Seat Belt Silencers – Practical Applications and Options
You pick up a pizza for the family on a Friday night. Set it in the front seat for the ride home…
Ding ding ding…You sigh as the seatbelt alarm goes off.
You head to the park with your four-legged best friend in the front seat…
Ding ding ding…the seat belt alarm goes off again.
You’re riding around the dirt roads at your hunting camp, getting out every couple of hundred yards to clear the lane of the debris left by the last big storm. You hop in after clearing a downed tree to drive to the next obstruction that you can see, the door still half open…
Ding ding ding…Yep. Seat belt alarm.
Seat belts save lives, and seat belt alarms help to make sure that you actually wear yours and make it back home to your family safe and sound. But sometimes that alarm can be a bit…overzealous…in its attempt to keep you safe. It amazes me that we’ll probably figure out how to make a car drive itself before we make one realize that 3 large pizzas don’t equate to a person in the seat, or that you probably won’t be ejected through your windshield if you hit something at 5mph on a dirt road or parking lot.
If you relate to the above situations and are willing to take a little bit of your safety into your own hands, you may need a seat belt silencer in your vehicle.
What Is A Seat Belt Silencer?
Seat belt silencers are ingeniously simple little gadgets that trick your car or UTV into thinking your seat belt is buckled when it isn’t. They are small, metal devices that can live in a car console, dashboard, glove box, or on your keychain. If your seat belt alarm goes off when it shouldn’t, like when you place a heavy backpack in your passenger seat, you can stick it into the female component of the seat belt buckle to make the alarm go silent.
Why Would You Need A Seat Belt Silencer?
Seat belt alarms are usually triggered when sensors in the seat detect weight in the seat. Unfortunately, these sensors are often a little too sensitive and have no way of knowing if the weight is actually the weight of a person. Backpacks, takeout orders, pets, or a bag of groceries will all set the seat belt alarm off on many newer vehicles.
When I’m driving in my hunting and fishing vehicle, I very rarely have a friend in the passenger seat. But I almost always have some sort of gear that I want quickly accessible. A seat belt silencer is a more elegant option than leaving the passenger seat belt buckled all of the time.
Seat belt silencers also come in handy for hunters, foresters, property managers, utility workers, security personnel, and other individuals who frequently spend a large amount of time driving slowly and frequently getting in and out of their vehicle. One scenario that comes to mind is a scouting trip I went on last year in northwest Mississippi. My buddy and I were slowly driving down a levee road, stopping every couple of hundred yards to glass the flooded fields and timber for ducks. After a couple of hours, we would have both sprung for a seat belt alarm to leave in our buckles while we glassed.
Seat Belt Silencer Options
When it comes to seat belt silencers, there are various options available to reduce the annoying and constant reminder chime in your vehicle. A popular choice is aftermarket seat belt clips or adapters designed to mimic the buckle’s presence, effectively silencing the alarm without compromising safety. It’s important to remember that seat belts are a crucial safety feature, so while these options can offer relief from the chime, always prioritize using your seat belt properly for your well-being on the road.
Truck Seat Belt Silencer
TIKIT Stealth
Features
- Universal fit for all vehicles
- Innovative bottle opener
- Made of solid steel with beautiful black matte finish
Universal Seat Belt Silencer
ZNEED Universal Seat Belt Silencer
Features
- Compatible with most cars
- Easy to install and clean
- Non-slip, stable and wear-resistant
ATV/UTV Seat Belt Silencer
Can-Am Silencer
Features
- Matte Black finish.
- 100% Made in America
- Compatible with all Can-Am, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Honda, John Deere, and Bad Boy models
Polaris Silencer
Features
- Matte Black finish
- 100% Made in America
- Compatible with all Polaris and Arctic Cat models
Final Thoughts On Seat Belt Silencers
It’s important to keep in mind that the intended purpose of a seat belt silencer is not to let you operate a motor vehicle at speed without buckling up. Decades of research makes it clear that seat belts increase accident survivability significantly. But if you spend a lot of time on back roads or with cargo in your passenger seat, they can make your drive time a lot less stressful.
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