Mechanical means to open a cave

[Kelly Jessop]

Discussions have been kind of dead here lately,so lets ask the question based on a couple of threads that have appeared here lately. Do you think it is acceptable to use a mechanical means (eg chiseling, hammering, picking etc) to remove limestone to enlarge a passage enough to allow movement past the fixed restriction? I mean more than removing loose sediment,but physically removing limestone wall or projections.

[phillip1]

If it means poetentially opening up thousands of feet more of cave I would say yes, obviously use your best judgment, I do it if it really looks extremely likely or it is the exact correct direction to connect according to the survey etc..
I really think about it first, I dont just break to get through, it is rare but I have done it a few times and thankfully it paid off but it could have also been for nothing so really take the time to think it through first.
No matter how you look at it this is destroying the very cave we love just so we can dive or explore more of it so make it count and only do it as a last resort after looking for every possible way around breaking something to pass

[Kelly Jessop]

If it means poetentially opening up thousands of feet more of cave I would say yes, obviously use your best judgment, I do it if it really looks extremely likely or it is the exact correct direction to connect according to the survey etc..

That can be the big question, and have seen something adverted because the signs didn't indicate much going passage to justify the level of destruction. Technology may be possible to allow exploration beyond a fixed restriction in the form of ROVs (just like drones have become affordable and personally accessible) to determine if exploration further has any benefit.

[bamafan]

I agree with Phillip and the dry cavers have been doing it for a long time.

[ARY]

Just let your 3 yrs old on a leash to crawl through with gopro

[FW]

An even more interesting question. If you don't believe in artificially opening a passage to get through, would you refuse to go through said passage if someone else opened it up?

[FW]

I agree with Phillip and the dry cavers have been doing it for a long time.

What is also interesting is that the person complaining is from the UK, where both dry and wet caves have been "enlarged" to get in for decades.

[Daedalus]

Concerns me a lot less than something like this

[FW]

Concerns me a lot less than something like this

Uh yea, that is pretty bad.

[tbone1004]

no problems with it if it is going to allow that much more area to be discovered. Should obviously only be used as a necessity, i.e. don't be stubborn and say you need to blow it up to get in with backmount when you could squeeze through in sidemount, but I see no problem with chipping a hole open if you know or seriously suspect it leads somewhere.