Comments on: A Beginner’s Guide to Caving

By: Zombie Caver

Zombie Caver — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 21:23:39 +0000

One other thing that needed to be mentioned in the article. Never cave alone. Can’t find anyone else to go with you then find something else to do. If you get hurt then you could die, nobody knows if you’re still there or hurt or anything. Rule of thumb is a minimum of three people and the three need to be experienced cavers or at least one of them needs to be. This rule follows the axiom of one to get hurt, one to stay with the injured and one to get help. That is a worse case scenario.
Also never attempt advanced caving techniques without proper training. Several people have died while on a rope climbing, they got in trouble and couldn’t figure out how to get out of it. Caves.org will provide links to groups all across the country that will have people who can teach (and 99.99% of the time for free). Save your money and try out various climbing rigs before you buy. There is no one rig fits all. Some rigs work beautifully for some and awkward for others.
If you find a cave and it has a gate on it, respect it. It’s there for a reason. To protect the cave, to protect the novice/inexperienced and to protect the land-owner from liability.
I’ve been caving hard-core for over 30 years and 20 of those have been on a rope. There is much to learn but it’s all worth learning.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 03:54:10 +0000

Hi my name is Kristen Axton, and I am interested in going on a day trip/ caving trip Labor Day weekend. The last time I went I was 12 years old, so that was years ago. I have a group of friends who are interested in going too, but we were wondering if anyone knows a number we can call to find out the details of caving, costs etc. in Georgia. I live in Roswell, GA and would be interested to know which grotto to meet and where to meet them. Thank you for any assistance you can give me! (the novice SPELUNKER-LOL!)

By: Aquilifer

Aquilifer — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 03:52:50 +0000

I wholeheartedly agree with JB about his point concerning bringing three modes of light. Yet I know that I would not spend two hundred dollars on flashlights either. Whenever I have gone caving with the Scouts (Eagle ’08) I would bring a headlamp attached to my helmet and at least one handheld light (MiniMag) as well as many extra batteries for both. No matter how many flashlights you bring however always bring something that will not break a bulb or run out of batteries — a candle and matches. Of course, keep your matches water-proofed, caves are wet places.

Unfortunately the caves in KY are closed right now due to White Nose, so no trips in the near future…

By: Clint

Clint — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 01:22:58 +0000

Great post.
Love caving. Did it 2 years ago (i live in Sydney, Australia so Jenolan caves offers some great caves to explore).

Tight spots are one thing, the next challenge will be to explore underground river systems. The danger level increases significantly however :)

By: Will H

Will H — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 22:17:43 +0000

I’m not sure if this has already been mentioned, but some caving grottos have many more trip reports than announced trips if you know what I mean.
In order to get going in the groups, all you need to do is be outgoing. Find out who has been going on some neat trips, and if they don’t announce their intentions, go up to them, introduce yourself, and ask them if they have any more neat trips coming up.

Also, cave surveying is a great way to get into caves that you usually would be turned down at. For instance, Wind Cave in South Dakota doesn’t usually encourage free-form caving, but even re-survey teams usually find brand new exciting parts of the cave. Here is one of my favorite trip reports from a survey trip into Wind Cave:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10032/20070922_Historic%20Wind%20Cave.pdf

If anyone wants more explanation on the job of surveying, post the phrase “I want to know about surveying please” so I can ctrl+f the article later and respond.

By: Pete Zefo

Pete Zefo — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:32:25 +0000

Will, I am also in the Atlanta area (Kennesaw). Maybe we could host an Art of Manliness Cave trip to Pettyjohns.

By: Will

Will — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:03:01 +0000

Jason, If you’re interested in caving, you should come to a Dogwood City Grotto meeting. It’s a great way to find folks in the Atlanta area to cave with. We meet at the Atlanta REI (off I-85) the first Tuesday of every month @ 7:00.

Also, I second the statement about “spelunkers”. Just don’t use it. When you hike, you’re a hiker; you climb, you’re a climber; you get the idea. Or to quote an old bumper sticker, “Cavers rescue spelunkers”.

Excellent article, by the way. This article, paired with the mountain men write-up, has secured this site as my all time favorite.

By: mens designer t shirts

mens designer t shirts — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:54:22 +0000

Great piece guys! This is something I’ve always thought I might try but being honest, never dared try due to the obvious risks involved. Great advice though, although a lot of it I suppose is common sense.

Keep ‘em coming guys.

By: jason

jason — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 23:56:58 +0000

This has been something that I have been thinking about for some time now. I live in Atlanta so the GA cave you mentioned will be easy for me to get to.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:27:33 +0000

My only point of contention is that I believe “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time,” is actually a boy scout motto (Granted it applies to caving as well).

Wild caving was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done, and hope to do again. We went about a mile down or so (not straight down obviously).