Deepseat/Ribtect seats

Just did a full race weekend with my new deepseat. I can report that these seats work as intended. My recurring rib injury was totally unaffected by a weekend of driving and I feel as good as new, basically.
I think what really helps is that the seat comes a bit higher up on your torso and then sort of wraps around the front of your torso a bit. So, when you are pushed to the side by the force of turning, instead of your lower rib cage taking the force, it is distributed over a larger surface area.
In any case, if you have rib problems, try one.

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Just ordered a Deepseat as well. I am new to karting and this is really my first attempt to run a full series at the club level. Last year my issues were mechanical inexperience; I spent a lot of time figuring out how to get my used kart setup to be reliable (I had brake and clutch issues). This year, I haven’t had any of those issues, but I keep injuring my ribs. Upgrading my rib protector has helped a bit, hoping this solves it. Will keep everyone posted.

Good luck! I hope it’s as helpful for you as it was for me.

I just ordered one as well.
Started having pain a couple events ago, took 3 weeks off before driving again and got a Bengio bumper in hopes that I would prevent anything from getting worse. After one session last weekend, the pain had returned. I have 3 weeks until the next race. Hopefully with the bengio and the deep seat (I’ll add padding too), I can run one event without being sore for a week.

I ordered a size 15.5
I’m 180lbs, and 15" width from armpit to armpit. Hopefully it fits!

I’m curious to see how you and Yousef get along with this. For me, it was a game changer.

The last time I used my Deepseat it was that size and I am a few pounds more than you, so you might be alright especially if you wear a bengio. You may want to try a different rib vest with that seat as well. I had good luck with the Armadillo rib vest with the Deepseat. If fit is the issue remember you can also trim some of the seat with a cut off wheel. I am 5’6" and needed to trim so it wasn’t in my armpits.

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I ordered the size according to the measurements they gave on the size chart. However, I feel like I have way too much room. Im not swimming in it but definitely is not snug… Anyone else feel that with a DeepSeat?

Austin is that with or without the rib vest?

Should not be loose with rib vest on.

Due to right rib pain on and off (takes about 5-6 weeks to go away) I got a Ribtech seat last race and was wearing a Stilo Carbon.
Pain appeared now on the left after the clockwise race!
I think root cause is the bounce due to too narrow rear track width. The bounce was really bad during the last race.
Will be trying the Bengio bumper Carbon with the Ribtech seat and wider rear track.
I had to cut/ grind the Ribtech seats under my armpits, too. An angle grinder works well, make sure to use a facemask to not get fiber glass into your body.

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I have my next race this weekend. I am new to this and I am not sure about mounting position, but as long as it works I am okay, just looking to keep gaining experience without hurting myself.

I ordered a size 15.5 as well, based on the measurement suggested on the website for the DeepSeat, and I am 5’10" about 160. I think the fit is good around my ribs with my Bengio on, I am not sure about the parts of the seat that wrap around the front of the chest, I have a lot of room there between my chest and those parts of the seat. I figured the lateral movement near the ribs is what matters most. Will make a note to post about how it goes.

I should note that my doctor thinks I did actually break a rib earlier this season, but that it is healed. I still have some minor pain after taking three or four weeks off from driving, running, and playing soccer.

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I also did trim the top a bit, which was easy enough with a Dremel, though very messy!

Yes, this is definitely not something you should do inside at all possible. I used an angle grinder with a grinding disk wheel.

At 6’ I did not have to shorten back. But, I am mainly torso.

I did a full club event yesterday. I had very minor soreness in my ribs on the drive home, which has decreased this morning. The level of soreness is way less than with the old seat.

In the past my ribs would hurt most 2 or 3 days after the event, but so far it seems that the seat has helped a lot!

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With. I was definitely expecting it to be much more snug. But its not terrible so I’ll try it out.

I can relate. They change our track layout every race so the pain moves around depending on the configuration but I’m also looking for a permanent solution. My pain takes 2 weeks to fully disappear but I don’t want to continue this way. Once it’s taking more than a month to go away, if I haven’t found a solution, it may be time to hang it up.

Same here! Those wings that wrap around the chest are so far out in front of my chest that I don’t feel like they are doing what they are designed to do.

Good to hear! My next race is this coming weekend. The other thing I’m going to try which I thought about when I was reading another thread is how I’m wearing my ribvest. People were saying that it should be tucked pretty high up into the armpit. I may be wearing mine too low.

Perhaps I spoke too soon, some significant soreness today. To what extent is soreness normal after driving? I am 33 years old if that matters and generally in pretty good health. Any fellow geezers care to weigh in? I have done 7 races since I started karting last year, 5 of them so far this year.

My ribs are sore and stiff after every day of driving, regardless of speed or seat padding. I imagine if you’ve already hurt your ribs before (like I have too), that will be worse.

You’re essentially getting punched in the ribs thousands of times, so soreness is normal.

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With my rib problems, they took a long time to go away and even then, it comes back pretty easily. The area stays sore for a while. You should get to the point where it goes away and stays away after a few months. Don’t push it too much.

If I forget my rib vest, I can feel it. The area feels fragile.

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Thanks to you both. I have indeed suffered a broken rib at some point this year. If I’m still sore by the end of the week I will not race this weekend. I was planning to do two races back to back.