Future Cave Diver

[Mike D]

I am a recreational diver looking to move into the tech world. I would like to get into cave diving, and I was wondering some suggestions that would prepare me for the training. I was also wondering about gear configuration. If you could set up the perfect cave rig what would it be?

 

[Mark Vlahos]

This thread is a good place to start.

Your instructor will help with the gear, you will get lots of suggestions from others but listen to your instructor before you dump lots of cash, probably the worst thing you can do is to wander in to your local shop and start buying what they suggest. Cave diving is very specific about which general configurations work, there are reasons for this that are far too complex for this thread.

Be prepared to spend lots of money, you can easily spend $10,000 or more on the gear, and instruction, by the time you are done. Oops, did I say done! You will never be really done with gear, you will only have short pauses between major purchases.

Mark Vlahos

 

[scubafool]

If you were to have 100 different cave divers put together their preffered kit, you very well might have 96 different setups, so the perfect cave rig will be really hard to define.

But for a basis, you will most certainly want to become familiar with a backplate, wing, and harness BC. Also, you will need to have your primary 2nd stage on a 7' hose, and your alternate on a short hose attached to a bungee cord that hangs around your neck.

Find some experienced cave divers who live in your area, and weezle your way into their good graces. Dive with them, and observe how they look in the water. Specifically notice their horizontal trim, how motionless they can be, their predive routines, etc. Start trying to emulate these things, hopefully with their help.

A couple of trips to FL couldn't hurt. On one of those trips, schedule a Cavern class with a reputable Full Cave instructor. Just that one class will probably do more than 100 practice dives at home to move you in the right direction.

 

[TSandM]

Although there are minor differences in configuration among cave divers, THIS article is a good place to start getting a basic idea of a commonly used configuration. As stated above, the blackplate and wing, long hose/bungied backup setup is widely used.

I would suggest, whether you intend to pursue the DIR approach to cave diving or not, that you find the closest GUE Fundamentals class to you and take it. It will be a solid introduction to the gear configuration, the basic skills (eg. S and valve drills), the non-silting kicks, and a high standard of buoyancy control. You will need all those things for cave diving, and you may as well spend time perfecting them at home, in open water, before you spend the money on a cave class.

At least that's what I've done, and I think it's been a good strategy. I took Fundies two years ago and I have transitioned to doubles and worked towards a tech pass. I did cavern tours in Mexico in March, to make sure I really liked the cave environment. I'm taking NACD cavern next month, and GUE Cave 1 in April.

There is no hurry. The caves will be there. What you want is to develop the skills that will allow you to make the best use of your cave class, and allow you to reach a level where you can go on to enjoyable, safe cave diving.

Welcome to the ranks of the addicted and obsessed

 

[Meng_Tze]

..
I would suggest, whether you intend to pursue the DIR approach to cave diving or not, that you find the closest GUE Fundamentals class to you and take it. It will be a solid introduction to the gear configuration, the basic skills (eg. S and valve drills), the non-silting kicks, and a high standard of buoyancy control. You will need all those things for cave diving, and you may as well spend time perfecting them at home, in open water, before you spend the money on a cave class.

Fully agree here. I took the same path and it was absolutely beneficial to be able to do these things before taking any cave class.

 

[Mike D]

Thank you all for your helpful responses.