Welcome to the Cave Diver's Forum.  This page contains information, help, and frequently asked questions about this site and how to utilize it.


The Cave Diver's Forum (CDF) wants you to have a enjoyable, entertaining, and hopefully informative experience with us.  Consider us an online club and you a member; with no dues... Information posted on this forum is meant to be of an informative nature.  We also encourage the sport or profession of cave diving, and just want to provide a place on the internet where ideas and information can be exchanged freely, hence our claim to be an Open (minded) forum.  Please be friendly and professional in your postings. Since we deal in a sport (or profession) that has it's dangers, be 'safe' in what you post.  Keep in mind that your opinions and comments could cause harm to others. It could mislead them or provide them with inaccurate data. With that in mind, the sponsors of this site want you to understand that they do not endorse or necessarily share the opinions and views posted herein.  

Please feel free to ask questions, reply or post information of possible interest to other cavers.  

General information:

This site does have highly skilled and experienced cave divers acting as moderators to help weed out anything that violates our few basic rules.

Keep in mind that articles posted may be offensive, stupid or even inaccurate. You can respond to these postings or ignore them. We expect 'lively' and 'objectionable' discussions. Someone's dumb idea today, may lead to something smart tomorrow.  Please be tolerant and keep an open mind and be respectful of others even if their comments and opinions are very different from yours.  

Keep in mind that children, our future cave divers, will also have access to this site, so again keep that in mind with regards to your comments and language. You should not say anything not suitable for young ears. 

Censorship is not our intent, but we consider rule violations a form of hacking and spamming, and our moderators will react by 'cleaning it' and possibly banning the person making such postings.

We do not seek to restrict ideas; we choose to encourage them.

Technical Issues:

Won't spammers be able to get my e-mail address if I post it?
Not real likely, but possible.  Don't post it if you are worried about this.  We recommend to everyone that you have a secondary 'disposable' email account anyway.  The spammers are out there, just waiting to fill your inbox with trash, so be aware of this anytime you tell or post your email ANYWHERE.

Are posts from businesses permitted?
Maybe.  The forum is open to all divers, even those that run companies.  We just don't want to see the forum becoming a solicitor's haven.  Businesses can solicit on our site though by becoming a sponsor. Their link and information will be added to that page. There is a rule against soliciting, but if someone, even a representative of a commercial business announces something new, or a solution to a request posted on the forum, that solicitation may be considered in 'good taste'.  Violators may find themselves blocked from posting. Furthermore, most divers object to advertising without any substantive value. You may find that you have caused yourself more harm than good if you ignore this basic idea.

Can I post links in my comments?
Absolutely.  The Uniform Resource Locator (URL), also known as the web address is an important and probably the KEY benefit of the internet.  Just type your URL into your text using the complete link, ie: http://www.cavediver.net/ . The   http://   part of the url is important or the link will not work.

If you wish to add an image (photograph or other image) into your text, you need to upload it and put the link to it into your message.

Please remember to include the http:// as part of every URL 

What language can I use?
This site is obviously written in English, but we don't care what language you use.  Keep in mind some character sets will not display on other people's screens as they do on yours.  

If you wish to interpret or translate a message you can always copy/paste message into AltaVista's translator:  http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn?

How long do messages remain displayed?
Probably 'forever' or until they become irrelevant (if ever), or we close up shop... Messages are posted newest first, oldest last, so until the number of message headers becomes a problem (hopefully never), they won't be removed.

Can I put HTML tags anywhere in my posts?
You sure can. They are listed on the edit and new post screen.  You can, of course, ask for help from the moderators and webmaster.  

Sometimes I have problems connecting or posting. What's wrong?
We are not an internet god. Only he knows all the answers!  There is a host of connectivity problems. Your connection to us, through the internet goes through many 'hops' and if any of these 'hops' are overwhelmed or mal-functioning, a bottleneck or NO connection is experienced.  This site is sponsored and hosted by an Internet Provider, and will receive the best attention, but always look for the obvious.

A trick to see if it's us or you is to try and browse key web sites, like: http://www.yahoo.com,   http://www.weather.com/  and if you can't get to them, then it's your computer or your ISP.

You can also go to a DOS prompt, and ping us, ie:

ping http://www.cavediver.net

And if you want to check on those 'hops' between you and us, you can do a trace routine at the DOS prompt, ie:

tracert http://www.cavediver.net

Anything much over 300 ms (milliseconds) indicates a traffic jam on that particular part of the information superhighway. Try connecting again if you have a dialup. This might mean you will take a different route, perhaps one less crowded. 

Guidelines for posting

Please keep the Subject field short. There is a limit to it's size.

Keep your messages 'clean' and professional.

Read our few rules:  click here for rules

Try not to type your messages in ALL caps. This is a recommendation, not a rule. 

Before posting any statements, you might want to read through some of them to make sure you are not duplicating someone else's response or that your question has already been answered.  Use the search option to look up key words or phrases.

Civilized discussions and debates have been conducted for hundreds of years.  When people maintain respect for each other, they can disagree, exchange ideas, and sometimes, even understand the opposing point of view, regardless of agreeing with it, with insults and attacks nowhere in sight. 

How do I contact a moderator?
Every moderator, a skilled and experienced cave diver, is a volunteer and available to you by email as listed on the Moderator Page.

General Disclaimer
Cave and Scuba diving is a life threatening activity like none other on our planet. You enter a foreign environment requiring your own air supply and wearing life support equipment, you are weightless or nearly so, and there are conditions and situations that may occur that are unique to that environment. The closest activity to diving is journeying into space. Indeed, inner and outer space have much in common. Both require extensive training to minimize the many risks, both require that full attention be given and applied on every journey into the foreign environment. Diving can be performed in relative safety with the proper attitude, training and equipment. Divers must also realize that no matter how experienced and trained they may be, there are dives which are beyond their ability, dives which cannot be safely done with their equipment, and dives that are beyond their level of training. 

Some dives are simply more hazardous than others. Your certification course should have trained you sufficiently that, with the proper attitude, you recognize your limitations and that the training you have received does not make you qualified for all types of diving. 

It should be obvious that not everyone who posts their opinions is an expert, correct, or complete in their answer. Much of the information is more anecdotal than factual. Assume nothing.

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