth hans at the same general time.

Valentino Rossi AGV helmet back in 2004 when I got my R6. 

November 2022, at the end of my first HPDE season (8 track days) which included a 720 degree spin into the grass exiting 10b at Gingerman:

Simpson Hybrid S and Sparco suit/shoes/headsock.

I won't get into any car on a track without wearing the Hybrid S now.

Arai Quantum f, I think around 2000? 

It felt extremely expensive at the time, so I got the plain white model that was very slightly cheaper.

Did have a Nolan N37 before, but never bought anything else but Arai afterwards - I loved their fit, although it has changed slightly in the past years.

I bought a used Schroth hans from a forum member here, that and my $200 Zamp helmet are the only driver-worn safety items I currently have, both felt like a big deal when I bought them. For track days in the Miata they work fine, but when I get the stock car running I'm going to have to bite the bullet and go all in on a suit, gloves, shoes, and undergarments. I'll need a lot more time to extract myself from a car with a roof, roll cage and window net vs my open Miata and I'm not planning on taking any extra chances.

In reply to Piguin :

I had a huge gap in years between my first Arai and my current one. I'd forget how much I like them........I'm not going back.

My solution for the price is to buy the previous generation I bought a SA2015 in 2019 on a closeout deal.

Next year some time I'll but a SA2020. I tend to replace helmets every 5-6 years.

Forma adventure motorcycle boots. 14 wide. 

$450ish Canuck pesos about 10 years ago.

Because they actually fit and feel great.

Bought a hard dog roll bar for miata 9 years ago and wife got me a zamp helmet that year for my birthday (I believe with a GRM coupon). Think those are the only pure safety items I've got. Helmet expired this year but will not make it to track this year so will most likely grab another zamp when I get back at it.

Big dollar and safety for me is my airbag jacket. I wore the vest style on the street for a long time and then upgraded to the jacket combo and it is such a luxury purchase. 

Does selling my 94 Sentra since it leaked so much gasoline count as a safety gear upgrade? 

P3PPY said:

Does selling my 94 Sentra since it leaked so much gasoline count as a safety gear upgrade? 

Yes.

Good point as my first autocross helmet was a hand-me-down. I want to say it was a Bieffe. 

In reply to johndej :

Same for me. I bought a Hard Dog Dual Diagonal bar for my Miata. Probably in 2009? It was the tallest bar I could fit under the convertible top so that I could keep running time trials with EMRA. I can't remember the cost, but it was enough that I had to plan for it.

In 1981, I paid $105 for a white Bell Moto III helmet and $85 for a blue SpeedSport Nomex fire suit.

First race helmet was a Snell 1968, which tells you how long ago I first went racing! (it was 1973 - crap - a half century ago!).