rf tethers???

[canmom]

I am taking the car seat tech course and the instructor mentioned that rf tethers will be mandatory on all rf seats starting in 2010.... just looking for more info on this. TIA!

[CDNTech]

Haven't heard of that... maybe Allport can elaborate/confirm/deny?

[QuassEE]

I don't see how this would be possible, since only two manufacturers have dedicated anchor points..and this is TC's concern with RF tethering... What's the point of making it a requirement for the seats if none of the vehicles we have allow it? It seems like asking for confusion...

-N.

[tcottawa]

Hmmmm. Maybe you could ask for clarification?

[delgirrrl]

I don't see how this would be possible, since only two manufacturers have dedicated anchor points..and this is TC's concern with RF tethering... What's the point of making it a requirement for the seats if none of the vehicles we have allow it? It seems like asking for confusion...

-N.

Don't you tether your seats for forward facing in Canada? Not trying to be smart here, just puzzled by the comment about there being no anchor points.
"Australian" RF tethering is to the same tether point as used for FF tethering, (which you can see on the seat to the REAR of my signature picture, although the tether is loose with no child in it)
My Swedish seat (to the front of the signature picture) tethers to the actual front passenger seat.

[QuassEE]

I believe Britax had a period of time where they abandoned their recommendation of the Australian method of RF tethering due to it's limited benefits...?

Regardless--yes I understand completely how your seat is restrained... The issue TC has with this method is that the specific vehicle manufacturers do not explicitly approve the use of RF (Swedish) tethers, with the exception of Volvo and possibly Saab. Until the vehicle manufacturers explicitly permit RF tethering, Transport Canada may still have an issue with it...therefore I'm drawing my own conclusion here that it's highly unlikely that TC would be a driving force behind making RF tethering mandatory when, as of current, their official position on RF tethers is not to use them unless specifically permitted by both vehicle and restraint manufacturer. Not a lot of Volvo driving soccer moms out there...? Not enough to justify such a requirement from TC, anyways.

This doesn't mean that I'm recommending against RF tethers, or saying that utilizing the d-ring provided by carseat manufacturers and tethering per their instructions is dangerous...I don't really know either way. I personally choose to tether RF, but I know others in Canada who do not based on a combination of TC recommendations and a study done a couple of years ago on RF tethers.

-Nicole.

[snowbird25ca]

I'd ask for clarification as well as I'm not aware of any such movement to require rf'ing seats to be tethered and it doesn't make much sense.


Don't you tether your seats for forward facing in Canada? Not trying to be smart here, just puzzled by the comment about there being no anchor points.
"Australian" RF tethering is to the same tether point as used for FF tethering, (which you can see on the seat to the REAR of my signature picture, although the tether is loose with no child in it)
My Swedish seat (to the front of the signature picture) tethers to the actual front passenger seat.

Nicole is just talking specifically about Swedish style tethering. Britax is the only one in Canada here that allows Australian style, and with them having patented the "versa tether" which I believe includes the "V" part, I don't think other manufacturers could even do that. (Do any of the Australian tethering seats have just a single tether, or are they all "V" tethers?)

And for the record, TC has no issue with rf tethering using the vehicle anchor Australian style with Britax seats, it's the creation of an anchor point off of a seat leg using the D ring that the concern is with.

I think that Australian style rf tethering is talked about so little around here, that when rf tethering is mentioned it's automatically assumed to just be describing the swedish style. You're correct that our ff'ing harnessed seats have to be top tethered in Canada. :thumbsup:

[snowbird25ca]

I believe Britax had a period of time where they abandoned their recommendation of the Australian method of RF tethering due to it's limited benefits...?


We x-posted. ;)

I believe Britax quit recommending it for a period of time because they were concerned about the vehicle manufacturers allowing the existing ff'ing tether anchors to be used with a rf'ing seat or something to that affect?

There seems to be a lot of unknowns surrounding that bit of history though so who really knows.

[delgirrrl]

I believe Britax had a period of time where they abandoned their recommendation of the Australian method of RF tethering due to it's limited benefits...?



[I[/I]

Interesting! I was having a similar discussion with myself (yeah, I know, but no-one else listens...) when I got a Boulevard this week: The instruction manual offered either Australian or Swedish tethering. BUT, there is no anti-rebound bar (as Australian seats have), or foot props as some (most/all??) swedish seats have. In my personal opinion - which I base not on being an expert, because I'm not, just an interested person who tries to apply logic - for RF tethering to be effective, it seems that you need to limit both forwards (impact) and rearwards (rebound) movement.

I'm not comfortable with the idea of Australian tethering without a rebound bar. It just seems a little 'not right' to me, but maybe that's just because it's not what I'm used to. Can anyone point me to a thread discussing this, as I'm sure it must have been done before?

[delgirrrl]

Thanks for the clarification everyone



Nicole is just talking specifically about Swedish style tethering. Britax is the only one in Canada here that allows Australian style, and with them having patented the "versa tether" which I believe includes the "V" part, I don't think other manufacturers could even do that. (Do any of the Australian tethering seats have just a single tether, or are they all "V" tethers?)
:

By "V" do you mean that the tether forms a "V" from either side of the seat, going into a single tether point? (sorry, not entirely sure if you mean that or something else) If so, yes, all of the Australian seats I've seen do that.

[snowbird25ca]

By "V" do you mean that the tether forms a "V" from either side of the seat, going into a single tether point? (sorry, not entirely sure if you mean that or something else) If so, yes, all of the Australian seats I've seen do that.

Thanks, that's good to know. And that's exactly what I meant. :)

[Adventuredad]

Silly question but why don't manufacturers allow RF tethering? And by not allowing RF anchor points, do you mean the D-rings are not allowed?

There is no need for dedicated D-rings for "Swedish" RF tethering to work. Lots of our cars here don't have the dedicated rings and it does not make a difference. It's almost as easy installing without d-rings.

[QuassEE]

Most vehicle manufacturers don't explicitly allow RF tethers, and do not have dedicated anchor positions. They don't disallow it, either.. Which sort of puts us into a position of choosing sides based on very limited information. Ultimately, it's that lack of information that is the problem.

[Pixels]

By "V" do you mean that the tether forms a "V" from either side of the seat, going into a single tether point? (sorry, not entirely sure if you mean that or something else) If so, yes, all of the Australian seats I've seen do that.

IIRC the Radian has that (at least the American version)

[northernmommy]

IIRC the Radian has that (at least the American version)

The Radian has a small "v" at the top of its tether, while the Britax seats entire tether is a "v", if that makes sense!

[CDNTech]

I am taking the car seat tech course and the instructor mentioned that rf tethers will be mandatory on all rf seats starting in 2010.... just looking for more info on this. TIA!

The instructor is wrong... my sources at TC tell me the information is completely "boggus". :D

[Twinklefae]

Most vehicle manufacturers don't explicitly allow RF tethers, and do not have dedicated anchor positions. They don't disallow it, either.. Which sort of puts us into a position of choosing sides based on very limited information. Ultimately, it's that lack of information that is the problem.

Actually, my new True fit specifically says that the tether is not to be used rf'ing.

[CDNTech]

Actually, my new True fit specifically says that the tether is not to be used rf'ing.

She's talking about vehicle manufacturer's owner's manuals. :)

[QuassEE]

Thank you for clearing that up.

As I said, "most vehicle manufacturers don't" allow it. This has nothing to do with the carseat manufacturers. Two different things completely: vehicle manufacturers make your vehicle, carseat manufacturers make your carseat. It's important that there's no confusion here.

[Twinklefae]

Thank you for clearing that up.

As I said, "most vehicle manufacturers don't" allow it. This has nothing to do with the carseat manufacturers. Two different things completely: vehicle manufacturers make your vehicle, carseat manufacturers make your carseat. It's important that there's no confusion here.

Sorry, my mistake. :o

[lenats31]

This is a very interesting topic:thumbsup:

So is this study by Chris Sheerwood:

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-01/esv/esv19/05-0346-O.pdf

Aussie vs Swedish RF tethering.

Lena

[QuassEE]

Yup--great study, but totally unreplicated :(

[lenats31]

When the standards on CRS are altered regarding their installation, then the standards on cars need to be altered accordingly.




Lena