Form-fitting Caving Suits
Posted: Dec 24, 2011 6:12 pm
When watching snow skiers, bicyclists, scuba divers, parachuters, and other adventurers on TV, I am struck by their really keen suits. They fit close to the body, don’t wrinkle, don’t flap and dangle, and are aerodynamic and hydrodynamic. See, for example:
http://www.spadout.com/p/spyder-comp-gs-suit/
Cavers, OTOH, wear baggy clothing that is not at all athletic. For instance, in warm Florida, I usually go caving in cottons, which become soggy with sweat and subsequently floppy. I am currently pushing some fairly tight joint-controlled passages that tug and grab (and tear) loose clothing, and am dreaming of elastic, rip-stop duds that will allow me to slip through the cracked rock like a fish.
In TAG, I wear polypro underwear protected by cotton shorts and knee/elbow pads. Those protective devices rotate on the body, however, which causes pads to stop protecting my knees and elbows, and pads and shorts to snag on rock projections. I have a cordura caving suit, but it is even baggier, not to mention too hot to wear in Florida.
Why don’t cavers have form-fitting clothing? Why don’t we wear outfits that are streamlined and allow us to move through tight passages with a minimum of hindrance? I have a Lycra one-piece suit that is not rip-stop, and I would use it but am afraid it will snag and tear in the passages I am pushing.
Such material does exist. For example, “stretch rapid-dry wickable nylon lycra (r) ripstop fabric (52-in 3.1 oz/sq yd)” is used in some athletic clothing (http://www.magnafabrics.com/category/207.htm). Could material such as this be used in caving suits? I admit I don’t look like an athlete in tights, but it wouldn’t be any sillier than wearing cotton (or nylon) shorts over polypro undies along with heavy boots.
What do cave clothing/gear manufacturers reading this think of the idea?
http://www.spadout.com/p/spyder-comp-gs-suit/
Cavers, OTOH, wear baggy clothing that is not at all athletic. For instance, in warm Florida, I usually go caving in cottons, which become soggy with sweat and subsequently floppy. I am currently pushing some fairly tight joint-controlled passages that tug and grab (and tear) loose clothing, and am dreaming of elastic, rip-stop duds that will allow me to slip through the cracked rock like a fish.
In TAG, I wear polypro underwear protected by cotton shorts and knee/elbow pads. Those protective devices rotate on the body, however, which causes pads to stop protecting my knees and elbows, and pads and shorts to snag on rock projections. I have a cordura caving suit, but it is even baggier, not to mention too hot to wear in Florida.
Why don’t cavers have form-fitting clothing? Why don’t we wear outfits that are streamlined and allow us to move through tight passages with a minimum of hindrance? I have a Lycra one-piece suit that is not rip-stop, and I would use it but am afraid it will snag and tear in the passages I am pushing.
Such material does exist. For example, “stretch rapid-dry wickable nylon lycra (r) ripstop fabric (52-in 3.1 oz/sq yd)” is used in some athletic clothing (http://www.magnafabrics.com/category/207.htm). Could material such as this be used in caving suits? I admit I don’t look like an athlete in tights, but it wouldn’t be any sillier than wearing cotton (or nylon) shorts over polypro undies along with heavy boots.
What do cave clothing/gear manufacturers reading this think of the idea?