An Introduction to Caving for the Novice Caver
MIT Caving Club
Revision 4.0: March 11, 1999
Take nothing but pictures
Leave nothing but footprints
Kill nothing but time
What is Caving Anyway?
Caving or spelunking as non-cavers call it, is many
things. The reasons why people go include adventure, sport,
scientific study, companionship, fun, and other things as varied as
the individual cavers. It is one of the few sports in which you can
go places no one has ever been before.
The most commonly asked question is probably "What do you find
down there?" The answers are as varied as the caves themselves:
mud; beautiful rock formations and rubble; water and dust; vast rooms
and tight crawlways; awesome rivers and puddles; strange and fragile
animals; deep pits and waterfalls; ice and warm water; and, of course,
strange people. One finds, eventually, whatever one is looking for.
There are several different types of caves.
- Solution Caves are the most common type. This type of cave is
formed very slowly by water in limestone or gypsum. The water
actually dissolves the rock. As the passages get bigger and there is
a faster water flow, water erosion becomes a factor. These are formed
slowly and collapse rarely. The wide variety of rock formations and
passages also make this type of cave the most popular. Solution caves
are scattered,. in pockets, throughout the country.
- Talus Caves are literally piles of boulders. They tend to be
very confusing and are easy to get lost in. Also, the predominance of
broken rock makes them very hard on your body. They tend to occur in
mountainous areas, especially near cliffs made of a very strong rock,
such as granite.
- Ice Caves are generally restricted to glacial areas. They
are so cold that they could be dangerous. However, ice formations of
extreme beauty and delicacy are often found.
- Volcanic or Lava Caves can be found near some
volcanoes. They are passages which formed around and finally over
flowing lava. Once insulated by the surrounding rock, the lava stayed
hot enough to drain out when the eruption ceased, leaving a cave.
These caves tend to be extremely jagged, and they can cut your clothes
There are other places where people go "caving", but these are
generally not advisable for one reason or another. Mines are very
dangerous; they collapse a lot. Exploring large buildings or ships
can be lots of fun, but could get you in trouble with the law. Subway
tunnels can turn into a shocking experience. Sewers are really nasty
places and are best avoided. Stick to real caves.
A commonly asked question is, "Is caving dangerous?" The answer
is that caving is as safe as you want it to be and have the knowledge
to make it. For this reason, caving is a sport for thinkers.
Clearheaded thinking prevents accidents. Unavoidable accidents are
People often wonder if you can get lost easily in a cave. The answer
is generally no. It is possible, but progress is generally slow enough so that
experienced cavers can look around and keep their bearings. Cavers do
not carry balls of string.
Who can go caving? Most people. Men or women. Age is a barrier only
to the very young and very old. Persons with severe claustrophobia,
fear of darkness or bats, severe physical handicaps, or other such
problems are generally advised to forget it. Brute strength is
generally not required. Physical agility is helpful but not required
for all caves. Big people will have problems with small caves. Small
people will have problems with wet caves. In short, people are
expected to learn their limits and avoid caves which are beyond their
abilities. The first few caves you go to should be caves which are
generally recognized as easy. Always go on your first trips with
Caving is a potentially dangerous sport, but it can be made as safe as
you want it to be. Unavoidable accidents are extremely rare;
people make mistakes and they, or others, can get hurt because of
those mistakes. There are many things which can cause an accident;
you are expected to know about them and have sufficient foresight and
use enough caution to avoid them. GO SLOWLY AND THINK. . .PANIC
The following pages describe some of the more common hazards of
caving. Don't let it scare you off, though. In a certain sense
caving can be compared to driving. If you had never driven a car you
could get into a lot of trouble by driving out into rush hour traffic.
Once you have the knowledge and experience, you can drive safely. The
same is true of caving.
The General Rules of Caving Safety
NEVER go caving alone. Three people is the absolute
minimum number for a trip. The reason for this is that if a person
is hurt, someone must remain with the injured party while the
third person goes for help. Four to six people is generally
considered the optimum size party for the average caving trip. Also,
other people can help you when you are having trouble (which happens a
lot to varying degrees).
ALWAYS have three independent sources of light. Include
extra bulbs, batteries, carbide, waterproof matches, or whatever other
equipment or supplies you need to keep your lights going. Your light
sources must be highly water resistant and strong enough to withstand
severe abuse. Being without a working light is inexcusable, even
for a beginner. Should all your lights go out ("I thought you had
the batteries."), it is generally not advised that you attempt to get
out. Wait for help to come. This implies that someone on the outside
knows you are in there and will send for help if you don't return.
Wear the proper clothing. (See the section on hypothermia below.)
Your clothing should be warm, tough, and without things which can snag
o the rocks. Hardhats are mandatory.
Make sure you have all your equipment and that it is in proper working
order before you enter the cave. It it your responsibility to
know how to use the equipment you have before the trip starts.
One thing many newcomers don't realize at first is that caving is
one of the few truly non-competitive sports. No one ever makes or
takes a dare. No one is ever pressured to do things which he/she is
afraid to do. Daredevils are unpopular. The reason for all this is
that cavers are a very safety minded lot; competition and peer
pressure leads to accidents. Removing an injured person from a cave
is an awful job. We go to have fun, not to fool around. Remember
Don't go caving if you are sick, even if you have only a mild cold.
Caving is an exhausting sport, and illness compounds your problems and
might lead to an accident. Don't go caving while drunk, stoned, or
otherwise "under the influence". A clear head is a requirement
for safe caving.
Leave all jewelry outside the cave. A crushed ring could mean the
loss of a finger in an otherwise minor accident. Make sure your
glasses are very secure if you wear them. Leave your sunglasses in
the car. (Don't laugh. Long-time cavers have been known to wear
sunglasses into a cave and then wonder why their lights were so dim!)
Start caving with experienced cavers. Learn your capabilities in
easy caves. Don't exceed your limits. Get to know the abilities of
your caving friends. One often hears of "high school students" who
get into trouble in a cave. This is caused by inexperience and/or a
Follow the rules and THINK!
The single worst danger faced by cavers is hypothermia, or loss of
body heat. Your body must be within a narrow range of temperatures
in order to function properly. Caves are generally cold and wet;
their temperature is equal to the average of the local climate. AS a
trip proceeds, your clothing will become damp or wet, making heat
losses higher. Fortunately, most caves won't soak you, and your level
of activity is generally high enough to keep you adequately warm.
Your first line of defense is the clothes you wear. It is far better
to wear too much than not enough. Wear several layers. If you
overheat (and it does happen) you can take some clothing off. When
you cool down you can put it back on. The key point here is: if
you haven't got it, you can't put it on when you are cold. Wool
is best because it can still help keep you warm even when it is wet.
Wool socks are highly desirable because your feet are often wet even
if the rest of you is dry. Cotton is worthless when wet.
Synthetics vary in their ability to insulate when wet, but are generally
pretty good. As a test, wash the clothing in a washing machine. If it
comes out of the spin cycle mostly dry, it's probably good for caving.
A pullover hat underneath your hardhat cuts down on heat loss from the head.
Your body gives your brain the highest priority for heat. It is
always the warmest part of you. Put some insulation there: wear a
Wet suits are required whenever you are going to be immersed in water.
If you don't have a wet suit, don't go to caves where you know you
will get soaked. An unpleasant but often used method of getting by
short wet spots is to strip, go through keeping your clothes dry, dry
off, and dress again immediately. Keep moving to warm up again. This
technique should be used only after you know from experience about
your heat control.
The second defense against hypothermia is to avoid becoming wet and
extended contact with cold, wet surfaces. Stay out of the water when
possible. Waterfalls are especially dangerous: they will soak you in
a hurry and can drown you (no joke). Avoid drips when waiting for
long periods. Stand, crouch, or sit on your pack, if possible, while
waiting. Contact with rock or mud will cool you much faster than the
air. Avoid breezes; chill factors in wet clothes are very bad. A
garbage bag with a head hole is an amazingly effective shelter which
is easily carried. Put your head through the hole, crouch down, and
cover yourself up.
The third defense is to warm yourself up. Usually the only way to do
this is to shiver on purpose, to run in place, to continue exploring,
or some other heavy physical activity. You should do this whenever
you start to feel cold. There can be other alternatives depending on
the equipment you have: hot drinks, garbage bag tents, sleeping bags,
dry clothes, etc.
The final defense against hypothermia is to know what it is, how it
affects you, and how vulnerable you are to it. As a rule, small, thin
people are the first affected. The first sign of the problem is
simply that you feel cold. This is followed by increasingly severe
shivering. Beyond this your body starts to lose its ability to make
heat, a problem compounded by decreasing strength and mental
abilities. Slurred speech and a lack of will power are signs of an
advanced, dangerous case of hypothermia. Any time one of your party
gets to the stage of violent shivering, it is time to get out of the
cave. Everyone should leave as the affected person may need
considerable help. If someone is accidentally soaked and there is no
way to dry him, it is time to head out before hypothermia sets in.
Don't underestimate the problem of hypothermia. An unfortunately
large number of cavers have died from it. Most of those deaths were
avoidable. Dress right, stay dry, and keep moving. Only experience
will tell you how best to handle it.
The next most common cause of accidents is falling. These can result
in anything from a minor bruise to instant death. This type of
accident is totally avoidable. Know your limits: don't try
something you don't have the skill for. Don't fool around, don't
show off, and DON'T JUMP. Caves have a lot of mud around.
Situations which would never be a problem on the earth's surface can
be dangerous simply because cave rock is often muddy and slippery.
Think about your next movements before you make them.
Don't be afraid to ask for guidance or assistance. Better you should
ask a stupid question than to have your friends carry you out. Watch
how the more experienced cavers handle an obstacle.
True solution caves almost never collapse. Worrying about it is like
worrying about being hit by lightning. However, in almost any
cave it is possible to find something which is loose: an unstable
boulder, piles of rubble, rock held together by only mud, ice, etc.
The best way to avoid this is to use your eyes. Things which look
unstable very often are. Stay away from them. Most of caving's
small number of unavoidable accidents are in this group, so use
Stay out from underneath other people. Very often a person will
dislodge something which could fall on someone else. If you do so,
yell "ROCK!" no matter what it is that is falling.
ROCK! is the cavers' universal signal to take cover from a
falling object. A hardhat will protect you from small falling
objects. ALWAYS wear a hardhat. It will also keep you from
bumping your head.
Solution caves are generally part of the drainage system in their
area. In some caves the water is carried at levels far below where
people can go, but in most the cavers follow the actual water routes.
The best general advice is to stay out of a strange cave if you
think it's going to rain or it has recently rained. Also, watch out
for snow melts. Listen to the local weather report before heading
into a cave.
There are some signs that a passage may flood: debris or mud stuck on
the walls or ceiling; an active river, especially at lower levels; the
absence of mud in a stream passage may indicate rapid and violent
flooding. Dry, cracked mud is a good indication that a passage floods
only under extreme conditions. As you proceed through the cave, look
for these things. Remember the low spots you had to go through on the
way in. Remember the high spots, too.
Caves can flood because of unexpected weather changes or long lag
times after storms. In the latter case the water rise tends to be
gradual giving you some time to get out. Any time a stream rises
noticeably in a low, wet cave, it is time to get out or take shelter
on higher ground. Use your judgment: if you can get to high
ground in the cave but the way out is a long low passage and the
stream is rising fast, RETREAT! Go back to high ground and wait it
out. This is an obvious case, but there is so much variety in caves
that there are no fixed rules in a flood except: THINK, DON'T
Bats and Other Cave Critters
Bats simply are not dangerous. They may startle you but they won't
bite or fly into you. Leave them alone and they will leave you alone.
In fact, bats are so fragile that your very presence in the cave can
kill them. During the winter, repeatedly waking a bat will cause it
to burn fat too fast and it will literally starve to death before
spring! Avoid caves known to be bat colonies during the winter.
Cave animals in general are very fragile. You should leave them
Don't drink cave water unless you are DESPERATELY thirsty. Most
cave water comes relatively quickly from the surface and, depending
where you are, can contain all sorts of germs, sewage, and/or
household or industrial pollutants. You can't tell if the water is
good, so bring your own along to drink.
Some people go caving where there are large numbers (millions) of
bats. While bats won't bother you directly, when there are so many of
them around you risk picking up something indirectly;
histoplasmosis is a fungal lung disease found in bat guano
which is unpleasant but generally not fatal; bats have fleas, and
large numbers of bats drop large numbers of fleas with all their
associated diseases; rabies may be caught, but this is unproven and
certainly very rare. This type of caving is strictly at your own
As you go through a cave, look around to familiarize yourself with
the surroundings. The best way to solve the problem is to backtrack
and look carefully at things. When you emerge from a small hole into
a large area, study the hole before moving on. When you come to an
intersection and must make a choice as to direction, proceed a short
distance, turn around and remember the way you came. Taking these
steps is generally enough to make you recall your path when you are
backtracking or exiting the cave. The sight of something you have
seen before is generally enough to make you remember. Also, giving
names to landmarks is a good way to remember them.
Stay within earshot of your buddy. A caving group should never
break up into individuals. Sometimes a person will go down a hole to
"take a look". In this case, someone else should remain by the hole
and an agreed upon time limit should be set for the explorer's return.
This should never be more than a few minutes. When travelling in a
large group, it is important that the leaders go slowly enough so that
the people on the end don't become separated. Each person must stay
within earshot of the persons ahead and behind.
Finally, if you do get lost and backtracking doesn't help, STAY
PUT. Try to make yourself comfortable and stay warm and dry. Wait
for someone to find you. It is important that someone outside the
cave or at home know where you are and about when you are to return.
That person is your final safeguard.
When you come out of a cave make sure everyone in your group is
accounted for. At your earliest convenience, call home and tell them
that everyone is out and safe.
Caves often contain tight and/or excessively twisty passages in which
it is easy to become stuck. This is a major reason why we don't go
caving alone. If a friend is nearby he can pull you out. Sometimes
when caught between a rock and a hard place, a reassuring voice is all
that's needed to get you through. Claustrophobia isn't a problem,
although we all feel uncomfortable when we get stuck. Again, the
voice of a friend will help you keep your head screwed on straight.
There are several things to remember when dealing with a pinch:
- Send a large, experienced caver first. If he can make it, then
everyone else can. If he can't, he will know it and have the know-how
to get back. If he gets stuck anyway, then there is still a smaller
person available who can get to him to provide assistance.
- Be especially wary of vertical "pinches". Gravity will push you
into them, and it is far more difficult to get back up.
- Watch out for wet pinches. Getting stuck in a pool or waterfall is a
VERY serious problem due to hypothermia.
- Be wary of tight places in which there is no noticeable airflow.
- Finally, if you're a large person, avoid small caves.
Accidents themselves can cause accidents. The extreme
psychological pressure of trying to help an injured friend can cause
people to get careless, which may result (and has resulted) in yet
another accident. SLOW DOWN AND THINK. One accident got you
into this mess. Another one will only get you in deeper.
Anyone seriously into caving should take basic Red Cross First Aid.
PROMPT and PROPER action can save a life and/or prevent permanent
injury. The Red Cross sponsors first aid courses nationwide for a
small fee. Consider taking one and regular refresher courses. You
might save a life someday, in or out of a cave. (At the very least,
use your travel time to read and reread a good first aid pamphlet.)
Also consider taking at least an introductory cave rescue class.
Serious caving accidents are generally in the category of hypothermia,
falls, or falling objects. Learn especially the signs of head or
spinal injuries. Trying to move a person with a broken back could
kill him. Remember also that an immobilized victim MUST be kept
warm by any means which do not aggravate the injury.
Whenever you are doing some serious caving, it is highly advisable
that you know how to get in touch with the local cave rescue group.
This information can be obtained from the local NSS grotto (see section
about the NSS at the end). Do it.
It is highly advised that you leave your car keys outside the cave,
hidden near the car. All the people in your car and others in the
group should know where they are hidden.
Air in the Cave
There is usually sufficient air circulation so that there is no danger
of running out of oxygen. The smallest noticeable breeze means you
will not have any trouble with air. Watch out for small, dead-end
passages. If you notice that you are breathing harder than you think
you should be, leave immediately.
Large amounts of organic matter, such as dead animals rotting in the
cave will make the air unpleasant but not usually dangerous. Let your
nose be your guide.
Often, caves are located in hilly or mountainous country where you
will have to travel over steep trails and climb rocks. Proper caution
should be exercised in these cases. Also remember that surface rock
is exposed to the weather and is much ``looser'' than cave rock.
Caving is an exhausting sport. Be careful on the drive home. If
you get tired, swap drivers or pull over and get some sleep. Also,
before you go into the cave, hide your valuables in the car (there is
usually plenty of caving junk available with which to hide things),
and lock the car. It is rare, but cavers' cars have been robbed.
Cave entrances are often in grazing land. Be wary around large farm
animals. Watch out especially for bulls. Cave entrances are often in
the woods, too. Be alert for hunters, especially if you go caving
during the Thanksgiving vacation as it overlaps the deer season. The
best protection against hunters is to make a lot of noise while walking
through the woods.
Hanging ice blocks at cave entrances can cause (and have caused) serious
injury and death if they fall. They are especially dangerous in the
spring. They can sometimes be covered with leaves and difficult to see.
Look around for them before approaching the cave.
A Final Note on Caving Dangers and Safety
If all of the above scares you or puts you off from caving, don't let
it. Do let it make you think about safety. Caving can be a lot of fun.
With a little foresight, thought, and care, it can be very safe fun.
Basic Caving Equipment Checklist
Caving will do awful things to your equipment. Everything usually gets
covered with mud to some degree. You and your equipment will get wet,
bashed about, scratched, torn, dropped, and other such pleasant things.
And, oh yes, this is all on a normal trip where everything goes well.
Tough trips are REALLY brutal. Plan your equipment accordingly. It
should be tough and well made. It should contain nothing which is near
and dear to you.
The following checklist is appropriate for a first time caver
going to a "Beginner's Cave."
- A helmet mounted headlight of some kind, either carbide or battery powered.
- Two heavily constructed, water-proof flashlights.
- Alkaline or lithium batteries and spares for each flashlight, and
your headlight, if electric (otherwise, spare carbide and a ziploc for spent carbide).
- An extra bulb for each light (a repair kit with tip reamer if using carbide).
- Short pieces of nylon cord for flashlight wrist loops.
- A thick candle and waterproof matches or cyalume light stick.
For Your Head
- A knitted pull-over type hat.
- A hardhat.
- Something to tie up your hair if it's long.
- Multiple thin layers of clothing are best. If you have a wool shirt,
sweater, and/or longjohns, wear them. Polypropylene longjohns are best.
Wool isn't generally good as an outer layer, but you can cover it with something
else. Remember, it is better to wear too much than too little. Down clothing and cotton
are useless in a cave. As soon as they get wet, they lose their
insulating ability. Wool still insulates some even when wet.
- Two pairs of pants, worn one over the other. Coveralls
are great as an outer layer.
- Cheap gloves. The heavy duty dishwashing gloves work well.
- Have a complete change of dry clothes appropriate for the surface
weather. Pack them in a large garbage bag or two to keep them dry. The bag
is also to carry your "muddies" on your way home. These dry clothes
are essential for coming out of a cave in the winter. They can be left in
the car, if nearby, or just inside the cave.
- Sneakers are marginally acceptable. Hiking, climbing, or combat boots
are much better.
- Heavy socks. Wool is best.
- A plastic garbage bag neatly rolled up.
- A lock-blade knife.
- A liter or more of water in a tough container.
- Food. Raisins, peanut M & M's, or other such easily consumed, physically
tough foods are OK. A tuna salad sandwich on soft bread will come out
as tuna salad mush. You have been warned!
- A small pack to carry your junk. A strong cloth laundry bag will do.
In practice, you can put stuff in your pockets, but you will regret
doing so in a pinch.
Remember that everything you take into a cave you must also take back
out. You cannot leave ANY junk in the cave.
- Camera equipment. This is a "strictly at your own risk" option.
Cameras are best carried in steel ammo boxes heavily padded with foam
rubber. Good luck. Disposable cameras with a flash work pretty well. Pack
them inside a ziploc.
- Knee pads are especially nice for crawling caves.
Basic Caving Technique
People move through caves in diverse manners. No two cavers handle a
given obstacle in exactly the same way. For this reason, it is
impossible to give an "optimum" set of suggestions as to how to cave.
Often, when cavers are standing around watching others take on an
obstacle, the comment is heard, ``You can't argue with success.'' Let
experience be your guide. As you progress to more difficult caves, you
will begin to know what your limits are and come to have confidence in
your abilities within your limits. Confidence is important for
safety, but like so many other things it is a matter of degree; gross
overconfidence is deadly, so don't get cocky.
There are a few general rules which a novice caver should follow,
however. Some can be safely bent or broken depending upon circumstance,
but there is one rule which you must always follow: THINK.
While techniques and cautions listed above are applicable to any type of
caving, they are specifically aimed at "horizontal caves". A
Beginner's Cave is a horizontal cave which lacks other
problems such as a high flooding potential or tricky obstacles.
- Proceed cautiously when you are in an exposed position. (The term
"exposed position", or "exposure":, is used by cavers to mean how
great the potential for falling is.) Many caves are known as
"vertical", i.e. they have lethally deep drops around which must be
negotiated with special equipment and technique. However, even
beginner's caves can have exposure in them, so watch yourself.
- When climbing on rock, move only one limb at a time. It is sometimes
possible, if both your feet are secure, to move both your arms, and vice
versa. Look at your next move and think about it before you do it.
- Don't jump in a cave.
- Much climbing is done "in opposition", i.e. you are in a relatively
small spot and you are pushing in opposite directions against the rock.
This opposing pressure can keep you from slipping off something which
would otherwise be impossible to simply stand on or grip.
- Often you can take advantage of friction as a hold. Cavers will wedge
portions of their bodies into small spots to provide a hold. For
example, if a crevasse is the same width as your shoulders, it is easy
to "expand" your shoulders to the point where you simply cannot fall.
This is also an example of "opposition".
- When freely standing on a sloping surface, it is best to stand straight
up. This gives maximum friction. The more parallel you are to the
surface, the more pressure there is which would make your feet slip, and
the less friction there is. Moral: stand up.
- It is generally easier to climb up than down, so be more careful when
- Be ready to assist your friends at all times. This can make things a
lot safer and easier. It is often helpful to point your light at
handholds and footholds so that the climber can see them better. You
can offer advice, but if the climber tells you to shut up, then do so.
- Be careful not to aim your light at other people's eyes. This can cause
an afterimage which can last for several minutes in the darkness of a
- Crawls are always a pain. How you get through them depends upon their
shape, orientation, and size relative to you. There are belly crawls,
hands-and-knees crawls, stoopways, and things in between. Duckwalking
is often possible. Use it when you can as it is faster than
hands-and-knees. Low, wide, and dry crawls can often be done quickly by
rolling yourself along much as one would roll a log.
- Whenever you are in any kind of low place, look at the ceiling to make
sure there aren't any bats or fragile rock formations there which you
might accidentally crush. Be quiet around bats to minimize disturbing
- Pinches are always a problem. There are a few things you can do to
help, though. Always try to go through by yourself. Should you get
stuck, it will still be possible for your friends to get you out.
Exhaling before pushing is very helpful. Make sure all of your clothing
is tucked in and secure. Don't wear belts with large buckles. Remove
things from your pockets. Shed some layers of clothing. Look at the
pinch and try to go through in a manner that will not force you to bend
in impossible directions. Try to remove any pebbles from the floor of a
pinch; they can be very painful if you don't get rid of them. Widening
a pinch is possible if the floor is mud.
- Stay out of the water as much as possible. If you are walking in a
stream, step cautiously, as there are "potholes" in many caves.
Falling into one of them can result in a dunking which may very well put
an end to a caving trip.
Other Types of Caving
Vertical Caving is another matter altogether, adding the UP and
DOWN dimension to caving and opening up many, many caves to a caver.
This introduction to caving won't discuss "vertical work" other than
to state a few simple things which should be obvious, but which are
tragically ignored all too often:
- Vertical work takes more strength, endurance, and agility than
horizontal work. Nevertheless, it is still within the realm of the
- Vertical work requires special equipment and technique. It is
mandatory that each caver have his own equipment and know how to use it
before going to a vertical cave. Practice is done on cliffs, trees,
and the like, never in a cave.
- Vertical work on ropes requires special cams and friction devices for
going up and down the rope, respectively. Cavers do not go "hand
over hand" up or down a pit. Climbing a rope hand over hand is
DEADLY. Every so often one hears of "a high school student" who is
killed or injured because he was foolish enough to try this.
- Rope for caving is of a very special, strong, low stretch nylon (static rope).
"clothes line" is sometimes used by inexperienced people
with tragic results. Clothes line is NOT for any type of
climbing, in or out of a cave. Note also that caving rope is no good
for rock climbing because of its low stretch.
- If you want to get into vertical caving, it is important that you do
so with the help of an experienced vertical caver. Don't try it by
Cave Diving is the other major type of caving. This is THE
MOST DANGEROUS form of caving. It requires a great deal of specialized
knowledge and technique, not to mention mountains of very expensive,
often custom made scuba gear. Each trip may also require substantial
support from non-diving cavers to carry gear in to the point of the
Cave diving is something which can be done safely only by the best and
most experienced cavers. If you try it without getting extensive
training from a long time cave diver, then you are asking to get
There are certain rules which cavers abide by, not for reasons of
safety, but simply because they make life easier and the caving better.
These are broadly grouped under the heading of caving etiquette.
Landowner relations is a topic of extreme importance to cavers.
To get to a cave, we must cross other people's land. When we are caving
we are doing so on other people's land. It is crucial that you treat
the owners with respect and do what they say. A single bad incident with
a landowner can shut the cave to the entire caving community for tens of years.
Most of this is common sense and courtesy, but some specific items are:
- Find out who owns a cave, and then get permission before you go
in. If you have no idea where to ask, try the neighbors. Most of them
think cavers are kind of funny and are happy to talk to us. If the
owner refuses entrance, don't badger him. Be respectful of his rights and
- If the owner asks a favor of you, try to satisfy it. Sometimes they ask
that you pick up beer cans near the cave, or that you notify them when
you get out. These are simple things. Doing them will make the owner
happy to let future cavers visit his cave.
- Make sure that you close farmland gates after passing through them.
There is nothing that makes a farmer madder than having to round up his
animals because some jerk caver left a gate open.
- Be respectful of the owner's land. Don't break anything, and don't
- Be respectful of the owner's sensibilities. Many owners do not want to see
a carload of people stripping and changing clothes in their front yard or on the
road. Try to do so out of sight.
It takes hundreds of thousands or millions of
years to make a cave. Damage done to a cave won't be fixed in a hundred
lifetimes. Because of this, cavers are a very conservation minded
group. If you should run across a cave vandal or rock collector, try to
find out who he is, then turn him over to the authorities. If you
yourself are a rock hound, leave your hammer at home.
Typically, beginner's caves are well known to the local population.
They have generally been heavily vandalized, at least in the areas near
the entrance. Look around when you go in and see how ugly the scars are
that the vandals have left behind.
When moving through a cave, stick to the beaten path. Don't get your
muddy feet or body all over the formations. Watch out for delicate
formations overhead which you might accidentally smash with your head.
Bats are widely misunderstood creatures subject to a lot of
irrational fear. Learn about them and stick up for them. Caves are
sometimes closed part of the year in order to protect the bats. Don't
go in when they are closed.
For reasons of conservation and safety, never give the location of a
cave to people you don't know. Instead, point them at the local grotto
of the NSS.
If you should stumble across some rank amateurs already in a cave who
obviously don't know what they are doing, attempt to straighten them
out. Don't come on too strong, though, or you will turn them off to
safe caving technique. Point them at the NSS so they can get in with a
group of established cavers.
Never leave any of your junk in a cave. Just before you go into a cave,
it is advised that you find the nearest bush and relieve yourself. You
are expected to "hold your water" on all short trips of 6 hours or
less. Minimize the amount you drink in the cave. Smoking in the cave,
tobacco or otherwise, is frowned upon because it stinks up the cave.
It is often absolutely necessary to change out of wet clothes when
exiting a cave, sometimes in circumstances which are less than private.
Do make an attempt at respecting the privacy of your fellows, even if
there isn't really a good way to do so. Also, try not to put on a nudie
show which might upset the locals or cause traffic accidents.
For Further Information
Caving is a group sport. If you are not already connected with a caving
group, contact the National Speleological Society and ask them for the
name, location, and meeting time of the nearest grotto, or for the name
and address of a local NSS caver. Their address is:
National Speleological Society
2813 Cave Avenue
Huntsville, AL 35810
The NSS is very safety and conservation oriented. It sponsors all sorts
of activities: scientific, exploratory, educational, and even
recreational. In addition, it is the primary method of contact between
cavers in the United States. If you plan to do a significant amount of
caving, you should strongly consider joining the NSS.