caving

“Did anyone of you guys did this before? Fun? What do ya think??

Seams like something to do once in a while. I really want to get into climbing anyway, and I am thinking caving maybe a good way.”

“Yes and I LOVE IT!


Where do you want to go?


8)”

“I was into it big time when I lived in Knoxville.
Loads of fun!!! Good way to learn your Single Rope Technique.
Come to the Sipsey sometime and I'll teach you how to rappel and prussik on one of the overhangs.
I have all the equipment.”

“I would be down for that StoveStomper let me get some free time and I can bring you up North to some great caves that I know of.


8)”

“Ohhh yeah!!!! When you want me to stand in front of your door step?? lol!!
CM... I need to learn first, and I don't have any equipment, well besides the headlamp. :D”

“Ring my bell when you want to go and I am so down for it!!!!



The Ohio river area is a great place to fine and explore some of the best caves that I have ever been in.

8)”

“stovestomper! So you know how to do it? And you would not let me fall?? LOL

Hey, I'll ring your door bell sooner then you think :D Where is Sipsey??”

“Very cool!!!!!!



8)”

“I guess you didn't realize this thread didn't REALLY have to do with X-rated photos!! lol

Dirty photos of lizs

It's about a caving adventure. 3rd time down in a "wild" cave. One time I was let down in rappelling gear on a 45-degree slope or so. They told me to just relax. I didn't!! lol

so I've kinda done elementary caving stuff.”

“Wait!! I crawled through a cave near the Buffalo River with the "crazy one" and stikmon. LOL! That one was NOT muddy!”

“And you loved it!!!!


8)”

“Sipsey Wilderness In Bankhead Forest in Alabama.....it is an awesome place.......”

“I was into Caving for several years. Mostly liked Vertical Caving (repelling into pits). There's loads of great places in Tennessee, Alabama, & Georgia (T.A.G.)

Caving lead to Rock Climbing. I did that for a few years too. LOads of fun! It's deffinatly the most challenging hobby I've ever had.”

“If it is still around, see the IMAX movie "Amazing Caves". Pretty cool.”

“Walkindude I bet you were a top notch climber.I think I remember what you told me about why you stoped.


8)”

“Gemini,

I am laughing because you said you have the headlamp. I hope it is a true caving headlamp. I once went caving with group of splunkers with my backpacking headlamp. I decended into this 50 ft hole. My lamp did nothing for me. I could only see a few feet ahead while all the other splunkers with there big lamps were beaming all over the cave. I had to stay very close to them so I could see where I was going. Other then the lamp, you do not need much. You can usually find someone with a harness and some rope. I would recommend getting some overhalls rather then pants and shirt.”

“see, now you know how much I know about caving. :)
The headlamp I am testing supose to work for caving, but it's not a true caving lamp.

If stovestomper really will take me one day, hopefully I won't be left in the dark. LOL

Thanks for letting me know, because I had no idea. :(”

“Sounds small to me...like small spaces... you guys enjoy cause I won't be going there.”

“Gemini - Yes, I would be happy to teach you some SRT, but let it cool off some more. The Sipsey area is still to dang hot. I taught my nephews and they are chomping at the bit to do it some more.

For a few hours of caving all you really need is 3 sources of light (headlamp, flashlight, backup), a helmet the protect your head, heavy coveralls to protect your skin (jeans and a thick long sleeved shirt can work), gloves, and heavy boots.
A little first aid, and some water.

Most cavers use a military surplus type of small waist pack to carry stuff.

You will get VERY dirty and muddy and cave dirt is very hard to wash out.

A good book for SRT is 'On Rope'.”

“I agree Rox..I will have to pass on that one too..also sounds like it entails heights. I prefer wide open spaces!”

“Oh, I forgot the knee pads for the low caves. A lot of crawling is neccesary most of the time.”

“sounds like fun to me. Yeah, let's wait until it get's a little cooler. I always thought caves are cold, no matter how hot it is outside.

I'll get dirty?? yeah!!!! Small spaces are no problem for me.

You never know how much you like it until you try it at least once. I always thought caving looks interesting, even way before I got into hiking/bping.”

“I love caving and I live in a great area for spelunking...Northern Alabama. I don't like "tiny" crawls but don't mind a little squeeze here and there. :p”

“Gemini,from what I understand caves stay at a constant temperature that is the average of all all yearly temps (is that right? or is it "mean" tempertures?)

For example, there's a 48-degree cave here. Cool in summer. Warm in winter.”

“I real Caver NEVER uses the word "Spelunk" (iiiicckk) or anything of the same.
So Gemini, I'm glad to see your off to a good start by refering to it as "Caving".”

“"Wait!! I crawled through a cave near the Buffalo River with the "crazy one" and stikmon. LOL! That one was NOT muddy!"
lizs


we gots lots around here and i love going in them. we recently went into "mud cave" and it was REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY muddy....


CAVIN ROCKS!”

“Tonight I watched that dumb movie Descent, and despite all the cave-ins, compound fractures, and albino cave monsters, the only thing that I kept wondering was whether or not one encounters lots of bugs, specifically spiders and centipedes, when caving. Anyone?
last edited: 1/29/07 11:35:20 PM”

“umm... no”

“In that case I might give it a shot.



I feel I can adequately deal with cannibalistic mutated humanoids, but I'm outta there at the first sign of any centipedes or moderately sized spiders.”

“spiders are wayyyyyyy cool. i AM Scoutmaster in charge of the troops tent spider retrieval and relocations. it is my job to hand pick and carry them to safer locations away from boys who do not appreciate them and their skills the way that i do. i mostly enjoy freaking out small squeamish boys when i pick them up with my bare hands, the bigger the spider the better!”

“Well... I once went maybe 20 feet through a small tunnel immediately after entering the cave. Had to crawl on your stomach. It was kind of mucky and muddy.

See, we had entered with the purpose of "cleaning the cave," or getting out mud that continually washed into the entrance since it was not blocked off or protected from the outside world.

.... anyhoo, I was following youngster girls who, as I was crawling, commented, "Look at all the spiders." Indeed. There were quite a few spiders also crawling around in the mucky stuff. Then my light fell off my helmet. Neither freaked me out.

But after being down there a bit -- the turn-around area was very small -- I definitely was ready to go back out. And it was very hard to not flail through the 20 ft. crawlway because I wanted to hurry to the light at the end of the tunnel. It required stopping and composing myself for the slow crawl. Someone from above yelled, "Are you OK in there?"

So I guess there might be a chance of spiders, based on my lone experience. I don't think you necessarily see that in commercial caves, which usually have wide passages and you're not in such intimate contact with the inner earth.”

“I take it, Stick, that you've seen this:

http://home.comcast.net/~edrudy/centibat.htm”

“I have done the caving in Raccon Mountain in TN...GREAT fun, but if you are claustrophobic...FORGET IT.

LOL never took much notice but I don't remember many critters inside. Remember there is little food, so little to encourage the critters in.”

“Gem, most of the cave life will be near the entrance and a little way inside.

Be very carefull not to hurt the few true cave creatures you might step on deep inside.

If you do pits, snakes are usually at the bottom. Silly things will crawl around the top of them and fall in and then can not get out.
last edited: 1/30/07 8:21:50 AM”

“Lizs is such a girl. ;-)”

“I have seen a couple weird bugs and bats. Nothing to worry about. What SS says is correct.

About the movie Descent....

I'm still trying to figure why they took ice ax's with them. Vertical tool at that, LOL.

The book is fantastic. The only thing the movie has in common with the book is they are underground.

Oh, almost forgot....we found a rattle snake at the bottom of one pit. Scared the hell out of Amy. Luckily, it was dead. It died during the fall I suspect.
last edited: 1/30/07 9:04:43 AM”

“I've seen climbing hammers used to drive in bolts to get up vertical surfaces.

Caving requires quite a bit of single rope techniques. Lots of climbing.

Climbing in caves never bothered me.
Open air climbing gives me the willies, LOL.
You can not see where you are going to fall in a cave.
last edited: 1/30/07 9:08:10 AM”

“I figured they may have used them for dry tooling. A technique used in mixed climbing.”

“"Climbing in caves never bothered me.
Open air climbing gives me the willies, LOL.
You can not see where you are going to fall in a cave".
SS


I have always been amazed that when we took folks into "The Pit" in Samwell cave, they almost never hesitated when told what to do for the rappel. Then we realized it was because they couldn't see the 70' foot drop. Never really had someone freeze at the top. Can't say that for outdoor raps.


last edited: 1/30/07 9:23:49 AM”

“Very true.
A free 160' rappel into a pit was a piece of cake. We did them just to have fun.
Practice on a 60' cliff edge did give me the willies, LOL.”

“Oh... I thought you said 'calving'... Like a glacier.


I had a teacher who was into caving. He said he and his friends would check out these pits that people had called 'bottomless' for years... and they'd be like 20 ft deep.

I hear cave diving can be really exciting.

Sometimes tooo exciting, LOL”

“i can't get enough climbing, basically. i prefer bouldering at the gym. the workout is as good and you don't need to fool with a belay. a heel hook is as hard 5' on the wall as it is 30' on the wall. i am not a great climber. i can constantly climb 5.8 routes but struggle on sections of 5.9 climbs. so i would consider myself an intermediate. i have never climbed in caves but do practice climbing walls with a blindfold on. doing so breaks dependencies that are otherwise hard to get rid of.

gem, i highly encourage you to get out there in climb. it's an excellent workout whose fringe benefits will grant you access to better backpacking adventures.”