Switching Radian chest clips

Splash

New member

• Oct 12, 2007

• #1

Okay... people here freak out over things that don't make a difference (SVD cover on MA, thin towel under seat, et cetera) and yet everyone is jumping on this "switch the chest clip" band wagon and no ones says anything. What gives? WHY is everyone just throwing caution to the wind on this thing which actually COULD make a major difference? I know I've seen it rumored that they were tested with a "Britax style" chest clip, but that doesn't mean anything. The Regent was tested with the old install instructions but woe betide someone who advocates using the LBP with a 65 pound child. Did SK ever actually okay this, or are people just assuming they can do it and nothing will happen? Because it changes the fit of the harness a LOT.

I've seen here before where people freak because someone puts an Evenflo (very hard to undo) clip on a Cosco (super easy to undo) seat to stop a kid from escaping, and those clips are almost exactly the same size and sturdiness. But here you're advocating replacing a very narrow clip that is designed to bring the straps VERY close together, with a wider spaced clip that may be altering the entire function of the harness... and certainly voiding this "warranty" and "liability" that people keep spouting about.

The Radian has great crash test results and super head excursion... and no one wonders in the slightest if this may be in part because the harness is designed to run so closely to the childs neck and so straight across their body?

 

ThreeBeans

New member

• Oct 12, 2007

• #2

Sunshine Kids' conducted all of its crash tests originally with an IMMI clip and it passed them as well as with the SK clip. SK okayed using an IMMI clip on the seat. If you look at the manual, you will see th epictures actually show the original IMMI clip.

 

A

arly1983

New member

• Oct 12, 2007

• #3

>From: "Russ Berger" <russ@skjp.com>>To: "'arly pridgen'"
>>Subject: RE: Radian Chest Clip>Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:11:26 -0400>

>Arly,

>>I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. Sometimes first time emails
>to me end-up in my spam folder, and I'm not sure how to prevent this!

>>Very cute picture!!!

>>Yes you can use a diff chest clip if you prefer.

>>Re: reverse belt path
> We would have to do some testing, so maybe that is
>something that we can look at in the future.

>>I am really glad that you like your Radian seat so much!

>>Best regards,
>Russ"

 

Splash

New member

• Oct 12, 2007

• #4

And the Regent was tested and passed with old instructions... but anyone who suggests that these days gets blasted...

But it wasn't tested with THAT clip. I don't see how people can claim it's horribly unsafe to say use an aftermarket cover cut to the exact specifications of the original, but think it's okay to drastically change the harness function.

 

Splash

New member

• Oct 12, 2007

• #5

arly1983 said:

>From: "Russ Berger" <russ@skjp.com>>To: "'arly pridgen'"
>>Subject: RE: Radian Chest Clip>Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:11:26 -0400>

>Arly,

>>I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. Sometimes first time emails
>to me end-up in my spam folder, and I'm not sure how to prevent this!

>>Very cute picture!!!

>>Yes you can use a diff chest clip if you prefer.

>>Re: reverse belt path
> We would have to do some testing, so maybe that is
>something that we can look at in the future.

>>I am really glad that you like your Radian seat so much!

>>Best regards,
>Russ"

Click to expand...

But Russ has already shown how little he knows about chest clips by a) selling the Radian clip as an accessory for any seat, and b) claiming that it was some super duper safety feature designed not to deform... (or something)

 

S

southpawboston

New member

• Oct 12, 2007

• #6

splash, you're sounding like someone i know

 

A

arly1983

New member

• Oct 12, 2007

• #7

Splash said:

But Russ has already shown how little he knows about chest clips by a) selling the Radian clip as an accessory for any seat, and b) claiming that it was some super duper safety feature designed not to deform... (or something)

Click to expand...

No joke.....He has said some much worse things than that as well.

 

Splash

New member

• Oct 12, 2007

• #8

I'm not saying I wouldn't switch it out. I don't know what I would do. I don't own one, so I don't need to know. But Russ is super cavalier about telling people to essentially do whatever they want, so him just telling people to go for it and use any clip they want (not specifically a Britax clip, but ANY clip) sounds an awful lot like someone who is trying to please versus someone who knows what he's talking about.

I think the Radian chest clip is ridiculous. But they did it for a reason. And this seat seems to break all sorts of laws of physics, *maybe* the chest clip has something to do with it.

Remember, it's also okay, according to Russ and SK, to go about the top slots... but I've yet to see anyone on this board who is even willing to consider it.

 

S

southpawboston

New member

• Oct 12, 2007

• #9

it does seem that russ at SK is a bit overly cavalier with all the modifications that he okays people to do. paul at recaro told me they would never approve of *any* modification to a recaro seat, claiming it would be a major liability issue for them. (this was all in the context of me telling him how SK gives out wider buckle tongues to people complaining about the straps folding over inside the tongues, a problem that the recaros suffer from). he was *very* surprised that SK approves any user modifications such as this.

that said, i would have no problem using an IMMI clip, or the wider buckle tongues.

 

Y

Yoshi

New member

• Oct 12, 2007

• #10

I am NOT doing it. I'm keeping my Radian chest clip. I believe someone got the ok from SKJP on the phone or by e-mail and the idea spread like wildfire.

 

solmama

Active member

• Oct 12, 2007

• #11

I'm not switching either, my dd doesn't have any problem with the clip anyway.

 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician

• Oct 13, 2007

• #12

yoshiandluke said:

I believe someone got the ok from SKJP on the phone or by e-mail and the idea spread like wildfire.

Click to expand...

It was (is? I should look) on their own website, that's where we got the idea...

Heck, I might have gone above the top slots if the chest clip were a nice normal shape... it was the discomfort that was even a bigger issue for me and my kid than the spinal compression...the chest clip that comes on the RN is what makes it unuseable for big kids...talk about a bizarre catch-22...

The reality remains that a chest clip is a pre crash positioner, it's not sprinkling fairy dust on the Radian to make it perform better. (I'm talking to Splash, btw...too lazy to open a new post)... SK evidently had a reason to design that clip the way they did, but it really has nothing to do with crash dynamics...more like to prevent easy sliding and unlatching by the kiddo in the seat. They are in a bind because they sell THEIR clip for use on everyone else's seat, so how can they say no if we ask to use everyone else's chest clip on their seat?
I switched out a Graco Cherished Cargo one-piece clip once for a MUCH better Century 2 piece clip... was the seat unsafe then, and then suddenly safe again when Graco bought Century and put that style on the seat?

 

Morganthe

New member

• Oct 13, 2007

• #13

My view is that it's a chest clip :shrug-shoulders: And just that. No marvelous magical safety properties at all. Its purpose is to keep the harness in a certain spot, which I believe is just as easy to do if the harness is snug and there would be something employed such as HUGS or the European styled long harness pads with the non-slip backing.

I really have no faith that the chest clip would save my dd's life. It's loosened over time (normal use), that I can now unsnap just by pulling hard on it. Nothing similar to any crash force either. So it's not something I feel will protect my child in the first place. :shrug-shoulders:

Russ waffles more than IHOP. But on this switch, I believe my parental judgement is spot on for changing it over to the Britax clip.

The Regent was tested with the old install instructions but woe betide someone who advocates using the LBP with a 65 pound child.

I'll probably get flamed for this opinion: But, now that I know WHY installation requirements were changed, I personally, for my own life, would have no qualms about using the old installation methods for new seats if that's the best way the darned thing would fit.

I honestly believe my 48 month old child is safer using the 'non-enhanced' techniques in the Regent, than in a flimsy unattached booster seat which she's not mature enough to sit in for any length of time.

Luckily, I have a May O7, so I have the option of either way. And no, I am not changing it to SBP when she is over 40lbs. Hands down, the Beast is not as secure in the vehicle than with LBP.
again, jmho as always

 

Last edited: Oct 13, 2007

ThreeBeans

New member

• Oct 13, 2007

• #14

Russ waffles more than IHOP :ROTFLMAO:

Morganthe thanks for that viewpoint. I was beginning to feel decidedly guilty and uneasy

 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus

• Oct 13, 2007

• #15

Morganthe said:

I'll probably get flamed for this opinion: But, now that I know WHY {Regent} installation requirements were changed, I personally, for my own life, would have no qualms about using the old installation methods for new seats if that's the best way the darned thing would fit.

Click to expand...

I must have missed this. We got an official response on the why issue?

 

Morganthe

New member

• Oct 13, 2007

• #16

UlrikeDG said:

I must have missed this. We got an official response on the why issue?

Click to expand...

Ignora had an official Britax class held by Sarah Tilton. She posted an excellently written and very lengthy summary about all the carseats and the happenings about the company.

I compiled all the comments made about the Regent on this Confused about what seat to use thread for another member.

To sum up quickly & briefly, it's a second mold that they had to certify due to the immense popularity and demand. They found it performed .5 better out of their ratings than the old method, but then never retested the new mold with the old methods . Confusing. But it would have been so much easier if they had admitted this reason from the outset. The new mold began use on 18/19 June. Hence the sudden change.

Very very poor planning on whoever knew about this adjustment

 

Jordynsmama

New member

• Oct 13, 2007

• #17

About the Regent. I heard that with the long belt path and a child over 40 lbs, the sides of the seat could collapse. Is this true? Which if it is, I could see a very good reason for following new installation directions.

 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus

• Oct 13, 2007

• #18

Utterly fabricated.