Dry cave question

[sskasser]

I have fond memories of one of my first dry cave trips with Marbry. After about 10 minutes of crawling, climbing, walking, and cursing, I mentioned how weird it felt to be going into a cave without running line. He laughed and said I was supposed to be paying attention enough to the cave to know the way out. And sure enough, when it was time to turn, he sat back and waited for me to find the way out. Of course, HE knew the way out...as his evil chuckles attested. Lesson learned. What lesson? The lesson to bring duct tape next time to keep the laughter down

To the OP, check out this website: http://caves.org/ especially "Safety and Techniques" and "Learn About Caves". Also, the book "Caving Basics" is excellent.

[phillip1]

Wow i had no idea i really thought dry cavers marked the way out some how, i guess you have all the time needed to find your way out.

[john844]

We have all the time needed, but it will cause alarms at some point. We always tell someone where exactly we are going, and what time to expect us back. I always give a specific call out time. That means if we have not returned by the call out time, call out for help. I also leave a list of active cavers and rescue team members to call. That way, I know the process to search for us will get rolling quickly if needed.

[wingman]

I have fond memories of one of my first dry cave trips with Marbry. After about 10 minutes of crawling, climbing, walking, and cursing, I mentioned how weird it felt to be going into a cave without running line. He laughed and said I was supposed to be paying attention enough to the cave to know the way out. And sure enough, when it was time to turn, he sat back and waited for me to find the way out. Of course, HE knew the way out...as his evil chuckles attested. Lesson learned. What lesson? The lesson to bring duct tape next time to keep the laughter down

To the OP, check out this website: http://caves.org/ especially "Safety and Techniques" and "Learn About Caves". Also, the book "Caving Basics" is excellent.

Interesting that at the nss bookstore the number 2 book is:

http://nssbookstore.org/index.php?mo...r=07-1127-2683

[citracaver]

I was a dry caver for a good 15 years before I started cave diving. It's always amazed me at how poor a job most cave divers do at paying attention to where they are going in a cave. You could remove the line on almost every cave dive I have been on and assuming I had good vis and a working light I could swim right back out. This doesn't seem to be the case with a lot of cave divers that don't dry cave. If they don't have a line to follow then they are lost. I first noticed this when I started taking cave divers dry caving. I don't think many cave divers look back at the cave when they go through intersections or large rooms. This is one of the first things you learn to do as a dry caver, because the way back can look very different from another angle.

[Richard Atyeo]

Moving someones exit markers while there in a cave is dangerous and uncalled for wet or dry.

[Sludge]

Moving someones exit markers while there in a cave is dangerous and uncalled for wet or dry.

I would like to see someone prosecuted for criminal mischief if this happened in the US. In an underwater cave it might be construed as attempted murder.

[phillip1]

In Rio San Juan i was looking for caves to dive so these kids took me to a big dry cave in the middle of the jungle. Lots of bats and a big sinkhole to climb down to get to ground level but no ropes needed. Started walking in and it was ally big and very decorated, still tons of bats flying around and very very cool, we walked in for about 45mins walking upright in very large super decorated tunnels the whole time I was thinking man all i need here is water.
we arrived at a big junction room and i mean big big, there was a big rock in the middle and millions of bats all over the place this was one of the coolest things i have seen, so after hanging out heere for a while tripping out on the bats 3 of the kids started to get really scared but one of them was really into it and was telling the others to shut up.
i did not find any flooded part or any sumps to dive and we were pretty far in by now so it was time to go out and they kind of all looked at me as the "leader" so i was like ok lets go now nad i acted like i knew waht i was doing since those three kids were really scared by now, I started walking back and thought Ii would be able to see footrpints and remember my way out, wrong.

The whole way in i would see our footprints and i would turn around now and then to see what the cave looked like and figured we were wlaking in what looked like the main tunnel with many side passages but it would be easy to find the way out, just stick to the bigger part, but in reality it was bigger part everywere really and it was now on the way out that that really sunk in.

i actually got lost for about 15-20 mins but acted like i knew were i was going, even though this was a dry cave during the time i was lost i was thinking that if the lights went out we would be in big trouble since no one really knew were we were and aparenttly according to the kids no one had ever been this far in the cave before.

i was not really scared but at the same time i was concerned that we were realy lost, i actually started to think about rationing the lights in case this got more serious to maximise burn time.

evetually i found the way out and we got out around dusk there were so many bats flying out of the cave it was windy, at the entrance it was insane i have never seen anything like it ever there were millions and milions of bats it was a swarm.

And ever since that day i have always wondered how dry cavers dont get lost, this cave looked like it went in all directions and definitly continued on past the big junction room, if i would have continued on and the cave still went on for a long time it would have been super easy to get lost for real, next time i go in a big dry cave like that i will take arrows and place them on the ground/wall and pick em up on the way out.

[Xenia]

Wow! I did not know either that dry cavers do not mark the exit somehow.

What if the lights went out?? Phillip's post is a good example actually.

[a64pilot]

As a kid we used to go Spelunking we called it in Tennessee and there are a few pretty good cave here in Albany Ga. In Tennessee we were better equipped, we had carbide lamps on hard hats, in Albany we were really stupid, sometimes we would go in with only one flashlight, never thought about what if?
Ever used a carbide lamp?