Thoughts about blow molds seats vs. not?

jujumum · Nov 14, 2009

Thoughts about blow-moldes seats v.s. not?

I'm chronically thinking about dd's next carseat, and lately have been thinking heavily about a Radian, Nautilus, Safeguard, Frontier or Regent. I love the steel in the Safeguard, RN & GN for super strength with forward/rear imact crashes. The GN doesn't seem to have heavy duty sides, though; the RN has the steel bar on the side, but I'm not sure what that does. The FN & Regent don't seem to have any steel reinforcement at all, but both are blow molded plastic.

What do you all think about the FN & Regent shells vs. the others? Like it? Don't like it? Has Britax released information about this design and why they use it? Is it supposed to crumple & release energy or something? Their site says that the base is supposed to on the FN. Do you think either design makes a difference with side impacts?

Any thoughts, facts, and/or speculation?

BABYGIRLLYNDSEY · Nov 15, 2009

I'd like to know more about this too.

Defrost · Nov 15, 2009

Are some of the old Century seats blow-mold? Like the Breverra? They sure seem to be - I've got one sitting in my back yard waiting to be destroyed.

Anyway, if it is the same, I will say that the mallet sure bounces off that Century carseat a lot more than the ones that are just regular plastic. I went at the pile a few weeks ago and decided to wait on that one after the first hit. You should have seen the 1986 booster crumble though!

I can take pics of the destruction process and compare with regular plastic, if someone can confirm it's the same kind of plastic.

Judi · Nov 15, 2009

I was under the impression that is was, but hey, what do I know.

jujumum · Nov 15, 2009

Defrost said:
Are some of the old Century seats blow-mold? Like the Breverra? They sure seem to be - I've got one sitting in my back yard waiting to be destroyed.

Anyway, if it is the same, I will say that the mallet sure bounces off that Century carseat a lot more than the ones that are just regular plastic. I went at the pile a few weeks ago and decided to wait on that one after the first hit. You should have seen the 1986 booster crumble though!

I can take pics of the destruction process and compare with regular plastic, if someone can confirm it's the same kind of plastic.

Oh, I find the idea of carseat destruction oddly facinating! You can see first had which seats put up the best fight.

Judi · Nov 15, 2009

They don't fight much, when you shoot them.

Defrost · Nov 15, 2009

Judi said:
They don't fight much, when you shoot them.

Yeah, the hardest are the ones you've known for six years or so. They look up at you with those big, sad eyes as you strip off their covers for the last time, stifle gasps as you cut their harnesses... "You know it's for the best!" you tell them, and they nod sadly, but you still end up just covering them in a lot of trash and hoping that's enough, because you just can't bring yourself to do it...

jubgulia · Nov 15, 2009

The Combi Avatars were blow molded, I believe. They both ended up getting cracks at the mold seams.

Defrost · Nov 15, 2009

Okay, smash test complete. I was unable to get all the "before" pictures I wanted because the guys were really gung-ho. Something about handing them mallets and pickaxes and telling them to destroy things seemed to drive them into a frenzy, go figure. :scratcheshead:

So, we have this beauty, which like I said is a Century Breverra Contour that's somewhere around the age of my oldest (15-ish years). I am almost positive it's the same plastic as the Husky/Regents etc. Here it is before smashing:

Result: It definitely absorbs energy. It's easy to dent, bend, and deform but somewhat harder to break except at the seams. After about fifteen minutes of pounding with a mallet by four different people, the only damage is the multitude of dents and cracks along the seam. My dh was finally able to get one dent to crack, but he had to hammer on that same spot dozens of times.

For comparison, we have a Graco Snugride (history unknown), and an Evenflo Tribute, DOM '05 but in a high-speed wreck (this carseat saved a little boy's life!) Sorry, like I said I wasn't able to get "before" shots of these two.

Result: These were harder to break, and they never really did anything except break. After one hit it would look like this - the white stress marks along the front lip there:

After three/four it would crack, and after five/six/seven it would break. Very difficult/impossible to make it dent, bend, or deform. This was the end result of about five minutes of smashing by two kids:

Jonah Baby · Nov 15, 2009

So what was the final conclusion?
The crap-plastic seats like a Scenera absorb just as well as a Britax?

I'd like to see you attack my expired pile, Defrost.
It includes a Roundabout.

carseatcoach · Nov 15, 2009

I don't think Sceneras are blow-molded.

Defrost · Nov 15, 2009

Jonah Baby said:
So what was the final conclusion?
The crap-plastic seats like a Scenera absorb just as well as a Britax?

The only comparison was between a blow-molded shell and regular-style shell. It doesn't really have anything to do with brands.

I'd like to see you attack my expired pile, Defrost.
It includes a Roundabout.

Mine includes a Marathon. I haven't been able to bring myself to toss it to the pack yet.

jujumum · Nov 15, 2009

Thanks! This renewed my interest in this type of construction. The Frontier is blow-molded, right? I didn't like the back of it - where the harness is attached - compared to the metal design of the GN/FN back. But, perhaps the back is stronger than it looks.

Have you ever destroyed a Regent/Husky? Is there anything inside other than plastic and air? Mine weighs about 10 gazillion pounds.

Defrost · Nov 15, 2009

jujumum said:
Thanks! This renewed my interest in this type of construction. The Frontier is blow-molded, right? I didn't like the back of it - where the harness is attached - compared to the metal design of the GN/FN back. But, perhaps the back is stronger than it looks.

Have you ever destroyed a Regent/Husky? Is there anything inside other than plastic and air? Mine weighs about 10 gazillion pounds.

I'm honestly not sure if the Frontier is blow-molded. I do know the thicker areas on the Husky and the Century, like around the harness holes, are pretty dang thick. I'm not sure how they'd compare to metal, of course.

And no, I've never destroyed a Regent or Husky, sorry.

christineka · Nov 15, 2009

I've tried destroying car seats. The century breverra (exp 2 years previous) was very resistant. I remember I eventually got some crack around the harness slots.

The cosco hbb (exp 2 years previous) was easy when smashed at the harness slots. My graco cargo (had just expired) just bounced and bounced. I gave up on it and just threw it out whole.

I think my recaro vivo has that blow molded plastic. It seems nice and sturdy to me.

Judi · Nov 15, 2009

Defrost said:
Yeah, the hardest are the ones you've known for six years or so. They look up at you with those big, sad eyes as you strip off their covers for the last time, stifle gasps as you cut their harnesses... "You know it's for the best!" you tell them, and they nod sadly, but you still end up just covering them in a lot of trash and hoping that's enough, because you just can't bring yourself to do it...

Oh, I get that. I still have my first seat, the renolux.

Jonah Baby said:
So what was the final conclusion?
The crap-plastic seats like a Scenera absorb just as well as a Britax?

I'd like to see you attack my expired pile, Defrost.
It includes a Roundabout.

Mine has a super elite. I bet you my destroy pile is bigger than yours. Yeah, I have a trailer full.

rodentranger · Nov 16, 2009

DH just takes the Sawzall to my destroy pile.

The first side of the road seat I brought home was an unexpired Dorel infant seat that *would not die*! He tried smashing it with his backhoe and just got it stuck on the bucket. Then proceeded to dig holes with it.
The way past expired "cheap" seats didn't fare any different than the just barely expired Britax when he got out the Sawzall though.

(He did tell me I'm not allowed to bring home any more homesless seats.)

Kat_Momof3 · Nov 16, 2009

christineka said:
I think my recaro vivo has that blow molded plastic. It seems nice and sturdy to me.

I agree... and it's so lightweight for feeling so sturdy, too... to me it's the sturdiest "skinny" or "small" booster I've found... a title previously reserved for the old parkway

Thoughts about blow molds seats vs. not?

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