by ohiocaver » Nov 24, 2013 7:06 am
In an email exchange with Bonnie Armstrong, editor of the NSS's Cave Accidents report, she says of non-cavers getting locked into caves, "I don't recall any such incidents being reported and certainly no fatalities. There are probably plenty of "gate" stories out there, heck, my own husband has one. Maybe this will prompt cavers to send in reports of old incidents?"
If you have such stories, please send the facts to Bonnie for possible inclusion in future reports: bonnyarmstrong at gmail.com
So maybe we are protecting against a highly unlikely occurrence at the expense of endangering, or at least regularly inconveniencing,legit cavers in caves?
Perhaps if a cave is right by a road or is in a high-traffic area, back-locking is reasonable. In the back country, you'd probably be as well served to leave a note in a Baggie on the cave gate that says there are cavers inside who intend to lock the gate when they leave so if you trespass and come inside, you'll likely be caged and locked in for a long, long time.
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