What Experience Level for no-mount / Very Tight Caves?

[Whitrzac]

Y'all are nuts.

You're boring.

 

[rjack321]

I've done both, and squeezes in dry caves seem way harder to me (see previous post in this thread). Also, I have fewer reservations of going head down in a passage under water than in the air. You have more time from a breathing perspective in the air, but gravity works against you in so many ways (blood flow, ability to push up, etc.)

Feet first mate. Please don't be the next Nutty Putty Nutty Putty Cave Accident | CaveHaven

 

[NothingClever]

Feet first mate. Please don't be the next Nutty Putty Nutty Putty Cave Accident | CaveHaven

What a miserable way to go. Poor guy…talk about agonizing suffering. My intentional gunfighting days are over but I think I’d prefer a GSW and bleed out over that.

 

[Scott]

Feet first mate. Please don't be the next Nutty Putty Nutty Putty Cave Accident | CaveHaven

THAT was not a good day for us. A couple of my friends were on the rescue/recovery team.
Sorry for the minor hijack of the thread.

 

[InWay2Deep]

What does this mean please? I tried looking it up but didn't get the meaning in this context still.

Cavers like to use the Term's "Show Cave" aka Tourist Caves with walkways and lights and "Wild Cave" aka you are going to get muddy, dirty and have to figure it out on your own.

 

[mdwalter]

Pics or it didn't happen? I'm just kidding. Sounds awesome and I am a bit jealous. That said, if you got any pics I would love to see them.



For me a show cave is one that has paved sidewalks, handrails, installed lighting, usually a tour guide, and all to often dramatic music at key vantage points along the tour; I'm talking about you Ruby Falls

OK, so kinda in reverse order, but here is my buddy Jamie in the Queen's chamber, then me just inside the sump, Jamie just inside the sump, pics on the wall of the dry trip into the chamber during the drought of 1983, Jaie and I talking to the guy who went in in '83, me climbing down from the tourist path into the sump, and Jamie and I about to dive the sump to get into the Queen's chamber for the first time in 40 years.

 

[mdwalter]

Cavers like to use the Term's "Show Cave" aka Tourist Caves with walkways and lights and "Wild Cave" aka you are going to get muddy, dirty and have to figure it out on your own.

Well, we got plenty muddy in the "wild" section of this show cave. But is was nice not having to figure out how to get there.

 

[lostsheep]

I recant any doubt, explicit or implicit, I may have expressed. That's rad and I am jealous through and through. Let me know when you need a sherpa

 

[mdwalter]

<pics>

And a few shots of the formations in the chamber beyond the easy sump.

And here at the far end of the chamber, it drops to about 9 or 10 feet deep and there is some passage at the bottom going forward. Nobody knows if this goes or not, but we hope to go back soon to check it out. If it does go, this one will be much tighter than the first sump and may or may not be passable by full sized humans. One of the guys from the dry trip in the 80s said he crawled down it and it got too small to continue, but now that it's flooded, I wonder if the mud is soft enough to be dug out to get further. We'll see.

 

[mdwalter]

Feet first mate. Please don't be the next Nutty Putty Nutty Putty Cave Accident | CaveHaven

My rule of thumb is feet first downhill in dry cave. Seems like common sense to me that it's easier to climb back out if you're right side up.

I will do head first downhill underwater if it's less than about 45 deg. and especially if it's into the flow. If it's straight down it's not too hard to do feet first underwater.