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Hello, I'm Katie, located near Chattanooga TN. I've done a touch of caving in the past (dropped into Signal Light years ago) and I am looking to rediscover the beauty of the underground. My trade has taken me back into caves to perform maintenance on lighting ect and it has truly opened my eyes. I want to protect the fragile environment the best I can as I work and also enjoy wild caves in my free time. I plan on becoming a NSS member within the week. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Wonder Cave is near my hometown of Winchester. I saw that the house was put up for sale. Does anyone know if the cave is open again? Thank you in advance for your time!

-Katie

Hi Katie,

The Sewanee Mountain Grotto is having our monthly grotto meeting this Saturday, February 9th, at my home in Jasper, Tennessee - not far from Signal Light Pit . We start the meeting at 6pm central with a potluck dinner (theme this month is Italian), followed by the business at 7pm. We will then have a presentation following the meeting. The address for the meeting is 331 Mountain View Circle, Jasper, TN 37347. If you need directions I can send them.

You are also welcome to join us during the day on Saturday. We are going to check out a sinkhole in South Pittsburg and then are going to bounce a nearby pit after. We are meeting at the Krystal's in Kimball at 9:30am (central time).

Kelly

Kelly,

Thank you for the invite! I wasn't expecting anyone to reply so quickly! Saturday sounds like a blast. I've got plans to go visit my parents in Winchester Saturday but may be able to meet up with y'all that morning. I have no gear at the moment but at least I my application to NSS went through!

Katie

Hello lovers of the underground!

If anyone can give me some advice on what gear, clothing, etc to get I would really appreciate it!

Katie

Go to the grotto meeting first and go on one of their trips using borrowed gear to make sure you actually enjoy it before buying everything.

Depends on what type of caves, but here's some ideas for just entry level horizontal caves that aren't too wet.

Light: Princeton Tec Apex and Fenix HP-11 are the lowest budget cost effective headlamps. You need 3 sources of light though ideally, so buy something like a Petzl tikka and fenix e21 or something similar to go along with it.

Helmet: Make sure you get one that fits. I use a petzl ecrin roc. Many use the petzl elios, petzl elia (for girls), black diamond half-dome, petzl vertex, and I wouldnt be afraid to try the edelrid ultralight. Typically there are 2 types of helmet. Some are made with foam and some with the strap suspension system. Supposedly the suspension system is safer.

Clothing: No Cotton. Most wear polypro upper and lower and something over them like "tough shorts" (graveleye). Some wear softball pants and some choose to wear cavesuits for wetter caves. For socks wear neoprene or wool ideally. Dress appropriately for the cave you plan to enter though.

Shoes: Wellington Boots like the Servus XTP or shorter top boots like the Expe Mic Canyon. You have to order the latter from europe. Any old wellington boots will probably work fine though. If you're just bouncing pits I'm sure any normal boot would be fine.

Rechargeable batteries are always nice for whatever headlamp you may choose. Sanyo Eneloop are very popular.

Thank you Ben! I really appreciate it!

I finally got the basic items to get going and more importantly have the time to enjoy some of natures most beautiful creations. Looking forward to going on a trip soon!