Sunday, October 26th 2008
Alternative Mounting for Audible in Gath Helmets

By Mike Gruwell

An Instructor at Skydive The Farm recently installed the Gath Altimeter Bracket to his Retractable Visor Gath, and found the process a bit tedious. He also discovered the bracket is not a "practical" mount for someone who wants to move an audible frequently from a couple of different helmets as it involves unscrewing part of the mount for removing the audible.

So he tried installing the audible on the inside of the helmet by removing part of the Gath padding and securing the audible with Velcro.

Because the padding is not very thick on the Gath, the worry was you would be able to feel the audible against your head. But after the installation, he found he could not even feel it was there.

Here is a photo of an Optima installed in the padding of the Gath Retractable Visor helmet:



Here is a photo of the space that was cut out as well as the Velcro placement:



Another local jumper did the same install with a NeoXs, and found that audible to fit in same spot as well.

So for those of you with Gath helmets and audibles wanting a cheaper and easier to remove audible placement, this alternative mounting may be perfect for you.
mike on 10.26.08 @ 10:38 PM EST

Wednesday, October 15th 2008
Harness/Container Washing Tips

By Mike Gruwell

Washing your harness/container every few years can keep your investment looking brand new. You'll be surprised how clean and bright a used container can get with a thorough washing.

Below are tips and a step-by-step "how to" guide for washing your harness/container. These tips have been taken from several manufacturers, riggers and my own experience of washing a few hundred rigs over the past 10 years.

Start with having your rigger completely disassemble the rig. Washing the rig takes a bit of agitation in a large bath tub, so don't try to do this with the reserve still attached. Have your rigger do the disassembly, as it will save you time and money in the long-run if the canopy is taken off in a way that is easy to reassemble. It also will prevent damage to any of the components if you have an experienced rigger take everything apart for you.

Cover all hook velcro with pile velcro to prevent hook velcro damage to your container during washing. Remove everything you can from the rig, including the canopies, links, toggles, metal handles, elastic keepers, closing loops, AAD, packing data card, hook knife, pullup cords, bungee cord, etc.

Pretreat the heavy stains with Shout Gel or Shout Spray. (As a side note, make sure none of the cleaning products you use have bleach in them.) The pretreatment with the Shout should only sit on the rig for a few minutes. So, while the Shout is doing it's job on the rig, fill up a bathtub with lukewarm water (just a tad warmer than cold).

Add a half-cap of Woolite or all-temperature liquid Cheer to the lukewarm water as it is filling up the tub. Submerge your rig in the tub and use a soft plastic bristle brush to scrub the Shout-treated areas. Once the tub is full enough for the rig to sit completely submerged, and the rig is completely soaked, begin scrubbing every inch of the rig. Once the entire rig has had one complete scrub, let it soak for about an hour on each side and agitate the rig in the tub occasionally.

Do another complete scrub. Empty the dirty water and fill the tub up again with lukewarm, clean water. Scrub the entire rig again, agitate, and then empty the tub.

Fill the tub a third time with cool, clean water. Scrub and agitate the rig one more time, rinsing all the soap out of the rig.

Empty the water and hang the rig to dry. A fan blowing on the rig or circulating the air will help the rig dry faster. Once the rig is completely dry, return it to your rigger for reassembly, inspection and packing.

Enjoy your clean rig!

Contact Mike at mike@chutingstar.com or 678-231-2752 if you have any questions about washing your rig.


mike on 10.15.08 @ 06:13 AM EST